Army Birther Terrence Lakin In Court After Disobeying Orders

[DiveCon]

Lakin now accepts that Obama is the Commander In Chief and is requesting to be deployed to Afghanistan now.

Unfortunately for him, he can't undo his decision to make this an issue and further insistence of being tried by a Court Martial (he was given many opportunities to simply be reprimanded and allowed to deploy).

I think he was poorly served by the idiot birther movement who were only interested in using his rank to propel their own idiotic cause (despite ruining at least three other careers in the process and being told that this wasn't an appropriate venue to raise their legal challenge).

However, Lakin is an O-5 and a Doctor. He should have the good sense and judgment to know when he is being led astray.

Unfortunately for him, by the time he got wise and fired his idiot birther lawyer and hired a real one, it was too late.

I am not at all sympathetic to him. God help the E-1 who tried to pull this shit. They would probably spend years in Leavenworth.

However, since he's an Officer, he'll probably get a general discharge and be separated and really the only penalty he'll have is loss of his retirement (he was at the 17 year mark) and benefits.

And good luck with his medical practice too. No, not really.

I am curious if this will affect his medical practice. I know you can't practice of convicted of a felony.

I also stand corrected. It looks like Lakin has been sentenced to six months.

I forgot how quickly military justice works.

yeah, i thought i had heard it was settled

 

[geauxtohell]

If Lakin ever envisioned his court-martial as the slingshot that could bring down a presidency and prove that the Birthers are heroes rather than loonies, he had given up that dream by the time he entered a guilty plea and backed up a not guilty plea with a technicality.

The balding, gray colonel may not have truly changed his beliefs. But he looked small and shaken as he admitted to disobeying orders from his boss, Gordon Roberts, a Medal of Honor recipient. He murmured “Yes, ma’am” over and over in a low voice as the precise Judge Lind pressed him on whether he understood that “the dictates of conscience do not justify disobeying a lawful order.”

Sobered by the prospect of a dishonorable dismissal, losing his pension and serving hard time, as well as facing a panel of military superiors in dress uniforms, Colonel Lakin said the winter had been “a confusing time, a very emotional time for me.” His shoulders slumped, he offered excuses about how he had gotten conflicting advice from lawyers — his defense was underwritten by Birthers.

“I understand that it was my decision, and I made the wrong choice,” he told the judge.

...

​

LINK

The moron birthers succeed in destroying yet another Army Officer's career.

Now that someone has been officially punished, I am only hopeful that no one else will be so fucking stupid.

This goes beyond the superficial issue of the birth certificate and is more about whether or not it is appropriate to try and use the military to try and prompt a constitutional challenge.

It is not.

Lakin was told that. He did not listen. I am not sympathetic.

 

[DiveCon]

If Lakin ever envisioned his court-martial as the slingshot that could bring down a presidency and prove that the Birthers are heroes rather than loonies, he had given up that dream by the time he entered a guilty plea and backed up a not guilty plea with a technicality.

The balding, gray colonel may not have truly changed his beliefs. But he looked small and shaken as he admitted to disobeying orders from his boss, Gordon Roberts, a Medal of Honor recipient. He murmured “Yes, ma’am” over and over in a low voice as the precise Judge Lind pressed him on whether he understood that “the dictates of conscience do not justify disobeying a lawful order.”

Sobered by the prospect of a dishonorable dismissal, losing his pension and serving hard time, as well as facing a panel of military superiors in dress uniforms, Colonel Lakin said the winter had been “a confusing time, a very emotional time for me.” His shoulders slumped, he offered excuses about how he had gotten conflicting advice from lawyers — his defense was underwritten by Birthers.

“I understand that it was my decision, and I made the wrong choice,” he told the judge.

...

​

LINK

The moron birthers succeed in destroying yet another Army Officer's career.

Now that someone has been officially punished, I am only hopeful that no one else will be so fucking stupid.

This goes beyond the superficial issue of the birth certificate and is more about whether or not it is appropriate to try and use the military to try and prompt a constitutional challenge.

It is not.

Lakin was told that. He did not listen. I am not sympathetic.

its too bad those that advised him in this wont face the same punishment

 

[geauxtohell]

yeah, i thought i had heard it was settled

It is. He's toast.

I am always amazed at how frigging stupid (common sense wise) some Doctors can be.

The Army gave him several opportunities to avoid this inevitable outcome. When he demanded a court martial, he force their hand and (not surprisingly) the hammer fell.

Hard.

 

[geauxtohell]

its too bad those that advised him in this wont face the same punishment

I think the best he can do is sue his initial lawyer for malpractice, but that will be a hard sell.

 

[Political Junky]

Lakin now accepts that Obama is the Commander In Chief and is requesting to be deployed to Afghanistan now.

Unfortunately for him, he can't undo his decision to make this an issue and further insistence of being tried by a Court Martial (he was given many opportunities to simply be reprimanded and allowed to deploy).

I think he was poorly served by the idiot birther movement who were only interested in using his rank to propel their own idiotic cause (despite ruining at least three other careers in the process and being told that this wasn't an appropriate venue to raise their legal challenge).

However, Lakin is an O-5 and a Doctor. He should have the good sense and judgment to know when he is being led astray.

Unfortunately for him, by the time he got wise and fired his idiot birther lawyer and hired a real one, it was too late.

I am not at all sympathetic to him. God help the E-1 who tried to pull this shit. They would probably spend years in Leavenworth.

However, since he's an Officer, he'll probably get a general discharge and be separated and really the only penalty he'll have is loss of his retirement (he was at the 17 year mark) and benefits.

And good luck with his medical practice too. No, not really.

I am curious if this will affect his medical practice. I know you can't practice of convicted of a felony.

I also stand corrected. It looks like Lakin has been sentenced to six months.

I forgot how quickly military justice works.

Hopefully he's "retired" from his medical practice as well as the military.