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Friday, March 29, 2024 - 05:34 AM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

Judge Refused to Allow Discovery, Planned Defense Because Revelations Might Prove “Embarrassing” to Obama

Lieutenant Colonel Terrence L. Lakin lost his medical practice, his military career, his veteran benefits and his freedom attempting to force reluctant military officials to determine the place of birth of Barack Obama and, therefore, his constitutional qualifications to be Commander in Chief of the US Armed Forces.

On Wednesday of last week, an Army general court martial panel convicted Lakin of “missing movement” of an airplane to take him to Afghanistan for his next combat assignment. A series of rulings by Col. Denise Lind, the military judge had denied Lakin of his defense strategy. He was not allowed to bring up Obama’s qualifications in the trial due to the ruling by Lind that revelation of background information might prove “embarrassing” to Obama.

When it became clear that the Obama Administration intended to punish the 17-year combat veteran and physician to set an example for others who might attempt to expose the true identity of the current occupant of the White House, the defense strategy changed. The defense objective became protection of the wife and children of the flight surgeon from loss of a father, husband and breadwinner.

When Lakin began his strategy to force Obama to reveal his eligibility to be president, he apparently did not fully realize that the Commander in Chief, regardless of the means used to gain office, has the power to make or break anyone in the chain of command. He has total power over everyone from the senior general to the junior private. Fairness and justice are no consideration for many of those seeking favor with the Commander in Chief.

After deliberating 4 hours, the court sentenced Lakin to 6 months in prison, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and dismissal from the service.

The flight surgeon was immediately stripped of his rank, discharged from service and locked up.

The Washington, DC Area Commander, Major General Karl R. Horst, as the convening and reviewing authority has authority to reduce the sentence. In view of the politics involved and the likelihood that Horst was approved for his assignment by the Obama Administration, it is unlikely that Lakin will be reinstated to the Army or given an honorable discharge. If Obama wishes to turn the episode into a personal public relations victory to improve his own image among the masses, he could “suggest” Gen. Horst wave the 6 months confinement and allow Lakin to spend the holidays with his family.

The only appeal available to Lakin is to the U. S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals. It is not likely that they would rule in favor of Lakin. It is rare that any military court will go against the wishes of the commanders in the chain of command and the Commander in Chief if they wish to remain on the court and have a future in military service.

Lakin’s defense team initially planned to call Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney and Ambassador Alan Keyes to testify about the officer’s duty to disobey orders under special circumstances and the constitutional requirements to serve as president.

They scrapped that defense plan when it became apparent that the court and judge intended to convict and allow no defense.  The new defense strategy was based on the theory that Lakin was victim of the “Birther” movement and that he became “obsessed with the Constitution” and a “mirage” that he had a higher duty to expose Obama as ineligible to hold the office of President of the United States.

At this point it appears that the only chance for Lakin to save his military career would be a pardon from a president in the post-Obama era..

The new Republican-led House of Representatives could hold hearings on the eligibility of Obama based on his place of birth. Only time will tell whether they have the courage to face the personal wrath that would result from such a move.

Richard Kantro in the American Thinker laments the fact that Lt. Col. Lakin has been abandoned by the establishment media.

“This case is of shatteringly great significance, and if you don’t know about it, well, you can thank the cowards, commies, and crooks at your favorite mainstream media Bureau of Disinformation.”

Kantro suggested that regardless of the verdict, Lakin is “a towering American hero.”

“Nothing like the stupendous display which he has mounted – of principled, sustained self-sacrifice and fearless defiance – has been seen in decades on the American political stage. Together with the peril of actual battlefield engagement, it ranks alongside the greatest courageous stances even of the American Revolution itself. Patrick Henry, Nathan Hale – those kinds of stances.”

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