Friday, December 17, 2010

Army protestor sentenced, has change of heart

It looks like Lt. Colonel Terrence Lakin has had a change of heart. He now says that he was wrong to challenge president Obams's legality to serve as president and he wishes this "would all just go away." Lt. Col. Lakin now says that he would gladly deploy.

Kind of revisits the old adage...."what a difference a day makes."

Military jury: Prison, dismissal for Army birther

An Army doctor who disobeyed orders to deploy to Afghanistan because he questioned President Barack Obama's eligibility to be commander in chief was sentenced by a jury Thursday to six months in a military prison and will be dismissed from the Army.

The military jury spent nearly five hours deliberating punishment for Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin on Thursday after three days of court martial proceedings at Fort Meade, outside Baltimore, Md.

Lakin was convicted of disobeying orders — he had pleaded guilty to that count — and missing a flight that would have gotten him to his eventual deployment. An army commander, Maj. Gen. Karl Horst, still has to approve the sentence returned by the jury and has the option to reduce it. Lakin could then appeal.

In online videos posted on YouTube, Lakin aligned himself with the so-called "birther" movement that questions whether Obama is a natural-born citizen, as the Constitution requires for presidents, and said he was inviting his own court martial.

But Lakin said Wednesday that despite his questions about Obama's eligibility for office, he was wrong not to follow Army orders. He acknowledged that the Army was the wrong place to raise his concerns about Obama, asked to keep his job and said he was now willing to deploy.

"I don't want it to end this way," Lakin told the jury Wednesday under questioning from his lawyer. "I want to continue to serve."

I suspected from the beginning that he would be convicted and that he knew that he would be convicted. It was my opinion that he was going for political martyr status and was simply setting the stage for the book and movie deal.

Now? I don't know. His reversal of position after conviction will certainly damage any potential credibility as a renegade who stood on principle. In either event, it looks like six months in prison and dismissal from the Army will be his ultimate fate, as I don't believe the Army will want to go any further than that.

There never was any chance that this trial or this lone Army officer could force the issue concerning Obama's birth certificate or his authority to serve as commander in chief. I for one believe that the so called "birthers' will ultimately be vindicated. I don't believe that Obama is a born in America citizen. Therefore, he isn't entitled to be president. but in the present days of forced media perspectives and the head in the sand mentality of the people, the truth will not come out until Obama is out of office. and even then there will be those who will say "so what, he did an alright job."

A sad ending when you think about it America. Welcome to the "whatever generation."

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obama was born in Hawaii and has proven it with the official birth certificate of Hawaii, the Certification of Live Birth, and two officials and the governor of Hawaii have repeatedly confirmed the facts on Obama's birth certificate, that he was born in Hawaii in 1961.

Prime said...

Sorry my little anonymous friend, but no.....he hasn't proven anything. All that has ever been submitted on the issue? Is a 'certification of live birth.' Which is not a birth certificate.

Which proves nothing.

A certification of live birth is not the same as a birth certificate or certificate of live birth. Go ahead google both in google images and see for yourself.

Lastly, why does Obama need anyone to speak on his behalf or attest to the existence of something that is easily proven via providing the document.

No one to be hurt, or any privacy or trust to be violated. Both of his parents are dead. So who is going to be hurt by providing that birth certificate?

And the answer to that? Is Barack Obama. If he wasn't afraid of the reality, he would have long since provided his real birth certificate from Hawaii. But he can't because he doesn't have one.

Anonymous said...

Re: "No one to be hurt, or any privacy or trust to be violated. Both of his parents are dead. So who is going to be hurt by providing that birth certificate?"

Answer: Obama has provided the official birth certificate, and it is the only one that Hawaii sends out. Hawaii has not sent out copies of the original since the new short-form Certification became the official birth certificate in 2001--not to anyone, not even to people born before 2001.

Anonymous said...

Re: "A certification of live birth is not the same as a birth certificate or certificate of live birth. Go ahead google both in google images and see for yourself."

Answer: Who told you that? It is wrong. In Hawaii, the Certification of Live Birth is the official birth certificate. It is used by thousands of people every year. It is accepted as proof of birth in the USA by the US State Department and the branches of the military.

And, in Obama's case, the facts on his official birth certificate--that he was born in Hawaii in 1961--were confirmed twice by the heads of the department of health and department of vital records of Hawaii, and most recently by the governor of Hawaii, Linda Lingle, a Republican.

IN addition, there were notices of Obama's birth published in the newspapers in Hawaii in 1961. And in those days birth notices were not advertisements in Hawaii. They were only official announcements sent out by the department of vital records, and they were only sent out for births IN Hawaii, and not for births outside of Hawaii.

Prime said...

Who told me that? My eyes did, as yours would if you bothered to look at the two documents reference for yourself.

Once again, it's relatively simple. All that is required is for the man to produce the document. What's the problem? There must be a huge problem, as to date? The latest tally says that the man has spent almost two million dollars keeping his birth certificate from being revealed to the public.

And no, what has been touted as his birth certificate isn't and those running interference for him by vouching for him and saying that they have seen it means absolutely nothing. Show it to the people Barry. We are adults, we can handle it.

I have a birth certificate, I assume you have one also. So what is the problem with producing your birth certificate to verify your identity? Millions of Americans do it all the time.

Not a problem for those who have nothing to hide.

Obama is and has been hiding behind obtuse excuses and a small fortune in attorney's fees trying to keep his birth certificate from ever being revealed to the public.

Very similarly to John Kerry's military records. They were never produced and never will be. (a moot point now, as it will be with Obama once he is out of office.)

As the saying goes. "It's a simple question." And obviously one that Obama refuses to answer. Which only leaves one question. "Why?"

I believe that most reasonably intelligent people know the answer to that.

Anonymous said...

Let's review. The Certification of Live Birth is the OFFICIAL birth certificate of Hawaii. At first you said that it was not a birth certificate, but in your latest posting you make no comment on whether it is a birth certificate or the official birth certificate. It is both.

In your latest posting, you repeat the claim that he has not released his birth certificate, and you back it up with another unsupported claim that Obama has spent "close to two million dollars" to keep it hidden. But you do not mention that Obama has posted (and shown the physical copies to FactCheck and Politifact) the official birth certificate. Yes, he did post it, and yes it is a birth certificate, and yes, it is official.

The claim that Obama spent money to keep his birth certificate hidden is a deliberate birther myth. In fact there was never a lawsuit against Obama just for his birth certificate. If there had been, Obama would simply have shown his official birth certificate, and that would have ended the debate.

Other lawsuits against Obama asked for more than the birth certificate. Most made claims that he lost his citizenship in Indonesia (not true, as a simple telephone call to the Indonesia Embassy will show) and demanded Obama's college, high school and in some cases kindergarten records. These things Obama does not have to show. There is no law that says that he does, and in any case you cannot count these cases as Obama trying to keep his birth certificate secret. In our country you have to defend against every lawsuit against you, no matter how stupid.

So the myth about the lawsuits does not support the other myth that Obama is trying to hide his birth certificate. IN fact, he has released his official birth certificate.

Anonymous said...

So, why doesn't he release his original birth certificate? There are a number of reasons. The biggest, by far is that HE DOESN'T HAVE IT. Hawaii sends out only the short-form certification of live birth, and has sent out only that since 2001--even to people who were born before that date.

Reviewing your latest posting, I see that you have not denied that fact either.

The second reason, obviously, is that the official birth certificate of Hawaii is legally sufficient, and would be accepted by any court barring actual evidence that there was something wrong with it. And, since thousands of people in Hawaii use the official birth certificate every year, it would be wrong for Obama to suggest that there is anything wrong with it.

Another reason, made by the Wall Street Journal, is that it would not do any good to show the original (assuming that Obama could convince Hawaii to send it to him) because the birthers would simply claim that there was something wrong with it too.

I notice in your latest posting that you have focused on the "Obama is hiding something" line and not on the original claim, which was that Obama was born outside of Hawaii.

I deny that he is hiding anything, since he has posted the only birth certificate that Hawaii sends out. AND, I focus again on the main point, that he has proven that he was born in Hawaii, and that there is not a shred of evidence that he was born anywhere else.

You did not respond to my point about the announcements in the Hawaii newspapers, and that they were only sent out by the department of vital records, and only for births IN Hawaii.

You did not respond to the point that the facts on Obama's birth certificate were confirmed by three officials, all Republican, and one being the governor of Hawaii. There would have had to have been lies by four officials, including the original clerk who filled in the form to generate Obama's Certification of Live Birth in 2007, for the information on the Certification that Obama was born in Hawaii to be false.

I am told that the attorney general of Hawaii is a conservative Republican. If he thought that there was anything wrong with Obama’s birth certificate, he could have subpoenaed the original and taken action. But he didn’t.

Obama is not hiding the birth certificate. He showed the copy that he was sent, and it is the official birth certificate. But, if he were hiding something, that would still not prove that he was born in Kenya, or anywhere outside of Hawaii. The birth certificate, the officials, this witness (who recalls being told of Obamas' birth in Hawaii in 1961 and writing home about it)
http://www.buffalonews.com/incoming/article137495.ece ALL SHOW THAT HE WAS BORN IN HAWAII.

Obama’s Kenyan grandmother NEVER said that he was born in Kenya. She said repeatedly in the taped interview that he was born in Hawaii, where his father was studying, and she said in another interview that the first that her family in Kenya had heard of Obama’s birth was in a letter from Hawaii.

There is plenty of evidence that he was born in Hawaii, and none (aside from obviously forged "Kenyan birth certificates") that he was born anywhere else.

Prime said...

So....what color is the sky in your world Anony?

"(assuming that Obama could convince Hawaii to send it to him)"

Hello! The man is "President of the United States." Aside from that, any natural born citizen of this country, has the right to a certified copy of their birth certificate upon request and payment of a small fee to research and photo copy and certify the document.

So there is no "assuming they would sent it to him" period.

Your other point.

"The biggest, by far is that HE DOESN'T HAVE IT. Hawaii sends out only the short-form certification of live birth, and has sent out only that since 2001--even to people who were born before that date."

That is a crock if I have ever heard it.

Lastly. There are numerous instances where a certified copy of a birth certificate are required as identification when applying for everything from jobs to government agencies for things such as a new or replacement social security card or a passport.

Sorry sport, you can obfuscate and attempt your deny the truth all you want, but your arguments and representations of the facts simply don't hold water.

The governor of Hawaii can have Obama's birth certificate subpoenaed? But the president of the United States can't request for or demand a certified copy of his own birth certificate?

Laughable.

And do I really need to post links to the reports and statements of Obama's relatives in Kenya who swear they were present for his birth in Kenya? I don't think so.

So unless you have something evidential beyond your bold assertions and laughable attempts to justify why the man refuses to show his birth certificate? I am not inclined to simply banter with you over it back and forth infinitum.

My point is simple. If Obama was born in Hawaii? Or any of the other 49 states? Then he has a birth certificate and he is entitled to a certified copy of that original certificate documenting his birth, and not just a certification of birth that other people have to attest to in lieu of the original document.

So he can either produce the evidence? Or he can continue to use all means necessary to obstruct all inquiries into his citizenship and legality of his holding the office of president.

In the end, the truth will prevail.

Prime said...

So the jist of your argument, is that Obama doesn't have a copy of his own birth certificate? Because Hawaii won't give him one. But the governor of Hawaii (who attests that he has one) could issue a subpoena for the original (if he wanted to). But the president of the United states can't get a copy of his own birth certificate.

Cute argument. Stupid, but cute.

Ever applied for a passport?

Let me help you out.

" VisaHQ.com » U.S. passport » Birth Certificate
An official certificate of every birth should be on file in the locality where the event occurred. The Federal Government does not maintain files or indexes of these records. These records are filed permanently in a State vital statistics office or in a city, county, or other local office.

To obtain a certified copy of any of the certificates, write or go to the vital statistics office in the State or area where the event occurred. For information on how and where to apply directly please visit Where To Write For Vital Records or for expedited services you can use VitalChek's express certificate ordering service."

Maybe you could forward that information to the White House and help the poor man obtain a copy of his real birth certificate, so we could clear this nasty little mess up. Or I will be glad to offer my assistance if the president is interested. All that is required is a power of attorney. I am sure he would be more than happy to provide one.

I am not inclined to banter further with you over the issue, as the facts and common sense speak for themselves in the matter.

PS, As a bonus. I will be glad to assist John Kerry in obtaining a copy of his military records anytime he is interested.

smrstrauss said...

Re: “any natural born citizen of this country, has the right to a certified copy of their birth certificate upon request and payment of a small fee to research and photo copy and certify the document.”

Yes. That is what Hawaii already sent to Obama, his OFFICIAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE. Hawaii sends out only the official birth certificate, and that is what it sent to Obama. It does not send out the original birth certificate, and simply because Obama is the president it might or might not send him the original if he asked for it. But why should he ask for it, he has the official birth certificate, which is legally sufficient.

Re: “HE DOESN'T HAVE IT. Hawaii sends out only the short-form certification of live birth, and has sent out only that since 2001--even to people who were born before that date." That is a crock if I have ever heard it.

Answer. It is the truth. The Wall Street Journal pointed out: ‘. It is a legal birth certificate, and, as the Honolulu Star-Bulletin notes, it is the only kind of birth certificate the state of Hawaii issues.

And here is a CONSERVATIVE columnist in Hawaii, Andrew Walden:

Obama’s birth certificate posted online is exactly the same birth certificate everybody in Hawai`i gets from the State Department of Health. It is not forged. There is nothing unusual about the design or the texture. http://hawaiifreepress.com/main/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Print.aspx?tabid=56&tabmoduleid=74&articleId=92&moduleId=380&PortalID=0

Re: “There are numerous instances where a certified copy of a birth certificate are required as identification when applying for everything from jobs to government agencies for things such as a new or replacement social security card or a passport.”

Answer. Of course. The Certification of Live Birth is CERTIFIED, as the name implies. The official seal is on the back of the document. It is used by thousands of people every year for getting jobs with government agencies, new or replacement social security cards and passports.

smrstrauss said...

Re: “And do I really need to post links to the reports and statements of Obama's relatives in Kenya who swear they were present for his birth in Kenya? I don't think so.”

Answer. Obama’s relatives in Kenya NEVER said that he was born in Kenya. They said, repeatedly, that he was born in Hawaii.


And here is a transcript of the taped interview with Obama’s Kenyan grandmother after she is asked where was Obama born. (
http://www.obamaconspiracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/obamatranscriptlulu109.pdf

Quotes begin:

MCRAE: Could I ask her about his actual birthplace? I would like to see his birthplace when I come to Kenya in December. Was she present when he was born in Kenya?

OGOMBE: Yes. She says, yes, she was, she was present when Obama was born.

MCRAE: When I come in December. I would like to come by the place, the hospital, where he was born. Could you tell me where he was born? Was he born in Mombasa?

OGOMBE: No, Obama was not born in Mombasa. He was born in America.

MCRAE: Whereabouts was he born? I thought he was born in Kenya.

OGOMBE: No, he was born in America, not in Mombasa.

MCRAE: Do you know where he was born? I thought he was born in Kenya. I was going to go by and see where he was born.

OGOMBE: Hawaii. Hawaii. Sir, she says he was born in Hawaii. In the state of Hawaii, where his father was also learning, there. The state of Hawaii.

END QUOTE

A second interview in which Obama’s Kenyan grandmother said that the first that she had heard of Obama’s birth was in a letter from Hawaii is reported by the Tribune News Service in the Hartfort Courant, which describes how the Kenyan family received a letter announcing the Aug. 4, 1961, birth. The Tribune reporter noted an interview with Sarah Obama in which she said she was "so happy to have a grandchild in the U.S."

The actual quotation is:

“Six months after they wed, another letter arrived in Kenya, announcing the birth of Barack Hussein Obama, born Aug. 4, 1961. Despite her husband's continued anger, Sarah Obama said in a recent interview, she "was so happy to have a grandchild in the U.S." (
http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/world/chi-0703270151mar27-archive,0,2145571.story?page=4

This shows that the birth did not take place in Kenya, but that it took place in Hawaii because the family in Kenya had heard of the birth in a letter from Hawaii.

smrstrauss said...

Re: "If Obama was born in Hawaii? Or any of the other 49 states? Then he has a birth certificate and he is entitled to a certified copy of that original certificate documenting his birth, and not just a certification of birth that other people have to attest to in lieu of the original document."

Answer: That is indeed what he has, he has the certified copy of his official birth certificate, the Certification of Live Birth, which is what Hawaii sends to everyone, and which is the only birth certificate it has sent out since 2001. Thousands of people use it every year to get government jobs, passports, etc.

smrstrauss said...

Re: "So the jist of your argument, is that Obama doesn't have a copy of his own birth certificate? "

No, the gist is that Obama HAS a copy of his birth certificate, the official birth certificate, which is also the ONLY birth certificate Hawaii sends out. The document that it does not send out anymore, is teh original birth certificate, which is no longer the official birth certificate. It does not send out out to anyone, even to people who were born before the Certification became the official birth certificate in 2001.

smrstrauss said...

Re: "Ever applied for a passport?"

Thousands of people every year get their US passports with Hawaii's official birth certificate, the Certification of Live Birth, which is the one that Obama showed, and which is the one that the officials in Hawaii have confirmed the facts on repeatedly.

smrstrauss said...

Let's review.

Obama’s Kenyan grandmother NEVER said that he was born in Kenya. She said repeatedly in the taped interview that he was born in Hawaii, where his father was studying, and she said in another interview that the first that her family in Kenya had heard of Obama’s birth was in a letter from Hawaii.

Obama has shown the official birth certificate of Hawaii, and the facts on it were confirmed by the officials in Hawaii. A total of four of them (including the original clerk) would have to be lying for Obama to be born anywhere else than Hawaii.

There were notices in the newspapers of Obama's birth in 1961, and those notices were not advertisements that could be placed by relatives. They were only official notices sent out by the department of vital records, and only for births IN Hawaii, not for births outside of Hawaii.

Prime said...

Thank you for registering.

As it has been stated in your transcript, first his grandmother states that she was present when he was born in Kenya, then she says that she received notice of the birth in Hawaii. Is that the way it goes?

See if you can find the transcript on this interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH4GX3Otf14&feature=related

Another six minutes you might want to spend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8JK442bb2I&feature=related

Another interesting piece by Lou Dobbs of CNN.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DPuR29_AcI&feature=related

All that has occurred since the issue was originally raised during the campaign, is obfuscating and claims that his birth record is not really an issue.

I maintain, as do many others, that it is an issue and if it weren't an issue? The man would have long since produced the unequivocal proof of his birth in Hawaii and his citizenship.

But he hasn't. He refuses to and he continues to act as if the entire issue is a non issue, while his White House counsel continues to run interference and fight the legal battles behind the scenes to keep the official records from ever being released.

Sorry, I am not buying it.

smrstrauss said...

Re: "first his grandmother states that she was present when he was born in Kenya, then she says that she received notice of the birth in Hawaii. Is that the way it goes?"

Obama's grandmother never said that she was present when he was born in Kenya. She said YES to a question, but what was the question that she heard? She does not speak English. The question in English was was she present WHEN he was born. But what was the question in the African language?

We do not know. We know that she said yes, but that could have meant simply that she was present in Kenya when he was born, wherever that was. So, since the interviewer did not know what she was really saying, he asked the question "Where was he born?" The answer came back that he was born in Hawaii. She said it and repeated it several times.

It was in a separate interview in which she said that the first that her family in Kenya had heard of Obama's birth was in a letter from Hawaii.

This is what the conservative National Review said about the Kenya fantasy: “The theory that Obama was born in Kenya, that he was smuggled into the U.S., and that his parents somehow hoodwinked Hawaiian authorities into falsely certifying his birth in Oahu, is crazy stuff.”

Why is it crazy? First because of the enormous expense of such a trip in 1961. It has been estimated that it would have cost close to ten thousand 2010 dollars round trip, twenty thousand for two. And these were two poor students.

Then there is the risk of such a trip late in pregnancy, and the fact that Yellow Fever was endemic in Kenya at the time.

Then there is the fact that there is no legal proof of Obama having received a visa in Kenya or his mother having her US passport changed to include her child while she was in Kenya. The immigration officials would not have allowed him to enter without one or the other document.

If such a document existed, it would be easy to find because the records of the application for the visa or for the change to the mother's passport would still be in the files of the US State Department, filed under applications for visas and applications for changes to passports in Kenya in 1961. The Republicans were in charge of the US State Department until January 2009. No such document has been found. No such document exists.

Obama was not born in Kenya. He was born in Hawaii, as his official birth certificate from Hawaii shows, and the facts on it were repeatedly confirmed by the officials in Hawaii. Obama has already posted a copy of the official birth certificate, the Certification of Live Birth, which is the only birth document that Hawaii has been sending out since 2001. Hawaii no longer sends out copies of the original birth certificate, only of the official birth certificate: The Certification of Live Birth.

In addition to the lack of proof that Obama was taken from Kenya to the USA, and the official birth certificate of Hawaii, and the confirmation of the three officials (four including the clerk) and the witness who recalls being told of Obama's birth in Hawaii, and the grandmother saying that he was born in Hawaii and that the first that her family had heard of Obama's birth was in a letter from Hawaii, there was, of course, the notices in the Hawaii newspapers in 1961.

Those notices were not advertisements. They were only official notices sent out by the department of vital records of Hawaii, and they only sent them out for births IN Hawaii, and not for births outside of Hawaii.