Was the Cook case a scam?

[meegbear]

Yesterday's news:

Well, some things never change: Soldier balks at deploying; says Obama isn't president. The attorney representing this lowlife is a "leading figure" in the Birther movement, a group that insists President Obama is not a citizen. "I hope that the men in this country, particularly in our military will finally revolt against this travesty of Justice" she said in January.

But by the end of the day:

U.S. Army Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook, the reserve soldier who says he shouldn't have to go to Afghanistan because he believes Barack Obama was never eligible to be president, has had his deployment orders revoked, Army officials said.

Lt. Col. Maria Quon, U.S. Army Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Army Human Resources Command-St. Louis, said Tuesday evening, Cook was no longer expected to report Wednesday to MacDill Air Force Base in Florida for mobilization to active duty.

That decision has Cook's lawyer declaring victory. However, there are other indications that the entire case may be somewhat of a fraud.

David Weigel revealed yesterday that Cook was a member of the Free Republic message board. While that is story enough for some, there's an overlooked detail to be gleaned from Cook's March 25th post there. In it he shares an "e-mail from Dr. Orly Taitz", detailing developments in a class action suit "on behalf 120 military officers, many of high rank" challenging the legality of President Obama as Commander in Chief.

Taitz has a history of unsuccessful efforts to get the Supreme Court to review the "Commander in Chief" issue, and she has actively solicited military participants for those suits. In fact, in his March 25th Free Republic post, Cook says "As a Plaintiff in this class action, I get mailing from Dr. Taitz from time to time. This is an attachment to one of those mailings."

Returning now to the news of Cook's "victory", here's the reported explanation for the Army's decision:

Earlier today, Quon said Cook submitted a formal written request to Human Resources Command-St. Louis on May 8, 2009 volunteering to serve one year in Afghanistan with Special Operations Command, U.S. Army Central Command, beginning July 15, 2009. The soldier's orders were issued on June 9, Quon said.

"A reserve soldier who volunteers for an active duty tour may ask for a revocation of orders up until the day he is scheduled to report for active duty," Quon said.

In short - Cook never had to go in the first place. Unlike most soldiers who deploy as part of a unit, Cook - a reservist - had volunteered to go as an individual augmentee. The Army generally seeks volunteers to fill such assignments first - if no one does so then a non-volunteer is tapped.

It may be helpful to recap the timeline here.

March: Cook acknowledges he's among the plaintiffs in a class-action suit "on behalf of 120 military officers" challenging President Obama's authority as Commander in Chief.

In May, Cook tells the Army he wants to be sent to Afghanistan.

In June, the Army accepts Cooks offer.

In July, Cook sues to "get out" of (see updates) regarding that assignment, based on the same grounds (Obama not qualified) and using the same attorney (who actively seeks military members to participate in such suits) for a previous suit he was involved in that pre-dates his volunteering to deploy to Afghanistan.

Even without going to court, the Army says - essentially - hey, no problem. You were the one who wanted to go in the first place.

Actually, there is one "Major" problem. Because Cook waited to the last minute to take this action, either someone is going to get a very short notice non-volunteer assignment, or else the unit in Afghanistan will have to get by without one soldier for a while. Since that soldier would be a field grade officer, it's likely that the position will be of some significance.

But hey, at least he got his name in the papers. (However, those unfamiliar with the term "Blue Falcon" are encouraged to Google it.)

Update: World Net Daily says this is a "bombshell" - but they aren't quoting Lt. Col. Quon. In fact, they're selling "signs and postcards asking for the president's birth certificate documentation".

<snip>

http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032369.html

More stuff at the link above.

[trumad]

1. K&R

[Solly Mack]

2. Yes

[MADem]

3. Wait, wait, wait....everyone is missing the KEY point, here.

If a person volunteers, and has ORDERS, those orders are not INVITATIONS. They are ORDERS. You cannot decide to back out of orders because you do not like them. EVEN if you are an individual augmentee. Once you're on the bus, you're on the bus.

Edit to add, because I was not terribly clear: Yes, you can ASK to get out of those orders up to the day you leave if you're an individual augmentee, but you can pretty much kiss your frigging retirement goodbye if they've slotted you into a billet and you're leaving them in a bind to fill it on short notice. Also, your command can DENY your request and send you off, like it or not.

HOWEVER....

Anyone who applies for "Conscientious Objector" status is NEVER deployed (if the system processes their request, mind you). Once the CO request is "in the system," then the person is placed on hold until a Pentagon Board can review the request and make a determination. That's "in the rules," no matter if you're an augmentee, a reservist, a Guardsman, or a regular, active servicemember.

This idiot applied for CO status:

Last week he filed a request in federal court seeking a temporary restraining order and status as a conscientious objector through his California-based attorney, Orly Taitz.

I'm wondering if that board will have a look at his message board writings to aid them in their determination of his status? I'm hoping they do. I am not on that board, but I suspect anyone with even a third of a brain would find it difficult to impossible to reconcile the rather specific criteria mandated for CO status to this guy's crazed rants.

How much attention does this nitwit deserve? None.

[Stargazer09]

7. My question would be...

How could he legally claim CO status after volunteering to deploy? Sure, claiming to be a CO gets him out of this deployment, but he's going to have to prove to that Pentagon board that he really is a conscientious objector. That's going to be hard to do with his history of volunteering to deploy AND his name being tied to this legal finagling by his "attorney." I would think that his postings at FR would come out at some point, too.

The Pentagon is probably going to deny his claim then prosecute him for all the troubles he's caused his unit and the Army.

That's the outcome I'm hoping to see. Whether it actually happens is up in the air at this point.

[MADem]

12. You use the "change of heart" excuse. It doesn't always fly. It doesn't matter, though.

The guy could have a lousy excuse, or no excuse at all, but that won't be addressed until he fills out all the paperwork, has the interviews, and goes through all the motions...and then the board meets. Six months, easy. Could be longer if they want him to hang himself with his own words on the internet.

I'm guessing the Pentagon will deny his claim and give him a noncontroversial discharge (general, or honorable with a "Never Darken Our Towels Again" RE-4 attached to it--and maybe a few more codes as well) so he slinks off with no attention paid to him. Unless, of course, he keeps pushing the buttons or if his speech has been intemperate to the point of threats of violence.

He's over the line already, but sometimes, when you give blowhards a platform or a reason to call themselves "picked on," it's worse. He'll be on "the list" of people whose movements will be followed, particularly if he tries to get near a speech or rally where the Prez is in attendance.

He's certainly stupid, probably crazy, and he could be dangerous.

[Stargazer09]

19. I think you're right

They are probably just going to sweep him under a rug and give him the opportunity to go away peacefully.

I think that someone needs to keep an eye on him, though. Anyone willing to throw away a career for some frivolous lawsuit is probably a few sandwiches short of a picnic, especially in this economy.

[mopinko]

14. how could he make it to the rank of major, then claim to be a CO?

i am not that good on the private-sergeant-etc, stuff. but i know that it takes a while to become a major.

[Stargazer09]

18. I could see it happening

Especially if he were someone who had seen combat and couldn't take it anymore. I can imagine that killing a fellow human being could flip a switch and make even the most die-hard military member decide to leave the military. The thing is, you have to prove to someone that you had a sudden change of heart, and that it's more or less permanent. You can't just wake up one day and say that you've decided to be a conscientious objector that day. The military wouldn't function if everyone did that.

It seems like this guy only volunteered in order to push this case forward, so CO status probably can't be applied to him.

[MADem]

21. If you're a doctor or a dentist, you can be a major in two years--or less.

If you're a Roman Catholic priest, you can zoom right up in rank, too.

It depends on your talent, particularly in the staff corps. In the line it takes a bit longer.

Normally, in a peacetime environment, from OCS to 0-4 (major or lieutenant commander, depending on branch) it's eight to ten years, depending on speciality and something they call "promotion flow point." Those timelines have been truncated by the Army during the current wartime environment when they haven't found people in the mandated specialities. When there's a glut, it takes forever to be promoted. When there's a shortage (and a lot of 0-4s took a powder in the middle years of BushCo, creating a substantial gap in talent at that paygrade) it speeds up the process--he may have been one of those lucky ones.

[mopinko]

22. sounds like he had computer skills that might have helped.

i just know that my nephew is a lifer, and a major, and it took him a long time. he had many good assignments and was in the first gulf war. he really deserved the promotions he got, but i think he was probably in 12 years before he made major. i think part of that was that he was pursuing training that he wanted to do, like special forces, rather than the things that would send him up the ladder.

[MADem]

25. Naaah. Computer skills get no respect--truth is, the enlisted personnel

generally have the officers beat on that score by a country mile (and I say this as a retired officer). The "O's" are getting better as they come up through the ranks, but they're still not as good as the E's. I'd go to the "E" before any "O" if I had issues with computers--they generally had a better feel for that stuff, at least the "repair" end. If we were breaking in new software, I'd take comments from any and every end-user, but the mending and tweaking was best done by the IT kids, all of whom (save their division officer, who was civilian in many places where I was stationed) were enlisted; generally mid-grade E's.

I read somewhere that this nitwit has been "in" for 21 years, so he's no fresh face. Now, I'm pretty sure that's not all "active" (because if it were, he'd have been retirement eligible a year ago, and likely failed to select for promotions a time or three). He may have gotten "out" eight or ten years ago, and affiliated with a reserve center to gain retirement points. Either that, or he got nailed in the Cheney RIF (Dick was the architect in the late eighties, as SECDEF, and Clinton took the 'blame' for it) in the mid-to-late nineties, and has been "reserving it" since then. Hard to know for sure what the scoop is, particularly since "the rules" have changed a bit as this war has dragged on, but there's something "amiss" with this guy and his career pattern.

[PA Democrat]

4. Can you say frivolous lawsuit?

Cook volunteered and then files suit. He was really looking out for his fellow soldiers too, wasn't he? :puke:

[madrchsod]

5. dam this is really an interesting story

after reading a lot of the comments on the links to other sites it seems a lot of military guys want the guy brought up on charges and called him a coward. others defended the guy because of the birth certificate who were then attacked for being "birthers".



funny how freerepublic is at the center of this story......

[Stargazer09]

6. This guy needs to be made into an example

He wanted his name in the papers, and he wanted all sorts of publicity for the birther cause. Well, he got it. I hope it was worth it to him. Most of the military guys I know would object to being called a coward, but maybe this guy likes that title.

As the article states, someone else is going to get called up for a no-notice deployment or the unit in Afghanistan is going to be short-handed while they find someone to replace Cook. If I had to replace some asshole who only volunteered for a deployment to play some sort of game, I would be really angry. My husband received 12 days to prepare for a year-long deployment, and I can tell you that it caused a lot of pain for everyone involved.

The guy's military career just went out of the window; no commander in his/her right mind would want someone that untrustworthy in a military unit. I would think that Cook will lose his security clearance, too, and that pretty much takes out any future job in government.

I wish I could say that idiots like this were few and far between in the military, but unfortunately, I'm sure they aren't. I worked with a couple of guys who probably support Cook's efforts wholeheartedly. It's pretty pathetic.

[ladywnch]

11. he did lose his clearance.......and his job since it requires clearance

somehow he didn't think that far in ahead of his actions.

[Stargazer09]

17. I wasn't sure if his clearance had been pulled or not

I hope his little tantrum was worth losing his jobs (civilian and military), as well as any chance he had of getting a military retirement. Even in the reserves, making major takes a significant amount of time, and he could have been fairly close to retirement when he started all of this.

[ladywnch]

27. my husband read a post last night that says he lost his clearance

Not being military myself I was wondering....you said he could lose his retirement...does that mean he get a dishonorable discharge or what?

[Stargazer09]

28. It depends

If he has not yet attained 20 years of creditable service (in the reserves, you have to perform a certain number of days of duty for your year to count towards retirement), AND if he gets forced to separate before the 20-year point, then yes, he will lose his retirement benefits. Retirement benefits are only paid after 20 years of service or after a medical discharge, if I remember right.

If he has already reached the 20-year point, then I don't think a discharge will affect his retirement. I'm no expert on that, though. If he gets discharged due to wrongdoing, then he might be forced to forfeit his retirement. I don't know.

Without a clearance, he certainly can't do his job, so the next step for the Army will be deciding whether or not he can get his clearance reinstated. If he can't get it back, then the Army can simply kick him out for not being qualified for service. That happened to an airman in my Guard unit earlier this year; she didn't bother to fill out her security clearance paperwork, despite being asked to do it for over a year, and the unit discharged her.

[WeDidIt]

8. Saddest part about World Nut Daily

They confirmed the Birth Certificate before they became Birfer Central.

[theothersnippywshrub]

9. It is a fund raiser for the Realtor-Dentist-Lawyer. However, in fairness to the online law school

graduate, she probably is sufficiently deranged to believe in the Birther of a Nation cause.

[BlooInBloo]

10. Are you repeating what's in this thread?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8529625

[meegbear]

13. Looks like I am ...

D'oht!

[havocmom]

15. .

Thank you for a very informative post.Bookmarking so I can play Stump the Redneck whenever this topic comes up

[Adelante]

16. Case Dismissed today

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/292/story/779031.html

[Cerridwen]

23. What's "funny" about that is, the case was dismissed because

he said he didn't want to go and the Army said, "okay," so now he doesn't have an actionable case.

That just struck me funny. LOL

Judge Clay Land sided with the defense, which claimed in its response to Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook's suit, filed July 8 with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, that Cook’s suit is “moot” in that he already has been told he doesn’t have to go to Afghanistan, so the relief he is seeking has been granted.

"Federal court only has authority of actual cases and controversies," Land said. "The entire action is dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction." (I emphasized the part that made me laugh)

[MADem]

26. Heh heh--that attention-seeking putz is the walking representation of "moot." NT

[csziggy]

29. Unfit to serve and a disgrace to the uniform

Cook arrived at the federal courthouse in uniform this morning for his hearing.

Outside the courthouse, before the hearing, Cook defended his controversial position and declared his devotion to the military.

“I love the Army and I want to continue to serve in the Army,” Cook said. “If we can establish that he is in fact president of the United States legally, I’m on the airplane the next day over to Afghanistan… if they cut my deployment orders, so I can do the job that I want to do.”

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/292/story/779031.html

Cook should have thought this out more before getting involved with the nutjobs - but then his type is incapable of rational thought. I hope he gets his discharge from the military soon because I don't want him serving MY country!

[Richard Steele]

20. Typical Birther idiocy. K&R

[WeDidIt]

24. This motherfucker is a BLUE FALCON

Ask a soldier what the fuck that is.

HE's a BIG TIME BLUE FALCON.

Fucking field grade officer no less. That's the WORST kind of BLUE FALCON ever.

Motherfucker.