A few response from the Oath Keepers.

Many Oath Keepers have responded to my message. Sadly, a few of them seem to be rather silly. Let me post some of them.

"We need to view Oath Keepers as an educational organization looking to reach teach and inspire those who have taken an Oath to follow, support and defend the constitution. That is our charter. We need to be careful about political activism as this organization is nonpartisan.

As a volunteer organization we can try to help those like Lt Colonel Larkin perhaps with a fundraising effort but right now you really have to consider our small size and resources. We are less than 20,000 strong while other constitutional organizations like the Tea Party and NRA are millions strong." - Dennis LaGrua

My response:

So Dennis, you're saying that as an outreach program (for lack of a better term), we should not draw attention to the people doing what we ask? Doesn't that seem a little "do as I say, not as I do"-ish?

Numbers are not as important. I might remind you, only 3% of the colonists actually fought against the Crown's troops, and we still won.

And as a volunteer organization, we should be doing all in our power to help these people. Stewart and the crew are going across the country to promote Oath Keepers. They're going onto media outlets to protest groups like the SPLC defaming them. But the people who should be getting the attention from the group are ignored. Seems a little backward to me.

"Oath Keepers are in it. The unspoken ones are out there being active as individuals. They can't be politically active and represent themselves as OK. Most oath keepers are not members. But that's where the political activists come from. I attend three GOP county meetings each month. My county chair is a SEAL. The county chair west of me is a Gunny. I found out Saturday that the other chair is Army, Korean combat veteran with Purple Heart. The oath keepers are active and the Oath Keepers need to join with them.

Virtual support through a computer keyboard will not be enough. Shoulder to shoulder is what it's going to take." -M. J. "Zeb" Blanchard 2

I'm sorry, what? Oath Keepers can't declare themselves as that? Why? Out of fear they won't get the votes? People, if you stand by the Constitution and listen to your constituents, you won't see a problem getting those votes. People love it when someone in the government defends them.

"Guess what? You don't get to change the mission. It is what it is for good reason. The fact that you don't understand it changes nothing about its validity. This is not a democracy. However, you do get to vote...with your feet...in or out. You don't like it, go start something better . If your vision and approach is superior, you will siphon off the majority. Quit whining about it and go do something." -Cindy Sullivan 2.4

My response:

Who's changing this mission, Cindy? All I see if a group of people being put on the defensive and being reactive, droning on about smear tactics used by the SPLC for months and months. A grudge is kept and isn't allowed to die.

The mission changed from RTI to "huddle up, we need to keep ourselves safe!" the moment the founders of this organization allowed these groups to gain a foothold in their operations.

The SPLC is winning with every speck of attention given to them.

"Patrick,

We are discussing the Terry Lakin issue. He says he is refusing all orders based on his questions regarding the Presidents citizenship status which, if he can prove his case, makes his argument valid.

The Orders that Oathkeepers encourages MIL/LEO to disobey are unambiguous in there unconsitutionality, and do not need to be 'proven', such as Orders to disarm the American People, or put them into detention camps, or conducting warrantless searches. There is a lot on ambiguity in the route that LTC Lakin has chosen. We are discussing it.

That being said, you joined less than 24 hours ago, and here you say:

" You should have known this would happen, and like they wanted, you toned down the message and went on the defensive. That, my friends, is not what I signed up for.
."

Well, if you weren't too scared to join us months ago, maybe you could have shared your impeccable insight with us and we wouldn't be having this conversation. Too bad."

My response:

Clearly, Ray, you didn't read everything I said. Otherwise, you would have seen "I fell out of touch with the group around last January". So, no, I did not join "less than 24 hours ago", sorry to burst your bubble.

Second, the Constitutional orders also reflect upon the Constitutionality of those elected. If the President has failed to conform to the Constitution in his eligibility, then every order given is nulled. This includes deployments to combat zones. In this case, a man is alleged to have illegally obtained the office of President of the United States through false pretenses, and as such has thumbed his nose at the Constitution (assuming it is true).

I don't think you understand the implications of this. LtCol Lakin is not the first person to have decided to disobey orders until Mr. Obama proves that he meets the criteria as established BY THE CONSTITUTION, but he's the highest-ranking active duty officer to have one so. Two other officers have done the same, and in one case the Army rescinded the orders rather than court-martial to officer in question. You know what this means?

If Obama refuses to show the proof that he is a natural-born citizen, this is a "get out of war free" card. Any soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine can say, "You know what? I'm declaring these orders illegal until the President proves his eligibility to serve in that capacity", and precedence says they will be allowed to serve back home and ignore deployment.

As I said, my issue is that the people actually doing what this group espouses as its core values (that the Constitution, the SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND should be followed by the federal government, and that the military should hold the powers-that-be accountable under it) are being ignored, while the Oath Keepers lick the superficial wounds inflicted by a group pretty much ignored except by those without a brain.

As Chesty Puller is quoted as saying, "We're surrounded. That simplifies the problem of getting to these people and killing them." You're surrounded by the enemy and allowing those that are fighting alongside you be destroyed. All to preserve what little honor this organization maintains. And just like the Army at Chosin Reservoir during the Vietnam conflict, those men are being left behind. Don't expect the Marines to save your fallen Army comrades this time.

As an addition, Ray, Obama has put millions into paying for lawyers in order to quash these requests to see the paperwork. No judge is allowing any case to go forward, and in one case in 2009 (I believe), a judge even ruled that a case was filed frivolously, and in his ruling claimed that the issue had been "twitted and blogged" and vetted. You can't prove a case if people won't allow it to go forward.

Now to see if anyone such as Stewart will respond.

My challenge to Oath Keepers.

I posted the following on the group's national forums. I'm waiting to see what kinds of responses I get.

"I've been monitoring Oath Keepers' main website for a few months. I fell out of contact with the group once again in January, I believe, and simply ignored the group as a whole, especially after the second fiasco. However, I've noticed the trend.

"Every time an op-ed piece comes out depicting Oath Keepers as a fringe, radical group, it gets front page status on the website. Then there are posts about how clearly the people writing such nonsense are lunatics and unworthy of the time of day.

"What the hell happened? Has the group become so afraid of public perception that they've gone into defense mode, and tried their hardest to protect their image? You should have known this would happen, and like they wanted, you toned down the message and went on the defensive. That, my friends, is not what I signed up for.

"Going back, I see plenty of news articles and videos about how the SPLC and other such organizations are handling the Oath Keepers, and counter-pieces. It has mainly focused on Oath Keepers, or members of the group. Believe it or not, guys, WE ARE ALL KEYBOARD COMMANDOS.

"And then we go out, and we find people like LtCol (LTC for you Army brats!) Terry Lakin, an active duty flight surgeon who says he refuses to take orders until President Obama proves his eligibility under the Constitution. And where on the front page is there anything about this man, this true Oath Keeper?

"It's one thing to reach out and inspire our active duty military members. It's what we should strive for. It's something entirely different to ignore the ones that put themselves on the line and actually do something about that Oath. A true Oath Keeper, LtCol Lakin embodies that which our Founding Fathers envisioned in such Americans: the willingness to do what is right, and damned be the consequences.

"When is someone going to give this man the recognition on this site? Stewart and the crew should have jumped all over this the day it came out. Instead, almost a week later, I saw one thread in these forums about him. And no recognition from the group. Is this man going to be ignored, and are you going to throw him under the bus?

"And now the Democrats are attempting to pass a new bill, H.R. 3335, the "Democracy Restoration Act". With this bill, convicted felons will be able to vote once again, thus trampling all over the States and their sovereignty. In no point in Greece or Rome (I'm talking the periods of antiquity) were those who broke the law afforded every right a citizen of the state had. But the Democrats want to give these rights back to these people. And it's because polls show most of these felons? They'll vote Democrat.

"But nowhere in that bill does it say they'll acquire the other rights lost, such as the right to own a gun.

"So I would love to know, is LtCol Lakin going to be helped by Oath Keepers? Or is it simply going to remain more glory seeking from the upper echelons of the organization. You can answer this question, if you wish.

"And remember, what you do speaks so loudly that what you say, I can not hear.

"Semper fidelis."

I'm a horrible blogger.

Seriously, five months away from this blog? It's been that long? Wow, I'm slacking.

In all seriousness, I apologize. I've been working on a few things, and lately my lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard took the bulk of my time. I was successful to an extent in getting my case heard and judged upon, and was able to get a quarter of what I sued for. Not what I had hoped for, but it's good.

Anyways, I've been watching a few things happen lately. Obviously, we all know about Obamacare and the nationalized healthcare plan. Did you know that there's now a bill before the House of Representatives, or at least a subcommittee of the House.

H.R. 3335, the "Democracy Restoration Act" is a bill being pushed by the Democrats that will trump state laws and allow convicted felons to vote again. The bill, sponsored by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., states, "The right of an individual who is a citizen of the United States to vote in any election for federal office shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has been convicted of a criminal offense unless such individual is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution or facility at the time of the election."

Advocates of the bill point to the disproportionate number of minorities (namely, African-Americans and Hispanics) that have been convicted of felonies, and thus have lost the right to vote. Critics point out that justice is blind, and that the laws aren't targeting blacks and latinos specifically. However, this bill is. They also claim that this is, once again, a clear showing of the federal government stepping on the rights of the States and violating the Constitution.

However, nowhere in the bill does it give those same felons any of the other rights that they lose when convicted, such as the right to own a weapon. Then again, the Democrats tend to be highly receptive of gun control, so it's not surprising, I guess.

Also important to note: Greece and Rome followed the same model. IF you were a lawbreaker and convicted, you lost many of the rights your fellow citizens had.

There was a lot of talk of illegals being granted amnesty. With that comes the right to vote. And the Democrats, who are in the dog house according to polls because of this health care debacle, wold be able to keep seats because the amnesty would provide thousands of votes, most of whom would vote for Democrats. Another sticking point was the claim that Obama himself may be an illegal immigrant, and that by granting amnesty, he'd be pardoning himself.

Please note, the final portion of the above paragraph is pure speculation on the part of others, and I am attempting to distance myself from this viewpoint. This is not the view expressed by myself, I simply report.

Instead, Democrats and turning towards a group not commonly thought of for votes. Will it work? Who knows.

The second issue I want to touch upon is Lieutenant Colonel Terry Lakin, an Army flight surgeon who recently posted a video saying that he will disobey orders given by the President until such time as Mr. Obama releases his full birth certificate. He even admits that by saying this, he is inviting his own court martial. The Army has not made an official statement.

LtCol Lakin is the highest-ranking active duty officer to have publicly questioned the validity of Barack Hussein Obama's eligibility. He's even made it clear he will not obey the orders given to him, because all orders originate from the Commander-in-Chief (or, the President of the United States). This includes the order to mobilize for a deployment to Afghanistan.

Interestingly, groups such as Oath Keepers are not reporting on this. You would think they would be all over this, as a member of the armed services - active duty, no less! - is requiring a member of the federal government to hold to the Constitution. In the case of Oath Keepers, more important to them is the apparent Southern Poverty Law Center "smear" campaign being run against them. Nothing is mentioned of the above issue, but there are plenty of recent articles and videos showing the supposed SPLC smear tactics, as well as letters to the editor of local papers detailing the success of local Oath Keepers meetings.

Now, I was - and to an extent still am - a member of Oath Keepers. However, the sight has slowly become, "Well, how do we manage to survive this?" As an organization, the founding principles of it are superb and founded in recent history as documented. They have turned away from true Oath Keepers such as LtCol Lakin (I know, the Army abbreviates the rank LTC, but I'm a Marine!), and allowed him to pass in relative obscurity. I am critical of groups that require me to be. And if I am part of a group, I would expect that they would serve as the true patriots they claim to be. I've seen a lot of "Keyboard Commandos", and undoubtedly many will think the same of me. That is fine.

Oath Keepers, time to start giving publicity to those who deserve it, like LtCol Lakin, and to ignore the people who don't rate the time of day, like the SPLC.

[Sources]

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=131313, "Forget amnesty, look where Democrats now stoop for votes!" - World Net Daily

http://www.safeguardourconstitution.com/support-the-foundation.html; LtCol Lakin's message