Informaciones noticiosas y comentarios.
New standard of 'birther' justice
Posted: September 06, 2010
1:00 am Eastern
© 2010
From the very beginning, legal challenges to Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility have met a standard of adjudication unfamiliar to most Americans.
Mere "citizens" were told again and again they didn't have "standing" to test the eligibility of the man in the Oval Office.
Then came forward a man who actually ran against Obama in 2008. He didn't have standing, either.
Then came a parade of active-duty military men. Surely they would have standing to challenge a man with the power to send them on life-and-death missions in foreign wars. No dice.
And finally came Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin, a distinguished U.S. Army surgeon, due for promotion, with a stellar military career. When he simply asked for proof that Barack Obama is constitutionally eligible to serve – something now 58 percent of the American people do not believe – he was court-martialed.
He is now being denied the right to defend himself in that case because, as the female military judge suggests, requiring the evidence he seeks might prove "embarrassing" to the president.
"Embarrassing?"
Are good men and women denied justice because someone might be "embarrassed" by the truth of the evidence?
What might that ruling suggest about Obama's actual ability to prove his eligibility? It almost sounds like Army Col. Denise R. Lind, the acting judge in this case, might know Lakin is correct in his suspicions. Surely Obama would not be "embarrassed" if he had the documentation he could provide to prove he is eligible, right?
So, in the interests of protecting Obama from "embarrassment," the Army is ready to railroad Lt. Col. Lakin, deny him a fair hearing and look the other way on the little matter of constitutional integrity.
I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little sick of this charade.
If Obama were capable of "embarrassment" in this matter, all he would need to do would be to answer the now overwhelming call of the American people for transparency, candor, honesty and forthrightness. The decent thing to do for a man who seeks only to avoid "embarrassment" is to prove he is what he claims. If he can't, he should step aside as president.
Obama is embarrassing the entire nation with this stonewalling.
His efforts at cover-up are a disgrace to the office of the presidency and to the Constitution he swore to uphold.
Sadly, I feared all along that these court cases were not going to result in the kind of justice and rule of law they sought. I said all along that I could not foresee any judge – military or civilian – holding a president, legal or illegal, accountable to the standards of equal justice under the law. I just never believed any judge was likely to risk his or her career on principle and the standards of the law.
That assumption was sadly confirmed by the inept and corrupt decision by Ms. Lind.
"Embarrassment?" She ought to know something about that subject after that rationalization for throwing Lt. Col. Lakin to the wolves. That has to be one of the most embarrassing legal rulings I have ever heard. In another time and another place, when men and women of honor predominated in our military and judicial ranks, such a decision might be worthy of disbarment or impeachment or worse.
Meanwhile, my heart and prayers go out to Lt. Col. Lakin and his family for enduring the agony they must be experiencing because they are fighting for truth and justice and principle.
Joseph Farah is founder, editor and CEO of WND and a nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate. He is the author or co-author of 13 books, including his latest, "The Tea Party Manifesto: A Vision for an American Rebirth," and his classic, "Taking America Back: A Radical Plan to Revive Freedom, Morality and Justice," now in its third edition and 14 printings. Farah is the former editor of the legendary Sacramento Union and other major-market daily newspapers.