Topic: WorldNetDaily
In Terrence Lakin, Joseph Farah and WorldNetDaily now have their birther martyr.
Lakin's perceived martyrdom -- and that's exactly how Farah perceives it; as far as he's concerned, Lakin is "upholding the oath he took as a commissioned officer to support and defend the Constitution" -- is the inevitable result of WND's birther obsession, a falsehood-laden obsession that in all likelihood led Lakin on his odyssey.
Once Lakin signed onto the birther agenda, he became part of WND's machine -- a WND search turns up 55 articles referencing him. Farah was not shy about incorporating Lakin into his agenda; his status as, in Farah's words, "an Army doctor and Bronze Star recipient" served as a golden opportunity to bring some respectability to WND's obsessive cause.
WND was even setting Lakin up to be the birther martyr. WND managing editor David Kupelian wrote in October:
Meanwhile, we're about to witness the spectacle of a true patriot, a decorated military physician who wants nothing more than to save more lives and continue to serve his country, a man of admirable conscience and backbone, being court-martialed and sent to Fort Leavenworth prison as a sacrificial lamb because the "judge" – just like the establishment press and so many others for whom Obama is "too big to fail" – is fearful of "embarrassing" the president.
Of course, the inevitable happened: Lakin pleaded or was found guilty on all charges. He was sentenced to six months in military prision, will be dismissed from the Army, and will miss out on the full military pension he was two years away from earning.
In short, Lakin has ruined his life.
In the end, though, Lakin ultimately backed away from his view, admitting that "I chose the wrong path," adding, "I am extremely sorry for everything that has come of this. ... As a military member, I was wrong."
Will Farah and WND view this as cowardice or a deathbed conversion upon realizing the enormity of the extent his buying into the birther obsession has destroyed his life? That remains to be seen.
WND is also hiding the true nature of how things went down for Lakin. For example, the Associated Press noted that Lakin's defense attorney, Neal Puckett, called Lakin the "victim of an obsession," and that he was naive in trusting the poor advice of a previous civilian lawyer.
You won't find that in WND's account of Lakin's sentencing, though. Instead, Brian Fitzpatrick reported that "Many observers were disappointed by the defense strategy of portraying Lakin as a victim of the so-called 'Birther' movement." Fitzpatrick did not explain what he defined as "many."
Of course, WND loved quoting that previous civilian lawyer, Paul Rolf Jensen -- his name comes up in 17 WND articles.
Meanwhile, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said:
Think about the implications if he [Lakin] was even allowed to raise this issue. The military operates under a system of discipline, of orders. If every military officer or enlisted person who got an order could question whether the president was really the president, discipline would disappear overnight. You have to have a system of discipline, and that is just simply -- can't be a question that's on the table that military officials or officers are allowed to raise.
WND has never addressed this question.
Nevertheless, Farah and WND now have their birther martyr. Of course, he's really a victim whose life has been ruined due to their obsessive hatred of President Obama.
Will Farah apologize to Lakin for destroying his life? Don't count on it -- he's too busy projecting.
As far as Farah is concerned, it's all Obama's fault. On Dec. 9, Farah wrote that Lakin could be a free man if only Obama would be a"compassionate humanitarian" and release his birth certificate. Of course, Farah embraces the conspiracies his website has promoted in doing so:
Obama has compassion for the worst kind of terrorists and murderers, but he can't find an ounce of compassion for Lt. Col. Terry Lakin. Does that make sense?
What are the secrets contained in that birth certificate? Was Obama an overweight child? Was he born prematurely? I mean, come on, this is a birth certificate!
More likely, the birth certificate contains information that would absolutely undermine and contradict Obama's entire life narrative as he defined it (or Bill Ayers did) in his celebrated book, "Dreams of My Father."
Maybe his parents weren't who he claimed them to be.
Of course, that wouldn't disqualify him for office. In fact, Obama would likely have a better case of proving eligibility if that were the case. But how could he explain that? It would mean Obama's compelling life story was all a work of fiction – not just most of it, as has already been established, but all of it. Even the title of his book would be a lie. Even his name would be a lie.
That would be pretty shocking.But would a truly compassionate man let another good person go to prison to cover up his secret?
Or maybe, just maybe, Obama wasn't born in the U.S. at all. Maybe that laser-printed short-form "certification of live birth" is a fabrication, something Obama's parents or grandparents obtained to bestow "anchor baby"-style American birth rights upon the little boy.
In reality, Farah is the one who's not compassionate. Why would he want Lakin to be free? Lakin is worth more to him as a prisoner. After all, it feeds the birther conspiracy, and Farah makes more money.
