Tag: leavenworth

He is the medal-winning former Army doctor from Greeley who became a hero to "birther" conspiracy theorists like Denver radio talker Peter Boyles when he refused to deploy to Afghanistan, demanding to see his commander-in-chief's birth certificate. Lakin didn't get to see any birth certificate. He was court martialed, stripped of his rank, salary and pension and hauled off to Leavenworth. After six months in prison, he is coming home. His supporters are trying to organize a rally to greet him at the airport in Baltimore, where his wife and three children live. As Salon's Justin Elliot reports, the Lakin saga is perhaps the most tragic story so far to "emerge from the birther carnival."

Colorado Senator Mark Udall's proposal that Democratic and Republican members of the House and Senate abandon the segregated State of the Union seating of years past and sit together Tuesday night has caught on. Udall plans to sit with GOP members of the Colorado delegation. South Carolina GOP Rep. Joe Wilson, who heckled the president last year, is sitting with Democratic colleagues from the House Armed Services Committee. Former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi turned down a seating invitation from GOP majority leader Eric Cantor, but she plans to sit with GOP Maryland Rep. Roscoe Bartlett.