Obama's paltry paper trail raises serious questions
by Diana West, Washington Examiner, Nov 29, 2010

Wikipedia, the widely read, online, multi-authored encyclopedia, features an entry on the term "memory hole", which originated with the prescient (if not also clairvoyant) George Orwell. The Wikipedia definition begins:

"A memory hole is any mechanism for the alteration or disappearance of inconvenient or embarrassing documents, photographs, transcripts or other records ... particularly as part of an attempt to give the impression that something never happened."

Wikipedia itself offered a good example of how the mechanism works when unknown, unknowable site authorities "took down" a new entry on Lt. Col. Terrence "Terry" Lakin's challenge to President Barack Obama's eligibility to hold office almost as soon it went up. I read a screen shot of the entry and it is factual and non-inflammatory. Wikipedia readers who seek information about Lakin are redirected to a synopsis of his case and entry on the larger Obama citizenship controversy.

I linger over this incident not only because Lakin supporters have dubbed this week Terry Lakin Action Week, urging American citizens to call their congressional representatives about the case, or even because Lakin, a decorated, 18-year Army officer and physician, faces an upcoming court martial at Fort Meade, Md., on Dec. 14, for refusing to follow orders to redeploy to Afghanistan due to his conviction that the president hasn't proven eligibility to hold office.

Essentially, Wikipedia's editing decision reflects one point of view regarding the Obama "natural-born" citizenship matter - the point of view, as polled by CNN in July, of the 4-in-10 American voters who believe Obama was "definitely born" in the United States. Rounding out the poll, 29 percent believe the president was "probably born" in the United States; 16 percent think he was "probably born" in another country; 11 percent think he was "definitely born" in another country and only 2 percent had "no opinion."

Of course, Obama's failure to release his original 1961 birth certificate is just the beginning. There remains a dearth of documentation pertaining to Obama's progress through his 49 years of life that only begins with his birth certificate. A gaping hole has consumed all possible Obama records. But this subject is never taken seriously by the media or the political establishment, including erstwhile GOP opponent John McCain on being challenged on the eligibility question himself.

But even to suggest such a thing is to indulge in "conspiracy theories." Wikipedia defines this term for us as well, noting that it's "often used dismissively in an attempt to characterize a belief as outlandishly false and held by a person judged to be a crank or a group confined to the lunatic fringe."

As a senior military officer with an unblemished career, service in war zones, decorations, Pentagon responsibilities and recommendation for promotion to full colonel, Lakin is neither a "crank" nor a "lunatic". But he has a simple request for the president that drove him to a historic act of civil disobedience for which he may well serve time in prison: Release your original 1961 birth certificate so this issue no longer divides the American people.

Obama's paltry paper trail raises serious questions, Washington Examiner, Nov 29, 2010

16.Ministry of Truth (Lies) (...In the walls of the cubicle there were three orifices. To the right of the speakwrite, a small pneumatic tube for written messages; to the left, a larger one for newspapers; and on the side wall, within easy reach of Winston's arm, a large oblong slit protected by a wire grating. This last was for the disposal of waste paper. Similar slits existed in thousands or tens of thousands throughout the building, not only in every room but at short intervals in every corridor. For some reason they were nicknamed memory holes. When one knew that any document was due for destruction, or even when one saw a scrap of waste paper lying about, it was an automatic action to lift the flap of the nearest memory hole and drop it in, whereupon it would be whirled away on a current of warm air to the enormous furnaces which were hidden somewhere in the recesses of the building....)

USA colonel faces court-martial over Obama birth certificate
by Linda Bentley, Sonora News, Nov 17, 2010
After exhausting every administrative remedy available to him to obtain proof that President Obama is a natural born citizen and constitutionally eligible to hold the office of President and Commander in Chief of the Army, Lt. Col. Terrence “Terry” Lakin, an Army flight surgeon with 18 years of service, invited his own court martial by refusing to deploy to Afghanistan.

Lakin’s deployment orders required him to produce a copy of his own birth certificate, so he was troubled that Obama has refused to do the same. He stated, “Reviewing FM 6-22 Army Leadership … grounds me in my belief that I have a duty to submit this concern.” The values Lakin agreed to live by include, “Loyalty – Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit and other soldiers. Selfless Service – Put the welfare of the nation, the Army and subordinates before your own. Integrity – Do what’s right – legally and morally.” He said, “I also have agreed to expect the same from my leaders.” General George S. Patton stated, “Always do everything you ask of those you command.”

Lakin, who was required to provide his birth certificate to deploy to Afghanistan, expected Obama, as commander in chief of the military, to do the same. As a result of his refusal to deploy, Lakin was charged with "Missing Movement" a serious crime in the nature of a felony for failing to deploy to Afghanistan, and disobeying a direct order, which include four specifications (separate instances) of this charge. In September, a military judge ruled Obama’s birth records were irrelevant to the case and that his orders were legal and basically refused Lakin any manner of defense.

Lakin’s court martial trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 14. Despite the fact he could be facing four years of hard labor in a federal prison, if convicted, Lakin says, “The Constitution matters. The truth matters.” The American Patriot Foundation, which is providing financial support for Lakin’s defense, claims Congress was derelict in its duty to determine whether or not Obama meets the legal, constitutional requirement to serve as President and Commander-in-Chief. Article II, Section I, Clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution states: “No person except a natural born Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.”

Even Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., chimed in on the issue of Obama’s eligibility, stating, “The allegations pertaining to President Obama’s citizenship have been reviewed and dismissed by several courts, including on multiple occasions by the United States Supreme Court … From the foregoing, further consideration of the President’s citizenship seems unwarranted.” In reality, there have been no court cases in which the allegations were reviewed and dismissed. All cases have been dismissed on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked standing. None have been reviewed on the merits.

In the interim, a post about Lakin on Wikipedia, containing basic information about who he is and his case, was tagged with, “This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia's deletion policy.” It provided a “current revision” link with a redirect to a page titled, “Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories.”

Despite a CNN poll taken July 16-21 of 1,018 adults, including 335 Democrats and 285 Republicans, indicating six of 10 people are uncertain the president was even born in the United States, Wikipedia allowed numerous unsubstantiated claims about Obama’s eligibility, including a post by “News Hounds,” who wrote, “Fox News has added legitimacy to the irrational and baseless conspiracy-theorist ‘birthers’ who continue to insist, despite evidence to the contrary, that Barack Obama was not born in the United States and [is] thus an illegitimate president,” citing Sean Hannity’s report of “a soldier challenging his deployment to Afghanistan.” None of Wikipedia’s 45 pages of “conspiracy theories” provide a smidgen of evidence to the contrary.

The fact is Obama has spent close to $2 million in legal fees to prevent his records from being released. He is also using a Connecticut-issued Social Security Number that no one can explain, especially in light of the fact that it was issued in 1976 while he was attending high school in Honolulu and is associated with another individual who was born in 1890. In August 2010, while vacationing at Martha’s Vineyard, Obama stated, “The only people who don’t want to disclose the truth are people with something to hide.”

Meanwhile, Attorney Mario Apuzzo’s petition on behalf of Charles Kerchner et al for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States against Obama and Congress is scheduled for conference next Tuesday, Nov. 23. Apuzzo challenges the Third Circuit Court of Appeals order upholding the U.S. District Court’s dismissal for lack of standing and its finding that the appeal was “frivolous,” without the lower court ever designating the case as such. Apuzzo questions how Obama, who was born a British subject governed by the British Nationality Act of 1948 and is currently a British protected person and/or a British citizen, can possibly be considered a natural born citizen of the United States. “Obama is not a ‘natural born Citizen’ to constitutional standards,” said Apuzzo.

Terrence L. Lakin, Wikipedia entry (before being dropped down memory hole)
Dr.Terrence L. Lakin D.O. is a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army. LTC Lakin is a medical doctor and serves the Army as a flight surgeon. Lakin is a native of Greeley, Colorado. On or about April 12, 2010, according to his charge sheet, LTC Lakin refused to report for deployment with 32nd Calvary Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) from Fort Campbell, KY, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan). U.S. military officials state the reason given was that Lakin believes the order to be illegal. He instead returned to the Pentagon medical clinic he had been assigned to before receiving new temporary orders to report to Fort Campbell. At the Pentagon he was met by his brigade Commander Col. Gordon Roberts (Medal of Honor, Vietnam), and advised he would face a court-martial. Lakin was stripped of his Pentagon access security badge and his government-issued laptop computer. LTC Lakin faces charges of disobeying a lawful order, one count of missing movement, disobeying orders to report to a new unit, disobeying orders to report to his brigade commander, and one count of dereliction of duty after refusing to deploy to Afghanistan unless provided with proof that President Obama is a natural born U.S. citizen. While under investigation, Lakin has been assigned to Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The court-martial trial is scheduled for December 14-16, 2010 at Fort Meade, MD. Lakin's defense team includes military defense attorneys from the firm of Pucket & Faraj PC, with offices in Alexandria, Virginia.

During a September 2, 2010 pretrial hearing held at Fort Meade,MD, Lakin's previous defense team was denied a motion to compel the State of Hawaii to produce all of President Obama's natal records. Additionally, the motion had asked for the court appearance and testimony of several State of Hawaii officials including the appropriate "custodian of records". Also requested was testimony concerning the uniform chain of command from Air Force Lt Gen (Ret) Thomas McInerney in support of his court affadit. In addition, the motion sought school records relevant to identity, and college admission and financial aid application writings from Harvard University, Columbia University, Occidental College, and Punahoa School of "Barrack Houssein Obama II/Barry Soetoro".

Chief Judge, 1st Judicial Court COL, JA Denise R. Lind wrote "the chain of command led up to the Pentagon, and that should have been sufficient for Lakin... The Court further concludes it is impossible for this Article 1 Court to undertake independent resolution of whether President Obama is a natural born citizen or is qualified under the Constitution to hold office without expressing lack of respect due coordinate branches of government...The potential for embarrassment from mulitfarious pronouncements by various departments on one question are uniquely powerful to ensure that courts-martial do not become the vehicle for adjudicating the legality of political decisions and to ensure the military's capacity to maintain good order and discipline in the armed forces."

Wikipedia scrubs article on Obama eligibility status
by Jerome Corsi, WorldNetDaily, Nov 15, 2010
Wikipedia has scrubbed an entry on the court-martial of Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin, the Army officer who has refused orders because he questions the eligibility of the commander in chief. The popular online encyclopedia redirects a search of Lakin's name to an entry entitled "Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories." The creator of the entry calls the move "a clear attempt by the Wikipedia community to label inquiries into Barack Obama's eligibility to be president as a 'conspiracy theory." "While Wikipedia has a process for readers to comment after an article has been nominated for deletion, the time between my article being nominated for deletion, being rescrubbed and then being redirected to the Obama conspiracy theory article was a total of only one hour and 11 minutes," said "Al", who wants to remain anonymous because he fears reprisals from Obama supporters. Yesterday, WND participated with Al in an hour-long interview on Peter Boyle's Denver radio show on 630 KHOW that focused on the Wikipedia scrubbing. Al pointed out that the deletion process usually takes much longer on Wikipedia, allowing for a rigorous defense and robust debate over the article in question that can stretch over several days.

Lakin faces a court-martial trial scheduled December 14, 2010 because he refused orders to deploy to Afghanistan unless Obama can prove his credentials to be eligible for president under the "natural born Citizen" requirements of Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution. "Basically, I wanted to copy the structure of a Wikipedia article on General McChrystal, the four-star Army general forced to resign from his command in Afghanistan after making public comments adverse to President Obama's management of the war."

Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories, Wikipedia (...Three retired generals have publicly expressed support for Lakin. The first was Army Major General (retired) Paul E. Vallely, a senior military analyst for Fox News. In an interview, Vellely stated "I think many in the military – and many out of the military – question the natural-birth status of Barack Obama." Following Vallely's announcement, Army Major General (retired) Jerry Curry and Air Force Lieutenant General (retired) Thomas G. McInerney also expressed public support for Lakin....)

Obama laughs it up at White House dinner, National Post, Apr 29, 2013
...7. Steering clear of the obvious jokes about presidential illiteracy, Mr Obama said that he, like George W Bush, will soon have a presidential library. "Some have suggested that we put it in my birthplace but I'd rather keep it in the United States," he said....