Today's dispatches wraps up the Lakin Court-Martial, as Lakin finds out there his next duty station is.
In a nutshell, doing the best with the hand he was given, Puckett managed to keep Lakin out of USDB in Kansas for longer than six months - but Lakin is going to be resident there for those six months, in addition to forfeiture of pay, benefits, and pension and dismissal from the service.
The usual batshittery of birthers chimes in about Lakin, along with some mainstream press as well. We even hear from anti-Semite Andy "Internet Outhouse" Martin, showing he's as much of an attention whore as Dr. Orly.
15 December - Birther Rudy Davis, aka "LoneStar1776", who's at the Lakin court-martial, does a video defending Lakin and attacking the man who had to go over to Afghanistan in Lakin's place.
15 December - Asking if Lame Cherry is off their meds implies that Lame Cherry was even ON those meds in the first place.
"Barack Obama is only power because Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove allow it through their enabling Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. It is disgusting to watch this orgy of demagogues lather up body fluids on each other as America sinks to the Obama tar pits suffocating the masses as she goes down.
My fervent desire is this is in God's hands and all of these treacherous swine on the right and left be repaid in full for what they did to America, and how not one of them gave a damn about the poor people, the sick people and the US Soldiers.
Gridlock is what we want, Birthers are insane and Obama is our god."
Wow. There's an entire National Geographic's full of issues there.
16 December - David Weigel at Slate comments on the Lakin court-martial.
"The Lakin story isn't going as well. He was convicted yesterday on three counts of disobeying orders, which could put him behind bars for up to 42 months. Thus begins the next stage of his career as an extremely high-profile activist looking to prove or disprove Barack Obama's citizenship: Apologizing for screwing it up.
"I am extremely sorry for everything that has come of this," Lakin said in unsworn testimony during the sentencing phase of his trial. "As a military member, I was wrong."... "I didn't want it to end this way," said the 17-year veteran flight surgeon. "I want to continue to serve the military."
Jack Minor talks to Lakin's attorney, Col. Neil Puckett (ret.), about how things went pear-shaped. The military court, it turns out, was the wrong venue to do this in.
“It is not capable of handling this. It exists solely to promote good order and discipline in the Armed forces. When orders are violated by soldiers, they are subject to disciplinary actions by the UCMJ. Beyond that, it’s not really a remedy for anything.”Regarding Lakin’s actions he said, “Everything he did up to this point was within the regulations and they were supposed to address serious questions people have. No one answered his questions; they just rebuffed him.”
Well, this didn't stop the American Patriot Foundation from fundraising for Lakin's defense, or stop anyone from discouraging Lakin from making YouTube videos about his case as recently as a month ago. The exploitation on display here was incredible. Lakin never had a chance. He was a martyr-in-waiting, the second member of the military (after Connie Rhodes) who launched into a hopeless, career-ending crusade and got back-up from the ever-expanding birther community."
16 December - CAAFlog goes to day 3 and part V in their coverage of the Lakin court-martial.
"The prosecution asked for dismissal, confinement for 24 months, and forfeiture of all pay and allowances. The trial counsel who argued noted that in LTC Lakin’s unsworn statement, his focus was always on himself: how he was concerned about the President’s eligibility, how he felt his concerns needed to be addressed, and so on, until the moment came to accept responsibility — at which point the accused focused on other people and how they let him down or supposedly misled him. The prosecutor also noted that at no point during LTC Lakin’s tearful discussion of his family or during his apologia to the commander did LTC Lakin see fit to mention MAJ Dobson or the hardships endured by anyone else as a result of LTC Lakin’s actions. "
You know, there's a major streak of whiny assed spoiled bratism in birtherstan. Dr. Orly and James Manning are two of the bigger narcissists out there, but most of the others have their own stamping of the feet and whining about *their* feelings and *their* problems and *their* fear of Obama.
"Trial counsel tied the request for 24 months to the period of time the accused should have been in theatre: 2 days for every day he was not with the 1-32 Cav overseas."
Seems fair. 2 days confinement for every day he should have been doing his duty.
"The defense asked for a reprimand, “some” forfeiture of pay, and restriction to geographical limits (generally, such limits are to the limits of the base, or of some other geographical area, in the discretion of the convening authority). "
How about taking away his x-box and bike for a few weeks as well and making him do the dishes every day as well?? *Faceplant*
"He argued for no dismissal and no confinement. "
And a pony?
"The defense’s parting words to the members: “Merry Christmas.”
*Shakes head in amazement*
"One update on courtroom personnel: Mr. Puckett has another case he has to attend to, in Italy, and has — with the consent of the excused — been excused from the remainder of the trial. The military counsel assigned to the defense team, MAJ Kemkes, will handle any further matters at trial and post-trial. Depending on the sentence, LTC Lakin may also be assigned military appellate counsel."
Well, he did what he could do with the mess Jensen caused.
16 December - Forbes reports on Lakin's court-martial.
"Lakin faces up to three years in a military prison and dismissal from the Army after being found guilty of missing a flight that would have gotten him to his eventual deployment and pleading guilty to disobeying orders.
In online videos posted on YouTube, Lakin aligned himself with the so-called "birther" movement, which questions whether Obama is a natural-born citizen as the Constitution requires for presidents. But Lakin now says that despite his questions he was wrong not to follow Army orders. He has acknowledged that the Army was the wrong place to raise his concerns and asked to keep his job.
On Thursday morning before the jury began deliberating, a military prosecutor asked the jury to sentence Lakin to at least two years in a military prison and to dismiss him from the service. It was a sentence he "invited and he earned," military prosecutor Capt. Philip J. O'Beirne told the jury.
The prosecutor said Lakin had other options like resigning or asking not to be deployed if he had issues with his orders. Instead, he used his deployment earlier this year as a political ploy, O'Beirne said, going to great lengths to create a "spectacle" by informing people of what he was doing."
And Puckett does his best to throw Jensen under the bus.
"But Lakin's defense attorney, Neal Puckett, asked the jury to be lenient, calling Lakin's case unique. He described the 17-year veteran as giving, compassionate and patriotic but also naive in trusting the poor advice of a previous civilian lawyer. He called Lakin the "victim of an obsession," referring to questions about Obama's eligibility, and said he made "one bad decision on one day of his career."
And the there's this"
Puckett asked the jury to consider Lakin's wife and three children at Christmas and said he should be allowed to stay in the Army because of his value as a doctor.
I'm sure the family of the person who had to get deployed on short notice, and the families of those that Lakin SHOULD HAVE TREATED while deployed will be very understanding of Lakin's desire to remain with his family.....
"Make him work off his debt to the Army," Puckett said, suggesting Lakin could be sent on multiple deployments.
If anyone would want that blue falcon in their unit or trust him again.
16 December - The Baltimore Sun reports on Lakin as well.
"A military panel began deliberations this morning on the sentence of an Army doctor convicted of disobeying orders to deploy to Afghanistan because he questioned whether Barack Obama was eligible to be president.
In closing arguments at the court martial at Ft. George G. Meade, government prosecutors said Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin had created "a spectacle that has embarrassed the army" with his website and YouTube video. In both, Lakin said he wouldn't deploy until his questions about whether the president is a natural born U.S. citizen were answered.
Capt. Philip J. O'Beirne asked the eight-member panel to sentence Lakin to between 24 and 36 months in a military jail and dismiss him from the army after almost 18 years of service. The maximum sentence was reduced from 3 1/2 years to 3 years this morning. If dismissed from the army, Lakin would forfeit his annual salary of nearly $90,000 and a pension."
16 December - Bigfoot expert "Citizen" Larry Wells whines about Glenn Beck finding the birthers too crazy for him.
"As many of you know, Glenn Beck has not only not covered the Obama eligibility issues, he has for many months insulted millions of concerned Americans and high ranking military officers. Yesterday, Glenn Beck and his website, TheBlaze.com, hit a new low. On the same day that the American patriot, LTC Terry Lakin was convicted in a Obama kangaroo military court, TheBlaze.com came out with it’s first story about LTC Lakin. Instead of quoting an honest journalist, Lou Dobbs, formerly with CNN, TheBlaze.com presented a video from Anderson Cooper on CNN."
"Wahhh. Beck didn't repeat anything from one of OUR propagandists!!"
"Beck and Cooper are cowards and liars.
We have come to expect this type of Orwellian pro Obama propaganda from CNN. But Glenn Beck with a show on Fox….
Are we going to let Beck get away with this. I certainly hope not!"
You know Larry Wells, when someone who's just shy of playing with his own poo on national television thinks your side is nuts, it may just very well be your side is nuts.
And in his primate cage:
"Margie | December 16, 2010 at 9:53 am |
Congress, Supreme Court, and now Military all let us down. Where do we go from here?"
Whine, pout, scream, and throw temper tantrums??
Oh, and Puckett is now under the birther bus
"Free Speech | December 16, 2010 at 2:07 pm |
Like Pidgeon in Commander Fitzpatrick’s case, Puckett has now abandoned Lt. Col. Lakin as he faces sentencing."
16 December - Look who chimes in on the Lakin case. Internet outhouse and anti-Semite Andy Martin!
"Andy Martin explains why president Barack Obama’s refusal to release his original birth certificate dooms his reelection campaign."
I seem to remember simular predictions elsewhere about his election campaign in 2008.
"I was particularly interested in Obama’s religion and family origins. Since 2004 Obama has done everything he can to obstruct access to information about his family history and personal history. Last month we convened a convention in Honolulu to discuss the open questions about Obama; committees are still drafting reports which will be released later this month."
"Snap, Crackle and Pop have submitted their report, but Jose Cuvera and Johnny Walker are still working on the specifics of theres. Rosie dePalm remains a stanch supporter however"
"I have been in the forefront of exposing some of the charlatans and thieves in the Birther movement."
Including yourself??
"In other words, as a "king” of the Birther movement I preside over an unruly kingdom. There are those who claim Obama was born in Kenya (I do not agree the evidence supports that view). Others say Obama traveled on foreign passports (I have my doubts).
The key question is whether Obama meets the U. S. Constitution’s requirement of being a “natural born citizen” eligible to serve as president. On that issue, I do not believe Obama is in fact constitutionally eligible to serve as president."
I smell a whiff of de Vattelism....
"CNN host Anderson Cooper is obsessed with Birthers (see link below). Cooper called them all sorts of names on December 14th (no link yet). Cooper has repeatedly featured Birther guests, only to attack them and attempt to ridicule their beliefs. Although I disagree with much that is attributed to some Birthers, I am also aware that Cooper deliberately keeps calling inexperienced advocates to defend Birther beliefs instead of inviting me to be a guest. He is afraid to face me on camera.
So what does all of this mean? Are the Birthers winning or losing?
The Birthers are Winning. Hands Down."
So becoming an object of mockery and ridicule is a win??
"Obama does not want the truth to come out until he is out of office. Maybe not even then.
The same is true about Obama’s academic records. Obama in all probability sought “affirmative action” as a Muslim and Kenyan when he applied to Occidental College and other schools in his educational career. Obama’s massive ego does not allow him to admit he benefited from affirmative action, or that he lied about his religious and familial background."
Ah, that old chestnut.
"Finally, Obama’s “father” (the one he claims as a father; my research in Hawai’i leads me to believe Frank Marshall Davis was Obama’s biological father) was obviously not a U. S. Citizen, and not even a permanent resident. He was here on a transient student visa.
The “natural born citizen” requirement in the U. S. Constitution applies to only one office, that of president. The founders inserted “natural born” in the Constitution for that one office because it obviously was intended to mean something special."
The de Vattel whiff is getting stronger.
"The Birther movement will continue to grow and metastasize as we approach the 2012 election season. "
*Interesting* choice of words there. So even Internet Outhouse Andy Martin claims that the birther movement is a political cancer.
"Today even baseball players are aware of Obama’s constitutional ineligibility. Tomorrow the American people are going to rise up and throw the usurper (sorry, Ms. Dowd, he is a usurper) out of office"
"....any day now. He'll be arrested and thrown out of the WHITE House any day now. Any day now. He'll be arrested and...."
"In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate, Imam Obama, please tell the truth and stop lying about who you are."
Bigoted much?? And why would Anti-Semite Andy Martin be using this particular phrasing??? Hmmmmm.......
16 December - World Nut Daily gives their spin on Lakin's conviction and Lakin's future as a birther fund-raising tool and poster boy martyr.
"By sacrificing the service career he loves, Lakin serves the Constitution he loves more. He also does the rest of us a great favor. Through this peaceful action, Lakin has directed our attention to the moral corruption of our most trusted public servants who, rather than expose themselves to political inconvenience, permitted the secrecy of Barack Obama to fester in the first place.
As a presidential candidate born in the Panama Canal Zone, Sen. John McCain was himself challenged during the 2008 presidential campaign to prove his bona fides. He, of course, complied – who wouldn't? As candidate, as GOP party leader, as scion of a military family, as U.S. senator, McCain failed at this crucial point simply, logically, correctly, to invite his opponent, Sen. Obama, to do exactly the same.
Like a house of cards that was never built, the rest of the Senate, the House of Representatives, the White House, the judiciary, the nation's political parties, the Electoral College and, of course, the Obama-enthralled media all followed suit. And the rest is history.
Or would be, if it weren't for heroic Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin.
This week's court martial verdict, guilty on all counts, settles nothing. On the contrary, it leaves the question in boldface: What could possibly be preventing the president from showing the American people his original, 1961 birth certificate? What remains to be seen is whether there exists any authority, any leader in this whole country with the courage of a Lakin to ask."
16 December - CAAFLog announces Lakin's sentence. And Lakin got off damn lucky IMHO.
(Well, except for Lakin being guilty rather than innocent......)
"LTC Lakin, convicted on all counts by a general court-martial, has been sentenced.
The sentence is a dismissal, confinement for six months, and forfeiture of all pay and allowances. The dismissal — the only form of punitive discharge authorized for an officer — is generally regarded as equivalent to a dishonorable discharge and cuts off substantially all benefits incident to military service. If approved by the convening authority, it will entitle LTC Lakin to automatic review of his case by the Army Court of Criminal Appeals. He can waive that review, but such waivers are relatively rare. Unless the convening authority grants a deferment of confinement, LTC Lakin will start his sentence today.
Colonel Sullivan reports that there was no reaction from LTC Lakin or from the half-dozen or so birthers remaining in the spectators’ gallery. The military judge thanked the members for their service, and excused them. The courtroom was then cleared to allow LTC Lakin privacy."
I wonder if Maj Dobson (who served in Lakin's place), the 16 wounded that Maj. Dobson treated the second day he was there, and all the people that were directly affected by Lakin's choices and failure to live up to his responsibility could each send him one of these:
Patrick, all these racists/nutcases lack honor, and I for one am glad that "the system" is working for a change.
To honor!
Posted by: SluggoJD | December 16, 2010 at 08:09 PM
What a shame a similar fate didn't befall Major Kook. Orly's original blue Falcon.
Posted by: Phil | December 16, 2010 at 10:44 PM
Lone Star looks and talks like he's been up for about 50 hours, not 19.
Chuck Connors, though an actor, was a better American than Mr. (how I love to use that term) Lakin. And the White Feather that I honor is Carlos Hathcock II, the most famous Marine scout/sniper in history, who wore a white feather in his bush hat. Killed so many of the enemy, and especially enemy snipers, that Hanoi sent its best man to get him, and at the end of a two-day mutual hunt, Carlos shot the NVA sniper through his own scope, a feat Tom Hanks put into his own movie, "Saving Private Ryan."
Posted by: Greg Brown | December 16, 2010 at 11:26 PM
Mr. Lakin will eventually be released from Fort Leavenworth and will have to make his way in the "reality based" community. I would love to hear him say, on the day of his release: Boy, was I stupid.
Posted by: Greg Brown | December 16, 2010 at 11:29 PM
It's funny to see how some birthers try connect dots:
Their newest claim is that the $2 million that Lakin will not get as pension just about matches the amount Obama has allegedly spent on "hiding his papers", so in their la-la-land that makes for another reason why Lakin was found guilty. They somehow believe that the $2 million the government "saves" now will make up for Obama's (made-up) spendings... *faceplant*
Posted by: The Magic M | December 17, 2010 at 11:35 AM
Oh, the video from LoneStar1776 was classic... he is truly delusional. I watched another one where he was ejected from a Sara Palin/Tea Party gathering for passing out flyers (where he didn't ask for permission to do so, even though he is shown on video saying he WOULD get permission) and he starts ranting about "no more free speech" in the US. Seriously, how delusional are you when you break your own rules?
If he's the caliber the birthers are working with, then it's no wonder they aren't getting anywhere.
Posted by: Mark Davidson | December 17, 2010 at 02:15 PM
"And the White Feather that I honor is Carlos Hathcock II, the most famous Marine scout/sniper in history, who wore a white feather in his bush hat. Killed so many of the enemy, and especially enemy snipers, that Hanoi sent its best man to get him, and at the end of a two-day mutual hunt, Carlos shot the NVA sniper through his own scope, a feat Tom Hanks put into his own movie, "Saving Private Ryan."
Another great, little known commando: Lt. Col. John "Mad Jack" Churchill, a British warrior of World War II who routinely went into combat with gun, grenades, a sword at his side, a set of bagpipes, and a longbow and quiver of arrows strapped to his back. He was the last person known to have used a longbow in combat in Europe, and held that an officer who went into battle without a sword was underdressed.
Ah, the Brits - they really know how to make 'em!
Posted by: ellid | December 18, 2010 at 08:31 AM
Why did you put us through that punishing video birther. This idiot could have made a small script and got his ramblings out in 15 seconds.
Next. Is this guy the voice over for Sylvester the cat from looney tunes?
Thuffering thuckatash!!!!!!!!!!
Then, past the 8 minute mark of saying nothing he states he doesnt want to make it a long video? Woops, he must be used to staring at walls for hours because that was extremely long babble about nothing.
Well crap, knock out all the commericals and you can fit a national news cast in a shorter video.
Last, this turd is just trying to make a name himself for his pathetic cause. He acts like he is going to be in a history book.
Posted by: Kachonka | December 19, 2010 at 01:51 PM
hehe.. totally missed you pat. happy new year ☺
Posted by: deja | January 06, 2011 at 12:19 PM