Does Barack Obama's eligibility really matter? Does the Constitution? If you don't go to Notre Dame, you aren't eligible to play on the football team no matter how good you are. If Obama is NOT a natural born citizen, he was ineligible to run for president and is serving unconstitutionally.
Does it matter? Lt. Col. and medical doctor Terrence Lakin thinks so. A decorated career officer with eighteen years in the army, Lakin refused his second deployment to Afghanistan last March until proof is provided that Obama is serving legally as president. Lakin is currently suspended and faces court martial. Is this a frivolous action? Hardly. If Lt. Col. Lakin loses he will be deprived of his pension and faces jail time.
So why did he take this step? Here's what he says:
Since Nuremberg, My Lai, and even Abu Ghraib more recently, the military has been taught the hard lessons of following illegal orders. Any reasonable person looking critically at the information and evidence currently in the public domain about Obama's birthplace would have questions about President Obama's claim to be a natural born citizen. I made the decision to disobey all military orders, including my deployment order to Afghanistan, in pursuit of the truth of whether President Obama can legally occupy the high post that he holds today and which entitles him to send servicemembers into harm's way.
The United States serves an example to the rest of the world of a stable, civilized, democratic government, where all men are equal under the law and the rule of law is cherished and obeyed. The U.S. military teaches and promotes the rule of law and civilian control of the military to many other nations and military forces around the world. Every soldier learns what constitutes a lawful order and is encouraged to stand up and object to unlawful orders. This is called the "duty to disobey."
My deployment orders for a second tour in Afghanistan included a requirement to bring copies of my birth certificate. I would be glad to obey this order and provide a certified copy of my original birth certificate with common, standard identifiers, including the name of an attending physician and a hospital. Every day in transactions across the country, American citizens are required to prove their identity; standards for identification have become stricter since the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
Since fall 2008, I have been troubled by reports that the president's original birth certificate remains concealed from public view along with other records which, if released, would quickly end questions surrounding his place of birth and "natural born" status. Many people mistook the online Certification of Live Birth for an original birth certificate. Until the summer of 2009, the Hawaiian Department of Homelands would not accept this Certification of Live Birth to determine native Hawaiian identity -- the Department insisted upon also reviewing an original birth certificate....
Until an original birth certificate is brought forward that will validate the Commander-in-Chief's constitutional eligibility and put to rest the reasonable questions surrounding it, I cannot in good conscience obey any of my military orders. Unless it is established (sufficient proof that should be easily within the president's power to provide) that he is constitutionally eligible to serve as president and Commander-in-Chief, I and all other military officers are at risk of following illegal orders.Pray for Lt. Col. Lakin. To keep up with his status visit Safeguard our Constitution.
There is no legitimate privacy right to information necessary to prove that President Obama is legally eligible to serve as Commander-in-Chief.
I remain at risk of arrest and court-martial, but am mindful always that my oath of office is to the Constitution. It fills me with great sadness that on 31 March, I declined a direct order from my Medical Brigade Commander. This is a man I honor and wished to meet in order to thank him for his unquestionable valor and courage, and yet I could not obey his order. Now, he could order my arrest at any time.
I hope that President Obama will demonstrate his respect for the U.S. Constitution and release his original birth certificate. My bags are packed, and I look forward to joining my fellow soldiers in Afghanistan, but I will deploy only with the knowledge that I am following legal orders under a lawful Commander-in-Chief. (See the complete article here.... )
This is yet another reason why the November 2010 elections are crucial. I think Obama can be impeached on this matter - but that won't happen until the makeup of Congress (both houses) drastically changes.
ReplyDeleteIf this is the case, I don't understand why it isn't the duty of the officials in the State of Hawaii to reveal the fact.
ReplyDeleteSince when should there be a conspiracy to keep it secret that a president doesn't satisfy the constitutional requirements and have a whole bunch of public employees covering up the lack of a birth certificate.
This thing continues to be bizarre.
Ray, the reason Government of Hawaii officials won't release the long form of Obama's birth certificate are several.
ReplyDelete1. There is a state law that prohibits its release except to Obama or one of his relatives. This could be rectified by a change in law of automatic release for anyone who runs for the office of President, but don't hold your breath (see #3 below). Alternately, someone could fly one of Obama's starving African relatives in Kenya (or his 1/2 brother in China) right to Hawaii, pay them a few thousand for their effort, and have them apply for release of the birth certificate. Selling out seems to run in the family, so it shouldn't be a problem.
2. Very possibly, no long form birth certificate exists, but as anyone who has spent years in Hawaii knows, fraud and dirty secrets have a way of staying hidden in this state. It isn't exactly Louisianna, but people do disappear from time to time, and criminals often go for decades without effective prosecution. Corruption in government is particularly rampant here as Democrats overwhelmingly control every aspect of the legislature and usually the governorship. The current Republican governor would be a moderate Democrat in most states and has no desire to experience the backlash that would result if Obama were exposed.
3. The people of Hawaii are about as provincial as they come. Obama being elected is widely perceived to be the greatest thing that has ever happened to Hawaii. His election has not lent a single benefit to the state, but this is a state full of very insecure people who grasp at any claim to fame which can feed their pride. If someone becomes mildly famous for any reason at all, locals immediately point to the person's Hawaii connection regardless of how tenuous. Nobody in their right mind and working inside the government is about to bring down a hero on the level of Obama, especially given that Hawaii is so deeply Democratic in voter registration. It would mean the end of earning a living and likely being hounded out of the islands. The sort of moral courage required to spill the beans doesn't exist among the locals, and to a certain extent I can understand their fear; these islands are small. The best bet is to emasculate the bum in the mid-term elections and send him packing in 2012.