An alarming rise of military disloyalty to their oath to back the Commander in Chief, the President of the United States, no matter their personal feelings toward him, has been noticed lately.
First, there is Lt. Colonel Terrence Lakin, an 18 year Army veteran who is chief of primary care and flight surgeon for the Pentagon’s DiLorenzo Health Clinic. Last month, he declared his belief in the “Birther” idea, that Barack Obama was born overseas and is not eligible to be President. He stated in a You Tube video that he would refuse orders to deploy for a second tour in Afghanistan until the President produces his birth certificate!
The Patriot Foundation, a group backing the “Birther” movement, says Lakin is a “martyr’ for the cause of the movement, and Lakin will be court martialed because of his open advocacy of defiance of military orders.
Additionally, there is an Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots movement, headed by Sergeant Gary Stein of the US Marines, who has served in the military for seven years, including service in Iraq, and who has spoken of the political rights of active duty servicemen, and the group apparently has at least 400 members. He has written and spoken of “tyrannical government”, and said that soldiers do not have to obey unconstitutional orders.
After Talking Points Memo revealed the group’s existence, Gary Stein said that his group accepted the authority of President Obama as Commander in Chief, and that they were not supportive of a military uprising against the President. The name has now been changed to Armed Force Tea Party.
One wonders, however, whether Stein’s activism, and his group under whatever name, is not skirting the limits of appropriate activities by people in the military. One can be sure we have not heard the last of this political activism in the military, which is highly unusual, and still something to be concerned about! 🙁