Some have said that, logically, if the Commander In Chief is not eligible, then all orders given are not legal. This is not true. What makes an order legal or not depends on the UCMJ, itself, and whether the order is, itself, a crime. For example, "Kill these unarmed civilians and bring me their ears" is not a legal order. "Report for deployment to the war zone," on the other hand, is clearly a legal order.
So LTC Lakin's conscience does not enter into it, unless he just realized, after all these years of service, that he's a conscientious objector. And somehow I kind of doubt that.
The question before the Court Martial, then, is not why LTC Lakin disobeyed his orders, but rather whether he disobeyed them. Since he has, himself, publicly admitted that he was planning on disobeying them, and then went on to do exactly that, there would seem to be little question that he did, in fact, violate the UCMJ. And in a Court Martial, that's pretty much all there is to it.
As Washington Attorney Phillip D. Cave put it, "He is likely to lose everything and accomplish nothing ... No military judge will say that (obtaining documents) of the president is necessary to prove the charges."
From the same article:
We all feel saddened," said David Price, a former captain and 25-year veteran of the Navy Judge Advocate General's office, now in private practice.
"He was issued an order to deploy and didn't. End of issue," he said. He said the military has dealt with these types of cases since Vietnam, when soldiers tried to make larger political issues the basis of their trials, and is experienced at keeping the proceedings free of politics.
Price also said that if the case does finally get to a general court-martial and a judge is asked to approve discovery requests by the defense, it is unlikely that it would be allowed to encompass the presidency. He said this wasn't because of a conspiracy, but because the case is relatively simple and doesn't require it.
So if LTC Lakin is highly unlikely to be allowed to give a defense that would involve full discovery, thus getting a peek at the non-existant "long form" Birth Certificate, then why is he doing this?
Some have suggested that he was given bad advice. It seems that his civilian lawyer, Paul Rolf Jensen, is not exactly an expert in military law. Does Jensen simply not understand that he's bringing a tuba to what is essentially a kazoo recital? One can only hope Lakin's court-appointed, military lawyer will quickly disabuse Jensen of any fool notions he may have about how the Court Martial is going to work.
Some have suggested that there may be something even worse at work. It has been pointed out by our friends at Oh For Goodness Sake that the American Patriot Foundation is a who's who of conservative operatives. Did they go shopping for a Judas goat to further some wacko right-wing operation, and find one in Lakin?
If so, what's their endgame? Getting Lakin off the hook is obviously a non-starter, as is getting a look at the mythcial "long form." So are they hoping Lakin's conviction will start a "No, I'm Spartacus" movement amongst the American Military, thus causing embarrassment and unneeded hassle to Obama, and making him look weak in the run-up to midterm elections? Are they hanging LTC Lakin out to dry in order to shore up some poling numbers?
This will be an interesting case to watch, yes, but it will also be a very sad one. No matter what happens from here on out, LTC Lakin's career is effectively over, and it is over because he made a terrible mistake. One can only hope that those who aided and abetted that mistake are also called into account for their part in this, and made to explain their true motives before the court of public opinion, if not civilian law.
(Image shamelessly stolen from safeguard our constitution's website)
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