Obama to lock up Army doctor rather than produce birth certificate
It appears the “most open and transparent White House in history” is willing to throw an Army doctor into Leavenworth rather than produce Barack Obama’s valid birth certificate. Lt. Col. Terry Lakin has refused to deploy to Afghanistan until Barack Obama proves his Constitutional eligibility by producing his birth certificate. From the American Thinker:
A devoted physician and military officer may go to military prison, to protect the secrecy of the President’s original birth documentation held by the state government of Hawaii. The secrecy of the President’s paper trail may be about to gain a martyr.
From Lakin’s website (emphasis mine):
LTC Terry Lakin has tried in vain to get the same verification from our President that he has been asked to provide countless times in his career, for many jobs, and to obtain a security clearance for the trusted positions he has held within the U.S. Armed Forces.
He has put his life on the line all over the world and served with honor, and will be glad to do so again, but only under a Commander in Chief he knows is legally eligible to lead.
I know that if Obama is found to be a usurper, the country will likely experience unrest. I also know that we would be left with Nancy Pelosi as VP and Joe Biden as President, which in itself is almost enough to deter any steps to restore a legitimate government. But the fact remains that the Constitution says that our president must be “natural born.” And when the president is willing to throw a decorated Lieutenant Colonel into prison rather than produce his birth certificate, that path is the darker of the two.
In: Military, Politics · Tagged with: Barack Obama, natural-born citizen
Military Roundup
ACLU project endangers CIA interrogators: The CIA says that the ACLU-backed “John Adams Project” endangers CIA interrogators. The Washington Times states the Project “has photographed covert CIA interrogators and shown the pictures to some of the five senior al Qaeda terrorists held there in an effort to identify them further.”
On 29 Mar, 20 photos of CIA interrogators were found in the cell of a detainee believed to be a financier of the 9/11 attacks.
Some CIA officials are said to be concerned over Justice Department officials who formerly represented Guantanamo inmates. Last month, Attorney General Eric Holder admitted nine DOJ appointees represented GTMO detainees or contributed to amicus briefs on their behalf, but would not provide further details. Holder also admitted, however, that he didn’t survey the entire Department, just large offices. There could be many more former terrorist litigators in our “Justice” Department. Andrew McCarthy has more.
Photo of the Day: U.S. pilots flying Russian helicopters?
Cheonan incident: South Korea’s president placed the military on alert, said the sinking could have been due to a North Korean mine. 46 crew members are still missing and it is unlikely any will be recovered.
START Treaty: Russia claims they will have upgraded 80% of their nuclear arsenal by 2015. Meanwhile, the U.S. is paying to dismantle their old weapons systems – allowing the Russians to spend on new weapons systems instead. The U.S. has not introduced a new system in 15 years. Advantage: Russia. Big time.
Afghanistan/Pakistan: U.S. forces set sights on Taliban bastion of Kandahar
Ralph Peters: Gen. McChrystal’s “look out, here we come” warnings to the Taliban may be backfiring; terrorists turning on terrorists in AfPak; Obama’s midnight ride to Afghanistan sends the wrong message.
The good news? We’re not only killing terrorists in Pakistan — they’re starting to kill each other. The bad news? Afghanistan isn’t a war. It’s a politically correct experiment — conducted with our troops — by an administration with higher priorities.
Somalia: Pentagon considers sending surveillance (unarmed) drones, special operations units to Somalia in fight against al Qaeda-linked terrorists.
U.S. Navy E-2 aircraft crashes in Arabian Sea. Three of the four crew have been rescued. Search efforts are underway for the fourth.
In: Military Roundup · Tagged with: ACLU, Afghanistan, Barack Obama, CIA, Guantanamo Bay, John Adams Project, Justice, Taliban
Military Roundup
Photo of the Day: “Double ugly”
Moscow subway attack: Suicide bombers detonate two bombs in Moscow subway – at least 38 killed, 102 wounded. London Times: “Police in Moscow have identified CCTV footage of the two women suicide bombers who blew themselves up on packed underground trains this morning and said that they had been accompanied by other women.” (H/T United States Action)
South Korea’s government asks for help – U.S. ships respond to assist in search, recovery, and salvage efforts. The Cheonan lies in two pieces on the sea floor. 58 sailors – including the ship’s captain – have been rescued.
The Virginia-class attack submarine USS New Mexico (SSN 79) has joined the fleet. The New Mexico is the second so-named ship: the first New Mexico (BB-40) was a battleship that earned six battle stars during World War II.
96 percent of Afghans oppose the Taliban
Troops kill, capture militants, seize weapons / 27 Mar USAF Airpower Summary
President Obama pays surprise visit to troops in Afghanistan
USAF builds hospital in Chile large enough to serve 110,000 – in just three and a half days. After treating hundreds of patients and performing dozens of surgeries, the U.S. donated the hospital to Chile.
The Obama administration is laying out legal justification for drone attacks.
Albert Chestone – retired FBI special agent, World War II veteran, and author of What America Means To Me – discusses “current security concerns, how the FBI has changed in the last 30 years, what was J. Edgar Hoover like to work under, and why Americans need to realign their ‘compasses of life’ with the pillar of freedom in order to pass on a vital America to the next generation” on Sharon Hughes’ radio program, Changing Worldviews. Listen to the show. Buy the book.
In: Military Roundup · Tagged with: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Chile, drones, US Air Force
Carrots for Taliban, Sticks for U.S. troops
ISAF commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal has ordered the closure of morale, welfare, and recreation facilities to pay for the Obama administration’s troop increase – which if you will remember was far less than what the military said would be necessary for “victory” (a word which Obama will not use).
“This is a war zone — not an amusement park,” stated Command Sgt. Maj. Michael T. Hall on the decision to close fast food restaurants and other amenities on Afghanistan bases.
“One of the ways we’re going to do that — in order to accommodate the troop increase and get re-focused on the mission at hand — is to cut back on some of the non-essentials. That includes some of the morale, welfare and recreation facilities throughout Afghanistan.” said Hall. “In the coming weeks and months, concessions such as Orange Julius, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen and Military Car Sales will close their doors.”
Perhaps the Commander-in-Chief forgot who is fighting on our side: While the Obama administration is considering a stimulus package for the Taliban, McChrystal is forced to cut funding for our troops. And let’s not forget the trillions of dollars of new government spending.
Fewer first-run movies. Fewer canned and bottled goods. Fail.
But the bright news is that Canadian troops get to keep their Tim Hortons coffee shop in Kandahar. And the profits pay for health and welfare services for the Canadian forces.
Maybe the famous American quote should now read “Trillions for entitlements, but not a penny for defense!”
In: Military · Tagged with: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Stanley McChrystal, US military
Obama the CIA agent?
There’s even a court case on this issue. The very few rogue agents in the Agency’s history have wound up in a world of hurt, so I sincerely doubt that a CIA turncoat would make it to president. Besides, I have a hard time imagining Obama – who probably doesn’t tuck his kids into bed without two teleprompters – running around with tough guys. While I have served on details for previous presidents, I haven’t done any for Obama. But I have talked with folks who have. I am told that Obama’s handshake was the most limp-wristed they had ever experienced, and his hands were far softer than any woman’s they ever met. The man has probably never worked a day in his life.
My assessment is that this case doesn’t pass the smell test. This event seems to be an attempt to answer valid questions about our president’s past that deserve answers. Perhaps if Obama didn’t block access to virtually all of his records, things like this case wouldn’t be necessary in the first place.
In: Politics · Tagged with: Barack Obama, CIA, natural-born citizen
The media’s Constitutional double standard
Which does the mainstream media hold in higher regard: the Constitution or Democratic party interests? After reading Jerome Corsi’s latest article exposing the media’s double standard on presidential eligibility, it would appear to be the latter.
The same media outlets that sounded the alarm in 2008 over McCain’s eligibility are now marginalizing the growing concerns whether our current president is constitutionally qualified to hold office.
When McCain became the Republican nominee, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, FactCheck.org, Snopes.com, the Times of London, and many other media outlets questioned his eligibility to serve, as he was born in the Panama Canal Zone.
Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution states that “No person except a natural born citizen … shall be eligible to the office of President.” But according to U.S. law, McCain was in fact eligible to serve, as he was born on a Navy base to American parents.
McCain appeared before Congress with his actual birth certificate (not a “Certification of Live Birth,”, which Obama and the media wrongly portray as a birth certificate), thereby averting a possible Constitutional crisis. However, FactCheck.org still maintains that “If McCain wins the presidency, the constitutionality of these congressional statutes could be challenged in the courts.”
Why didn’t Congress also bring in Obama, who has sealed nearly all of his records, to testify as McCain did? Obama’s refusal to release the very documents that would resolve the matter has cost an incredible $1.7 million in order to fight requests to release the information according to World Net Daily. If our president has nothing to hide, then why doesn’t he release his actual birth certificate as McCain did? After all, there aren’t separate versions of the Constitution for Republicans and Democrats.
My view is that the media was right to investigate McCain’s eligibility. But they should have given candidate Obama the same scrutiny. While the media – and these supposed “fact-checking” websites – wrote piece after piece questioning the validity of the Republican candidate, those who questioned the Democratic candidate were – and continue to be – attacked and smeared by the same. Their efforts to label concerned citizens “birthers” and “racists” is nothing more than a diversionary tactic to shift the focus from where it belongs.
Whether you think the so-called “birther” movement is nuts or not, what is truly ridiculous is that our president has allowed this controversy to continue for nearly two years. Government officials swear an oath to “support the Constitution,” not to selectively apply the law when it is politically expedient for them.
In: Media, Politics · Tagged with: Barack Obama, birthers, Constitution, media bias
The only time Obama used the word ‘Victory’
Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the Japanese Government, on board USS Missouri (BB-63), 2 September 1945. Lieutentant General Richard K. Sutherland, U.S. Army, watches from the opposite side of the table. Foreign Ministry representative Toshikazu Kase is assisting Mr. Shigemitsu. (US Army photograph)
“I’m always worried about using the word ‘victory,’ because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur.”
- Barack Obama in an ABC News interview, 2009
I was given the impression that Obama was the most brilliant man ever to grace the White House. But our president doesn’t seem to know that Hirohito didn’t sign the surrender. And why does Obama think one man needs to ‘come down’ to meet with another? Hirohito and MacArthur are both men, regardless of titles. But this is the only president to bow to foreign heads of state.
In: Politics · Tagged with: Barack Obama, Gen. Douglas MacArthur
Explaining Biden’s incoherence on Iraq
Victor Davis Hanson makes a brilliant explanation on Biden’s (and Obama’s) numerous contradictory positions on Iraq over the years, which he also chronicles.
If one were to factor in four outside variables — a) proximity of presidential elections; b) current polls regarding Iraq; c) current polls regarding George Bush’s popularity; d) current level of violence in Iraq — one could pretty much have predicted all of Biden’s seemingly incoherent positions and many of Obama’s.
That is, they are not illogical, but simply shadow the above four considerations at any given time.
E.g., Bush polling well, election way off, majority support for the war, progress in Iraq = bipartisan, statesmanlike support for an ongoing American war in Iraq.
But Bush not polling well, presidential or congressional elections coming up, majority of Americans polling against the war, deadlock in Iraq = shrill, partisan attack on ongoing American war in Iraq.
We expect this from most of our politicians on most issues. But in times of war, when thousands of Americans are executing a policy abroad at great risk to their lives, it is a dangerous thing to predicate support almost entirely on politics.
It’s not about national security. It’s not about the lives of those they send overseas. It’s about power.
In: Politics · Tagged with: Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Iraq, Joe Biden, Victor Davis Hanson
The truth about Obama’s budget freeze
In: Economics · Tagged with: Barack Obama
Corruption at the UN
Corruption in the United Nations? Surely not!
The folks who brought us one of the greatest scandals of all time (the Oil-for-Food program) have figured out a way to avoid future corruption and scandal: eliminate their anti-corruption task force that had been policing the UN since 2006.
And the U.S. General Accounting Office’s estimates determined that Saddam Hussein made about $10 billion off the deal, not $1 billion as the AP story below reports.
The Procurement Task Force spent about three years chasing down about 20 major schemes, totaling about $1 billion in contracts and foreign aid.
From the AP (via Fox News):
… at the beginning of 2009, the United Nations shuttered the agency and diverted its work to the Office of Internal Oversight Services’ permanent investigation division.
Since then, the number of cases opened, pursued or completed has dropped dramatically and the division has let go most former task force investigators, the AP found in an examination of U.N. documents, audits and e-mails, along with dozens of interviews with current and former U.N. officials and diplomats.
Over the past year, not a single significant fraud or corruption case has been completed, compared with an average 150 cases a year investigated by the task force. The permanent investigation division decided not to even pursue about 95 cases left over when the task force ceased operation, while another 80 unfinished cases have languished.
It also stopped probes into contractors and cut qualified staff and other resources — and halted five major corruption investigations documented by the task force in the final days of 2008.
But we shouldn’t be concerned. Why? Because the UN says so.
“The investigations division, I am convinced, is doing a very good job, and is continuing the good work,” U.N. management chief Angela Kane said in late October. She repeated the assertion last week.
Some of the fraud from this year:
— Nothing has come of a task force report completed in December 2008 that found $1 million a day flowing out of a safe in a U.N. project office in Kabul — part of $850 million intended for Afghanistan’s rebuilding and elections between 2002 and 2006. A year later, U.N. managers say the case is still under review.
— Task force staff ran out of time before they could complete two more investigations on Afghanistan. One involved evidence that a U.S. firm padded its charges by $1 million and the other that U.N. staff diverted millions of dollars from Afghan elections, roads, schools and hospitals, according to U.N. documents and officials.
Task force investigators found evidence some of the money went to expand U.N. operations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East without authorization. And they found no documentation to confirm how the Kabul office used tens of millions of dollars meant to promote democratic elections in Afghanistan.
— No action has been taken on a task force finding that about half of $350,000 in U.N. funds intended to launch a radio station for women in Baghdad was used to pay off personal loans, a mortgage, credit card bills and taxes, as well as for cash withdrawals from a bank in Jordan. The task force recommended disciplining a U.N. staff member and referring the case to national prosecutorial authorities. Neither has happened.
— A task force investigation of collusion and bid-rigging involving a transport company in Africa found contracts steered to one company and two of its senior officers. The task force recommended the case be prosecuted; nothing has happened. U.N. managers say the case is under review.
— In another case, task force investigators obtained evidence of major corruption involving more than $200 million in transportation contracts for U.N. peacekeeping throughout Africa. U.N. procurement records show Russian companies held a large proportion — a quarter of about $400 million in U.N. air transportation contracts in 2009. The case has since been dropped.
Now would Obama kindly explain why we are wanting to send .7% of our nation’s GDP to the UN (about $100 billion from the U.S. each year alone)?
In: Geopolitics · Tagged with: Barack Obama, corruption, Global Poverty Act, UN
