Birther faces court martial for refusing deployment orders

[tomm2thumbs]

Source: Yahoo News

A court martial proceeding against an 18-year Army veteran who refuses to deploy to Afghanistan will begin today at Fort Meade in Maryland. According to The Associated Press, Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin disobeyed orders to report to a Kentucky base earlier this year because he doubts whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States and questions his eligibility to be president.

If Lakin is found guilty, he faces a dishonorable discharge, several years in prison and a forfeiture of his pay, which totals nearly $8,000 a month, CNN reported.

_______

story also links to:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101214/ap_on_re_us/us_army_birther_2

which notes:

In videos posted on YouTube, Lakin aligned himself with so-called "birthers" who question whether Obama is a natural-born citizen as the U.S. Constitution requires for presidents.

Lakin says in the videos that any reasonable person looking at available evidence would have questions about Obama's eligibility to be president and that he had "no choice" but to disobey orders.

<snip>

In September, a military judge ruled the president's birth certificate is irrelevant in Lakin's case. His lawyer will therefore not be able to raise the issue as a defense for why Lakin, a flight surgeon, did not report for what would have been a second tour of duty in Afghanistan.

As a result, his civilian defense attorney, Neal Puckett, says he is not optimistic about Lakin's prospects of being acquitted. He is "probably going to be convicted of something," Puckett said. If convicted of all the charges against him, Lakin faces dismissal from the Army and more than 3 1/2 years in prison.

Lakin's trial and a sentencing phase are expected to last two or three days.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_spoint/birther-faces-court-martial-for-refusing-deployment-orders

[Bunny]

1. Wow. Lt. Colonels make pretty good money.

I hope they send the dumbass to Leavenworth.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. This idiot makes 96K a year??

[MindPilot]

3. Flight Surgeon so he's probably an MD.

Although one would think med school would have resulted in better critical thinking skills.

[COLGATE4]

10. Flight surgeons are MD's, but those who choose not to specialize

in anything. They enlist just after getting the MD degree and then practice as a GP forever and ever, until they retire. Not real high on the ambition side of the equation.

[saigon68]

4. Idiocy

[Turbineguy]

5. Ideology

trumps reason.

[Mr. Sparkle]

6. I bet he watchs Fox nosie and listens to right wing hate radio all the time. n/t

[Frisbee]

7. Or he's just a coward who didn't think he'd ever see

a shooting war. In any case, I hope he gets the max years and fine to go along with his dishonorable discharge.

[Brother Buzz]

12. He served in Honduras, Bosnia, Korea, and Afghanistan....

and was highly decorated. Methinks he thought his service record carried clout. NOT.

[dballance]

8. Two Years from Retirement - IDIOT

He's two years from retirement and he's going to forfeit it all and go to jail. Dumbass.

[bitchkitty]

29. He's probably being subsidized to do this. n/t

[IggleDoer]

9. Funny that he had an ethical dilema accepting the orders ...

... but had no problem accepting a paycheck from the President/

[Richardo]

11. He is "probably going to be convicted of something,"

Sounds like Attorney Puckett was right at the top of his law school class. :dunce:

[bongbong]

13. You would think

You would think the tax giveaways to billionaires would convince him that Obama is one of his beloved Ruling Class, but I guess not.

[brooklynite]

14. Army doc pleads guilty to 1 charge, refused to deploy without seeing Obama's birth certificate

Source: The Republic

FORT MEADE, Md. — An Army doctor who disobeyed orders to deploy to Afghanistan because he questions President Barack Obama's citizenship pleaded guilty Tuesday to one of two charges against him.

Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin of Greeley, Colo., pleaded guilty in a military court to a charge that included not meeting with a superior when ordered to do so and not reporting to duty at Fort Campbell.

Lakin faces up to 18 months in prison and dismissal from the Army. He pleaded not guilty to a second charge of missing a flight he was required to be on, and the court-martial proceeding continued on that count.

In videos posted on YouTube, Lakin had aligned himself with so-called "birthers" who question whether Obama is a natural-born citizen as the U.S. Constitution requires for presidents. The veteran of 18 years in the Army disobeyed orders to report earlier this year to Fort Campbell in Kentucky to prepare for deployment, saying he believed the orders were illegal.

Read more: http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/a5030034fad44216a1266adf97729ac0/US--Army-Birther/

---

Terrence, thanks for playing. I understand Leavenworth is lovely this time of year...

[bushisanidiot]

15. Treason!

the asshole should be thrown in jail.

[24601]

21. Bullshit! Anyone saying that it's treason is as much as a "Moran"

as the Doc himself. Suggest you read up on the Constitution and "un-Moran" yourself. You want Treason? That's in line with al-Awlaki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_al-Awlaki

[WCGreen]

16. What a dick!

[DrDan]

17. too bad he didn't start a war or out a CIA operative - no court marials for those offenses

(or is the plural courts martial)

[EmeraldCityGrl]

18. I hope he loses all his benefits.

[kestrel91316]

20. He will.

[24601]

19. What a "moran"! For those who are unfamiliar, dismissal is the

officer equivalent of a dishonorable discharge.

He's also a prick because his unit either deployed without his position filled, or else someone else had to fill it in short notice. And it doesn't matter who the President is un cases like these, his deployment orders were issued by the appropriate military personnel command.

Enjoy military prison Doc. Maybe you'll get to sweep the clinic or even share a cell with Private Manning.

[Tx4obama]

22. I read awhile back that if he's found guilty & thrown out of the Army he might have to pay back the

money that the army spent on his medical education/training/certifications, etc.
which is quite a big sum since a lot of his education was obtained while in the military.

EDUCATION

2010 Acupuncture for Providers course. Navy/DoD sponsored course

2005-2007 Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency, USUHS, Bethesda, MD

2005-2006 Masters in Public Health, USUHS, Bethesda, MD

1997-1999 Family Medicine Residency, Womack Army Medical Center, Ft. Bragg, NC

1993-1994 Internal Medicine Internship, Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, CO

1989-1993 University of Health Sciences-College of Osteopathic Medicine. D.O. Degree

1983-1988 Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO B.S. Biology Major

MEDICAL TRAINING AND CERTIFICATIONS

2008 Military Medical Humanitarian Assistance Course (MMHAC)

2007 Spirometry, NIOSH approved

2007-present Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Board Certified 2007

2000-present Family Medicine, Board Certified (recertification 2006)

2007 Medical Review Officer Certification (MRO)

2007 Medical Management of Chemical and Biological Casualties (MMBC)

2006 Certified Independent Medical Examiner (CIME American Board of IMEs)

2006 Medical Effects of Ionizing Radiation (MEIR)

2006 Commercial Driver Medical Examiner certificate of completion

2006 Toxic Chemical Training Course (TCTC)

1994 Combat Casualty Care Course (C4)

1994 Army Flight Surgeon Course

Additional past medical certifications: ACLS, ATLS, PALS, NRP, ALSO, PHTLS, PHTLS Instructor, EMT Basic

Above list found here: http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2010/04/terrence_lakin_birther_lieuten.php

[Johnny Harpo]

28. When you Are In Military You Go Where You Are Told...When You Are Told...

and ask your questions later.

[qb]

23. Good. He's one jackass officer the enlisteds won't have to deal with.

:bounce:

[greiner3]

24. Palin will pardon him as her first order of business.

I hope the preceding is a horrible dream though.

[truthisfreedom]

25. Dude only needed to google. It's everywhere online.

[tomm2thumbs]

26. truth

they think it is a fake, but if they were REALLY going to create a fake birth certificate, they would have made his middle name 'Timothy' instead of 'Hussein' and put a big old American flag on the thing with a big 'I love America' sticker on it too... to show that it is really authentic.

[struggle4progress]

27. Army Officer Who Doubts Obama Was Born in U.S. Pleads Guilty

The Army lieutenant colonel who refused to deploy to Afghanistan because he won't accept orders from President Obama, whom he considers unqualified to be commander in chief, has pleaded guilty to one charge against him.

Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin pleaded guilty Tuesday to not reporting to Fort Campbell, Ky., for his required deployment to Afghanistan, NBC News reported ...

He could face up to 18 months in prison, but NBC News cited sources who said that instead of jail time, it's "likely" the court will order Lakin discharged from the military.

At Tuesday's hearing, Lakin told the court that he still believes that questions surround Obama's presidency but that he should not have refused to deploy during his protest, Stars and Stripes reported ...

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/12/14/army-officer-who-doubts-obama-was-born-in-u-s-pleads-guilty/

[Life Long Dem]

30. That's what he gets for playing games