Posted on 12/14/2010 9:25:59 AM PST by Smokeyblue
This is why "guilty" pleas matter. To preserve that issue for appeal, Lakin would have to enter a "not-guilty" plea. He didn't.
Lakin changed his plea because he finally listened to some competent legal advice. That issue was NEVER going to be a winner on appeal, so the best course of action is to mitigate the damage already done. Generally speaking, guilty pleas come with lighter sentences (even absent plea agreements), if for no other reason that you haven't pissed off the jury panel by wasting their time with an asinine defense.
To: Beckwith
Lt. Col. Lakin may have or have not done many things. None of them resemble desertion in any way.
Somebody had to deploy to Afghanistan in his place.
195 posted on Tuesday, December 14, 2010 2:57:07 PM by Lurking Libertarian
Despicable of you! To call Lakin a deserter, Lurking Lib.
I didn’t plead guilty; LTC Lakin did.
I didn’t admit, under oath, that the orders LTC Lakin disobeyed were legal orders; LTC Lakin did.
Actually they do have the right to pick and choose what rules and regulations they follow.
I believe is was General Patton that said “Rules and Regulations exist for the discretion of the Commander.”
It is also against the UCMJ to kill or inflict bodily harm on people, yet our commanders order it everyday in combat. They are protected by the legality of such orders.
From the beginning of this whole thing I have said Lakin has the right to disobey an unlawful order, he also has to prove it is unlawful, this court took away his ability and right to prove the orders he was given were unlawful, that is a threat on our Constitution.
I have also said I expected he would be found guilty if Obama proved he was eligible.
The political conspiracy here is the cover up of Obama’s ineligibility, not the search for the truth if he is eligible
Folks "serve" for various reasons. There are some reasons which are, of themselves, honorable. To make a better life for oneself through taking up the military discipline and code of ethics. To learn skills in a way that serves the nation as well, while learning those skills. For camaraderie. For pride and "manhood". To honor their fathers and grandfathers who served. To test themselves. All honorable reasons to "serve".
Some serve for reasons which of themselves are neither honorable or dishonorable: To wear a uniform. To fight. To travel the world. To give orders to others. To live a life which is highly structured and hard to make big mistakes as long as one follows orders. For vanity, to gain bragging rights.
And a few serve for what I call dishonorable reasons: To exploit others. To lord one's service or uniform over others. For a retirement pension. To make a sacrifice on behalf of others. To somehow 'get back' at authority, to sabotage from within.
Note that last two, they are really the same reason!
That the most dangerous kind of people are those who claim to serve to sacrifice for others, is to me an obvious as the sun at dawn. I too spit on them!
Like I spit on the saboteurs of morality and high ethics. What is this court? ... These career military persons who support its mad and dishonest method? I spit at it and all who celebrate it!
“Yeah. I am just grasping at straws.”
YES, you are. Why?
+++++++++++++++++++
Because I held hope that this case would bring the issue to the forefront of the MSM in such a way as to force Obama to reveal his documentation. Obviously that will not happen with this case.
+++++++++++++++++
It makes me sick to my stomach knowing that LTC Lakin is going to be punished for doing the right thing.
“...doing the right thing?
Lakin just pled guilty to committing a crime. What “right thing” are you talking about?
+++++++++++++++++++++
He refused to deploy because he believes that Obama is not constitutionally eligible to issue the orders which eventually made their way down the chain of command to Lakin. From this perspective, Lakin was acting honorably in the act of disobeying orders he did not believe were legal. This is one of the duties of an Officer.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I was hoping that there would be some positive resolution out of his case.
We all were. It is shame that Lakin gave up.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I agree, but I don’t know anywhere near enough about the Military Code of Justice to have anything remotely to be considered as informed. I was obviously pinning some hopes on a lost cause. I too am sorry he gave up.
Lakin changed his plea because he finally listened to some competent legal advice.
201 posted on Tuesday, December 14, 2010 3:01:51 PM by OldDeckHand
Sheesh. He made a POLITICAL PROTEST based on a CONSPIRACY THEORY. How stupid can you be?
Right, I don't have a clue which is EXACTLY why I've been so wrong about all this Lakin business oh, wait.
Puckett didn't say his client was guilty of anything. He stipulated that Lind was correct in her rulings on the law. He's right, and any 1L would know that he's right.
This was Puckett's way of signaling that he was going to pusue a course of action based in sound, legal reasoning - very much UNLIKE the legal reasoning that got Lakin into problems in the first place.
I want nothing less than a public apology to Jim Robinson and all other FReeper vets. Otherwise, butter can hit the road, IMO.
I get worked up on these threads too sometimes, but I don’t talk about spitting on the military.
That was unacceptable.
Army ‘Birther’ Pleads Guilty at Trial
Article excerpts...
“I wrongly chose to disobey all orders,” Lakin told Judge Col. Denise R. Lind, who questioned him at length before accepting his guilty plea. Lakin drew a distinction between the charge he pleaded guilty to — failing to report for duty — and the charge of missing movement by skipping the flight to Fort Campbell.
Though the court-martial is not going to weigh Lakin's arguments about Obama, the colonel's brother said Lakin "is looking forward to making a statement at the end of the trial."
"He has always had strong convictions," Greg Lakin said. "I'm not saying we all [in the family] support the decision he chose, but we support him."
Usmcobra, you are the kind of man I can honor with every ounce of my soul. I know there are others like you - like Lt Col Lakin - and I would lay down anything I have and my life itself to defend you or those like you, who are kindred spirits in defense of the Constitution.
I know it will be ridiculed, but I am weeping just because I am so thankful that you exist. I was beginning to think the country had lost all our true warriors for the Constitution.
I would never -ever - spit on someone who had served this nation honorably. And I would never - ever - WANT to do anything but befriend, support, and praise those who take their oaths seriously.
I should not have said I felt like spitting on the US military. Those words bring back too many raw memories and emotions for too many people. I am disgusted by those who spit on our soldiers, and I have commented here many times to that effect. I was looking for a way to say how deeply this bothers me. I chose my words poorly.
I don’t care what most people think about me, but it means the world to me right now to know that my heroes in the military understand what I mean and care at least as deeply as I do. God bless you a million times over.
Uh, they do, they did, and he did. He’s guilty as charged and he admits it. Period. Making political protests while in uniform based on conspiracy theories is risky business.
I respect your point of view Buckeye. I sincerely do.
“Yeah. I am just grasping at straws.”
YES, you are. Why?
+++++++++++++++++++
Because I held hope that this case would bring the issue to the forefront of the MSM in such a way as to force Obama to reveal his documentation. Obviously that will not happen with this case.
+++++++++++++++++
It makes me sick to my stomach knowing that LTC Lakin is going to be punished for doing the right thing.
“...doing the right thing?
Lakin just pled guilty to committing a crime. What “right thing” are you talking about?
+++++++++++++++++++++
He refused to deploy because he believes that Obama is not constitutionally eligible to issue the orders which eventually made their way down the chain of command to Lakin. From this perspective, Lakin was acting honorably in the act of disobeying orders he did not believe were legal. This is one of the duties of an Officer.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I was hoping that there would be some positive resolution out of his case.
We all were. It is shame that Lakin gave up.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I agree, but I don’t know anywhere near enough about the Military Code of Justice to have anything remotely to be considered as informed. I was obviously pinning some hopes on a lost cause. I too am sorry he gave up.
206 posted on Tuesday, December 14, 2010 3:09:02 PM by Danae
Danae,
Lakin may have had honorable motives when he refused to deploy alledgedly because he did not believe that BO’s orders were lawful, but after his guilty plea, his original motive is questionable.
Ever hear of Article 34 the “Catch All” under the UCMJ? This alone basically tells every service man or woman that the military/federal government can do what they want with you.
When you sign up for service to our nation then you are basically government property. You no longer have the same rights as a civilian. The government can do whatever they want with you, and there is nothing you can do about it.
Article 34 trumps all other articles. Trust me it was emphasized when I was in the military. Now everyone has their own political opinion, but when you are in the service you keep it to yourself. That is the way it was and my guess it still is..
I felt the same way about those who didn’t want to deploy because Bush was “selected.”
It’s crap. The orders are legal under Title 10. All of our commissioned officers didn’t have their authority yanked just because this sorry jack@ss is the CIC.
Yes, but that guilty plea had nothing to do with preserving the birther defense on appeal. It has to do primarily with complicating issues that relevant case law creates for the prosecution vis-a-vis Art. 87 and civilian transportation. IOW, because it's a civilian transport and not a military transport, there are some procedural hurdles for the government to clear before they can get a guilty verdict. Lakin's team is wise to make the government try to step over those precedential challenges.
Is it a conspiracy to state he was born owing allegiance to a foreign country? Even his own campaign web site and fact check essentially admit that.
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