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Surprise! Tea Party event flops

By on September 10, 2012 in Birthers, Joe Arpaio, Tea Party, Terry Lakin

The Greater Phoenix Tea Party Patriots report that the birther celebrity event organized by the Surprise Tea Party, featuring Sheriff Joe Arpaio, singer Pat Boone and disgraced Army doctor birther Terry Lakin. has been canceled due to inadequate sales of the modestly-priced $10 tickets. Unlike the canceled Birther Summit, refunds are being issued.

Read more at the Phoenix New Times blog.

I think there’s something to be learned here, but I’m not exactly sure what it is. Birther public events flop. We have Carl Swensson’s march on the Atlanta capitol with maybe a dozen folks showing up. There was Berg’s big fling in DC that garnered a handful of curiosity seekers. The “King of the Birthers” Andy Martin maybe filled up a hotel room – two single beds. The Orly Taitz/Pastor Manning protest of Fox News in New York was a bust.

Birthers just don’t show up. I don’t know whether they are afraid that Obama will get them, or that there really aren’t more than a handful of committed (or maybe “not yet committed”) members of the birther movement. The number of people who watched the various birther court appearances were in the tens of thousands, but we don’t know if these were birthers or anti-birthers. Maybe birthers are too anti-social to congregate (this actually makes sense). Maybe most of the birthers are really institutionalized and can’t travel. Maybe the number of serious birthers is wildly overrated and birtherism is a web-only movement.

Lakin’s book tanks

By on July 31, 2012 in Books, Terry Lakin

I haven’t read Terry Lakin’s book, Officer’s Oath, nor do I plan to — this is not a book review. Generally I have sympathy for the disabled and victims of crime, and so I probably view Terry Lakin somewhat more sympathetically than others, particularly current and former members of the armed forces who have a stronger sense of the importance of being able to rely on your buddies in crisis. On of my great life insights is: “it’s not about me,” a lesson that Lakin unfortunately didn’t learn.

Whether Terry Lakin intended to make money from his book or whether its goal is influencing the election, it has been an abject failure based on sales. The following table shows Amazon.com rankings for a few selected books1 (for the birther impaired, books at the TOP of the chart start with the NUMBER ONE book, the best seller of all Kindle books. The bigger the number the farther down the ranking and the fewer actual books sold):

image

1I ranked the Kindle edition to be consistent. Books with many editions confuse the ranking, and it’s more fair to eliminate the factor of what books are carried in bookstores and airport  shops. The paperback ranking of Lakin’s book is so low it is literally off the charts at 347,886. Maraniss’ paperback, on the other hand, is ranked much better than his Kindle edition at 431.

When is a lieutenant colonel not a lieutenant colonel?

By on November 25, 2011 in Terry Lakin

The answer is: when the lieutenant colonel has been dismissed from the service. A new article over at the Military Law and Justice blog reports the dismissal of former Lieutenant Colonel Terry Lakin has been approved and that he is no longer entitled to use the title.

The Terry Lakin Action Fund web site apparently hasn’t gotten the message, continuing to use the title and show a picture of Dr. Lakin in military uniform. If Lakin is using his former rank in conjunction with fundraising, he may be in violation of the Stolen Valor Act. Check out the linked article for more information.

Lakin withdraws appeal

By on August 2, 2011 in Terry Lakin

In breaking news, LTC Terry Lakin, the Army doctor that was convicted of disobeying orders in a quixotic attempt to resolve questions about Barack Obama’s birthplace, has withdrawn the appeal of his sentence, clearing the way for his complete discharge from the Army. The court said:

Appellant, after consultation with his appellate defense counsel, requests withdrawal of his case from appellate review.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED:

That withdrawal of this appeal pursuant to Article 61 ( b ), Uniform Code of Military Justice, is granted. The record of trial is returned to  The Judge Advocate General for action pursuant to Rule for Courts-Martial 1112 [hyperlink to Rule].

Recall that as long as Terry Lakin is in the Army, he is severely limited by the UCMJ in regards to making disparaging remarks about Barack Obama, and in particular pursuing a new career as an anti-Obama celebrity and a star attraction at the Birther Summit next March. If Lakin had continued his appeal, he probably would not have been out in time for the Summit.

H/t to Phil Cave.

Terry Lakin’s book deal

By on July 13, 2011 in Books, Terry Lakin

According to the Terry Lakin Action Fund website, Lakin is writing a book, to be titled “Officer’s Oath,” assisted by Jack Cashill, author of the anti-Obama book Deconstructing Obama and numerous articles smearing Obama on the tabloid website, WorldNetDaily. Cashill’s involvement doesn’t bode well for Lakin’s book, and frankly signals to me that there’s now little or no hope for Lakin to return to a normal life.

A lengthy article on the upcoming book from Christian Newswire and reprinted at Earned Media stated:

In addition, the handful of Terry’s detractors have been dwarfed by the mountain of supporters. Not all agree with his methods, but none have faulted his commitment to the Constitution, the Truth, and his oath as an officer in the US Army.

I must say that reading the comments by servicemen at Military.com, I think this quote is backwards. Outside of a handful of hardcore birthers, I don’t think anyone respects Lakin’s weak-minded acceptance of birther propaganda or his attempt to become a hero by committing professional suicide.

I think Lakin was a fool to fall in the birther trap; he was a fool to let that liar Paul Jensen represent him; and he is a fool now to let the same people who encouraged him to ruin his career continue to use him as their poster boy giving aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States.

Dean Haskins calls for “Birther Summit”

By on July 1, 2011 in Birth Certificate, Birthers, Citizenship, Terry Lakin, The Blogs, Videos

Dean Haskins

Dean Haskins is the author of of a YouTube video featured here in my recent article, Slick video: 9 lies in 45 seconds! Mr. Haskins has been making videos about Obama’s eligibility since Leo Donofrio invented the two-citizen requirement for the presidency in 2008. I had a mild curiosity about just who this guy was, and to my surprise today, I learned an interesting biographical fact: Dean Haskins is the brother of Terry Haskins, the late Speaker Pro Tem of the South Carolina House of Representatives.

This information was revealed in an open letter from Dean Haskins to South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham published on the Canada Free Press website. The letter is addressed to Graham, partially because Graham is known to have told his constituents that Barack Obama is eligible to be President because he’s 35 years old and born in Hawaii, as in the letter following:

Lindsey Graham Letter

Graham has also called the birthers “crazy.” Continue Reading →

Lakin’s appeal

By on June 28, 2011 in Terry Lakin

I guess every one knows that Lt. Col. Terry Lakin is appealing his court martial. While it’s a slim chance that he will be able to restore any of the benefits he will lose at his upcoming discharge from the army, he’s trying to salvage something. What is news is that in this time of zero media coverage about anything birther, Lakin got a major article, “Birther Doc Wants Some Benefits”, at the Military.com website. Quoting Lakin:

“As an officer, I certainly understand I don’t have the right to ask for somebody’s qualifications, the GPA or the level of training of an elected official,” he said. “But I believe my oath as an officer allowed me to ask the question” about the president’s eligibility.

For details and more quotes from Terry Lakin, check out the link above. Equally interesting, I think, are the comments left on military.com that may give some insight about how those in the military feel about Lakin. And what is a POG POS?

Read more:

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