The Current FReepathon Pays For The Current Quarters Expenses?
Posted on 01/28/2012 4:17:11 PM PST by george76
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a federal law making it illegal to lie about being a war hero is constitutional and making false statements is not always protected free speech.
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The Colorado case involves Rick Strandlof, who was arrested after claiming he was wounded in Iraq as a Marine and had received military medals. His lawyers have acknowledged the claims were false.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
It doesn’t happen very often anymore but every now and then, the American people are allowed to win one.
Rick Strandlof said he survived the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon. He said he survived again when a roadside bomb went off in Iraq, killing four fellow Marines.
formed a group called the Colorado Veterans Alliance.
Thank you 10th Circuit!!!!!
He also frequently appeared with Democrat candidates, making it appear combat veterans supported them.
I say let them claim what they want, but those found to be false have to spend a night in a barracks in Afghanistan.
So now lying is illegal? I guess that means every politician in the country should be immediately imprisoned. Add every public official for every government agency to that as well.
Very good news. Hopefully SCOTUS will rule like this appeals court on the Xavier Alvarez case. These liars should not be protected by the First Amendment, they may not be after monetary value but they gain admiration falsely and when their lies are exposed make suspect other genuine heroes bravery.
“So now lying is illegal? I guess that means every politician in the country should be immediately imprisoned. Add every public official for every government agency to that as well.”
I have a big problem with this law; I have never served or claimed to, but this is ridiculous. Sounds like some stupid girls gave it up and were mad when the “war hero” didn’t call the next day.
Officially misrepresenting oneself as current active military or law enforcement personnel I have no problem with punishing severely; BSing about one’s past is free speech. Maybe the liars should just claim to be Blackwater heroes - is pretending to be a merc still legal?
I find it disturbing how many FReepers support this.
“Stolen Valor” by BG Burkett is a must read book for those who need to see how the media manipulates a narrative to suit their purposes. Since so many Journolist types are openly opposed to the military, it is in their best interest to play up every PTSD vet. Sadly, every time some loser lies and gets away with it, a real veteran, with real symptoms, gets ignored and the Military gets another black eye.
It is not “free speech” to lie about something in order to make a profit. (ie - a salesman is not protected if he tells you that the car you are looking at has never been wrecked when the title shows otherwise.) Claiming military medals does benefit the liar with an enhanced reputation that may afford them benefits or opportunities not otherwise available, so it should NOT be protected speech. I certainly hope SCOTUS gets this one right!
The Current FReepathon Pays For The Current Quarters Expenses?
I wish these lying ‘RAT bass turds would pose as laid off union workers instead of always posing as veterans. Bass turds like this guy give veterans a bad name.
Rick Strandlof, executive director of the Colorado Veterans Alliance and the man most colleagues knew as Rick Duncan, was front and center during the 2008 Democrat campaigns in Colorado.
He spoke at a Barack Obama veterans rally in front of the Capitol befroe the DNC convention , co-hosted several events with then- congressional candidate Jared Polis and attacked Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer in a TV ad paid for by the national group Votevets.org.
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/05/15/more-on-the-fake-marine-anti-war-poster-boy/
I'm a vet, don't claim "hero" status but I don't support it.
Lots of vets here.
I have never served or claimed to
One reason you find it 'disturbing'. Do you have a problem with some jamoke claiming valor awards or purple hearts? If not, you aren't much different that this clown.
“He also frequently appeared with Democrat candidates, making it appear combat veterans supported them.”
You mean like those “doctors” Obama rolled out onstage when he was explaining Obamacare?
I don't.
But of course, I actually have been to four back-to-back Iraq deployments and actually AM a Purple Heart recipient. I've also lost a lot of guys I know.
My kid brother just got back from his first tour to Afghanistan and is about to hit his second. My grandfather was in Korea, and though 'Nam exempt went anyway...wound up with a Purple Heart too. My other grandfather was a boat gunner at Normandy.
Bastards like this discredit the service and the United States of America. I don't have the study, but consistently service members are held by the American people to be the most trustworthy - above law enforcement, lawyers, doctors, and I think even above clergy.
Further, a lot of employers (especially fedgov) have veteran's hiring preference. Being a wounded veteran (as this POS claimed to be) awards you more points and a better chance of getting hired.
I am the last person in favor of more laws. I even think some military expenditures AND benefits are unwarranted......but really? Putting on a bunch of war medals and falsifying claims off someone else's blood?
I want you to hold the hand of a Marine not even old enough to drink....see the blood flow out of him and seemingly fill the every inch of the floor. Do this while the corpsman frantically tries to find the entry wound in the Marine's leg....as his life continues to slip away. His eyes roll, his lips to blue, the color in his face goes, his breathing slows, and somehow by the grace of God he lives.
Then after that, tell me if you could say with a straight face it's ok to put on the same uniform, a bunch of medals and FRAUD the rest of the country.
Or maybe, you could ask my Lt's mother what she thinks.....maybe she can discuss it with her son when she visits him in the cemetary; he's a Purple Heart recipient.
“Do you have a problem with some jamoke claiming valor awards or purple hearts? If not, you aren’t much different that this clown.”
I think it is a disgusting thing to do, and would merit a beat-down by those who did serve (without nanny-state interference); I don’t see adding another “protected class” with rules tailored to their gripes as a good thing.
Should married people in a bar be prohibited from posing as singles? The case could be made that it would benefit society if we stopped married people from BSing people to score...
I’ve wondered if most of those “doctors” were chiropractors of the variety who take kickbacks from trial lawyers to provide them with plaintiffs. Trial lawyers give Barry a lot of money.
No, just lying about being a military combat veteran when you are not. For example, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) are a couple of lying scumbags who publicly falsified their military service and should be in jail.
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