Conservative Truthers on Display.

Truthers, the often maligned, and properly maligned, group that claims that 9-11 was an inside job to help the Military Industrial Complex get another war going have found friends on the Right. These people believe that President Obama is not an American Citizen, and thus ineligible for the Presidency. 

This time, it's an Army Officer who is refusing to follow President Obama's orders because of the constitutional question. 

A U.S. soldier on active duty in Iraq has called President Obama an "impostor" in a statement in which he affirmed plans to join as plaintiff in a challenge to Obama's eligibility to be commander in chief.

This Lieutenant, much like Lieutenant Watada, should spend more time learning his trade as an Officer. The Constitution, nor the Military Regulations, gives you the authority to question such things. 

First of all, President Obama is the President of the United States. End of discussion. The argument is silly beyond that. If as the proponents of this theory state, President Obama was not born in the United States, then it is still not relevant in my humble opinion. The laws in force at the time may indeed have said that his Mother was too young to transfer citizenship. However, the laws were asinine then, and have since been corrected. 

I railed against Lieutenant Watada because of one simple thing. It is his sworn duty to obey his orders, providing they are legal and lawful. Trying to find some asinine loophole is stupid. Illegal orders are usually pretty obvious, because soldiers are taught what is legal, and what isn't. Firing on a group of civilians is illegal. Firing on a group of people in civilian clothing with weapons who are making hostile moves towards you, including aiming and or firing at  you is absolutely legal. 

Lieutenant Easterling will be charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and found guilty, for making disloyal statements, and conduct unbecomming an Officer, and probably failure to obey the lawful orders of his commander in chief. He'll be discharged dishonorably, just as Lieutenant Watada is destined to be. 

The Watada case is currently in Legal Limbo, because the Federal Court has decided it has jurisdiction. It doesn't really. There is no grounds for the claim of the Federal Court. A mistrial is just that. Some violation of the rules has made it impossible for a jury to make a decision. The case is retried, and essentially the case is done over. 

That is normal, and no mistrial before has ever been ruled to be a double jeopardy violation. That comes from being found innocent, and then being retried for the same charges. Additionally, the Federal Court is not part of the appeals process in the Military. It goes from the Courts Martial, to the Commander, to the Court of Military Appeals, and then to the Supreme Court, and is judged not by Civilian Law, but by Military Regulations. 

The Courts Martial of Lieutenant Watada will pick up, and he'll be found guilty. The Courts Martial of Lieutenant Easterling will start before long, and he'll be found guilty. The basic facts are not in dispute, and that means that the Officers in Question did knowingly violate the Military Regulations. 

People, let this nonsense go. We have a ton of issues that really deserve our attention. We have issues that go beyond our political parties, and we're left squabbling about nonsense while the real damage is done to our nation.