As reported earlier today on Drudge via the
Ledger-Enquirer, and reported on here by Digital Journalist
Michael Krebs, Major Stefan Frederick Cook has refused orders to transfer to Afghanistan on the grounds that U.S. President Barack Obama is not a natural-born American citizen, and is therefore ineligible to serve as Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Major Cook's lawyer, Dr. Orly Taitz, filed a request last week in federal court seeking a temporary restraining order and status as a conscientious objector for her client. Ms. Taitz has a history of filing Obama birth certificate, or
Nirther challenges, questioning the legitimacy of President Obama's status as POTUS based on questions about Mr. Obama's birth certificate.
Though I had long thought this tinfoil hat conspiracy theory, long ago discredited by the U.S. Supreme Court, to be a curious relic of the past, the comments section of the Ledger-Enquirer post is filled with tinfoil hat Nirthers grasping at every straw possible to discredit Obama's presidency. Once again, I, a conservative Republican who has never voted Democrat in my life, and oppose nearly every policy President Obama has pushed or enacted since taking office, find myself in the position of defending the President tooth and nail.
Only in America!
For those of you unfamiliar with Nirtherism, I posted this
detailed OpEd on the subject on March 30.
First, the facts:
Primary among them is the fact that Barack Obama is President of the United States. I don't care if he was born on Mars, or from the jackal in
The Omen. Neither do 99 per cent of right-wing conservatives, including David Horowitz and even Rush Limbaugh. Then-Senator Barack Obama campaigned for two years, and was elected by 52 per cent of the American people. He won fair and square. The American people have spoken, and he was sworn in as President on January 20, 2009. End of story.
In response to this case, I make the following recommendations:
1. As a six-year Navy veteran myself, I know the
UCMJ very well. Major Cook should know it better than I. He is disobeying direct lawful orders to transfer to Afghanistan, the authority of those orders ultimately backed by DoD and our Commander-In-Chief, Barack Obama. The conscientious objector claim doesn't wash. He's a full major and a volunteer, not a draftee Quaker opposing combat duty on religious grounds.
According to my recollection of the military code, which I was instructed on in depth at Navy boot camp (as are all recruits), if you are issued an illegal order by your superiors, you can appeal it up the chain of command. But unless the perceived illegal order is in direct violation of the UCMJ, endangers lives or puts people in harm's way, you follow it, then await the results of your appeal from the chain of command.
This case sets a dangerous precedent involving the morale and welfare of our Armed Forces, by questioning the authority of President Obama and the DoD to deploy forces as necessary where needed most during a time of war. That said, when Major Cook loses his case in court (as all other Nirther cases have fallen, even at SCOTUS), he should be immediately hauled before a general court-martial and busted out of the service in disgrace. I do not want that man commanding troops in combat now, no matter what his skill set.
2. As US District Court Judge James Robertson recommended in his
dismissal of a Nirther case on March 5th, all those plaintiffs who bring Nirther lawsuits before federal courts, clogging up valuable docket space with these tinfoil hat cases against the President's legitimacy to hold office, should be assessed all court costs and fees, as well as be fined heavily for filing frivolous lawsuits that serve no purpose but to harass.
3. The Nirthers have to be challenged on every front. This insanity has to stop. When they rise from the swamps, as they have to comment prolifically at the Ledger-Enquirer, smack 'em down! Speak out against them as I am here. Eight years of far left BDS was bad enough. These Nirthers are giving all conservatives and Republicans a bad name, not to mention all sane citizens of this great nation.
Worse, I believe what they're doing is as un-American as it gets. I would not infringe on their right to be as un-American as they like within the law. The First Amendment champions even the worst forms of idiocy, which Nirtherism is. But they need the verbal
Whack-A-Mole treatment wherever they pop their heads up.
In closing, for those of you who praise my stand in defense of President Obama here, don't be so quick about it. I defend the President's legitimacy as an American, which I am first and foremost above all. This goes way beyond politics, and challenges the very Office of the Presidency itself on flimsy and malicious grounds. As a conservative Republican, I may just be back tomorrow to rip the President a new one over whatever policy misadventure he entangles himself and us in next. But that's just politics.
Good Night and Good Luck.
UPDATE: From Drudge via
WND - The Department of Defense has revoked Maj. Cook's orders to deploy to Afghanistan. Dr. Orly Taitz, Maj. Cook's lawyer, is claiming a major victory, but this appears to be more of a purely procedural matter on the part of DoD. Given that a hearing on the request for a temporary restraining order is scheduled before U.S. District Judge Clay D. Land in Georgia on Thursday, it would make sense for DoD to make this move in order to assign another officer to fill Maj. Cook's billet.
The website reporting this event, World Net Daily, has been pressing for the release of Obama's birth certificate for some time now. In other words, WND is Nirther Central. I have contacted WND in the past to blast them for this Quixotic windmill swordfight, but they don't listen to me. Maybe
they will you.
In related news, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann declared Maj. Cook and Dr. Taitz the
'worst persons in the world' on his show last night, calling Maj. Cook a 'jackass' and Dr. Taitz a 'conwoman.' First I have to side with President Obama. Now I have to side with Keith Olbermann? I'm REALLY beginning to hate these Nirthers with a passion! I hope they throw the
book at Cook.
