Posted on 06/08/2009 6:00:37 AM PDT by reaganaut1
The thick-muscled man with close-cropped hair who called himself Rick Duncan seemed right out of central casting as a prop for a Democratic candidate running against Bush administration policies last fall.
A former Marine Corps captain who suffered brain trauma from a roadside bomb in Iraq and was at the Pentagon during the Sept. 11 attacks. An advocate for veterans rights who opposed the war. An Annapolis graduate who was proudly gay. With his gold-plated credentials, he commanded the respect and attention of not just politicians, but also police chiefs, reporters and veterans advocates for the better part of two years.
Yet, except for his first name, virtually none of his story was true. In reality, he was Richard G. Strandlof, a charismatic drifter with a history of mental illness and petty crimes who had moved from Montana to Nevada to Colorado, assuming different names and identities along the way.
Last month, after actual veterans uncovered his deceptions, Mr. Strandlof, 32, was detained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and then arrested by the Denver police on an outstanding warrant for driving with a suspended license. The veterans group he helped create, the Colorado Veterans Alliance, has disbanded. And now Mr. Strandlof, apparently penniless, remains in jail on $1,000 bail.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
So he faked being gay?
I got better!
Democrats - the Party of suckers and con men.
People fall for this stuff when they want to fall for it.
Ping for later read
But he felt good about himself and made others feel good too, and now time for a group hug.
That he is “gay” wasn’t mentioned alongside his other mental health problems. It was buried until far along in the second page.
But he insisted that he had broken no laws and that his deception was in the service of good causes.
Many former friends, still furious about his betrayal, agree. He publicized the plight of homeless veterans, they say, skillfully guided people through the labyrinthine bureaucracy of the Veterans Affairs Department and spoke movingly about post-traumatic stress disorder.
“What’s so heartbreaking is he was doing some good things,” said Hal Bidlack, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for Congress from Colorado last year on an antiwar platform. “I just hope he’s not undermined the agenda.”
They didn't care if his story was true or not. He said everything they wanted to hear from a veteran. It didn't matter that it was false so, they didn't ask questions. For many Democrats, deception is perfectly acceptable if it gets a Democrat elected or somehow advances their cause. Just ask the Duke lacrosse players who went through hell just to boost the career of a Democrat politician.
Liberal thy name is hypocrite.
***and was at the Pentagon during the Sept. 11 attacks.
***An advocate for veterans rights who opposed the war.
***An Annapolis graduate
***who was proudly gay.
With his gold-plated credentials, he commanded the respect and attention of not just politicians, but also police chiefs, reporters and veterans advocates for the better part of two years.
Yet, except for his first name, virtually none of his story was true.
Sounds like he was custom made for the dims to parade around, didn't anyone think he might in that sense be "too good to be true" and do some checking? I swear the GOP is asleep at the switch. There was another high profile phony "vet" the dims used in previous campaigns. The dims know this stuff will come out eventually, they just hope it works through that election cycle. So far thanks to the sleepy GOP it is working. They will find more phonies to parade around- there was an endless supply during the Vietnam War.
They do not respect or want to hear from veterans that have really been there done that because they do not want to hear what they have to say. If cornered about that, they will say that veterans that support the war and conservative causes are brainwashed.
“For many Democrats, deception is perfectly acceptable if it gets a Democrat elected or somehow advances their cause.”
This statement describes democrats and marxists/liberals perfectly. Their amoral nature allows them to lie and deceive to obtain their objectives. They share this ‘noble’ trait with many Communists.
Rigoberto Manchu is a perfect example. The Global Warming hysteria is another.
It’s wonders what they can do with prosthetics nowadays.
Hey!! Watch out!!! Don’t call him a “phony vet”, the Rats are going to go on a rampage! Remember what happened last year when other phony Rat VETS were exposed? :-)
The Republicans in “power” now are worthless blobs of goo that the neo-patriot Dems enjoy as play things.
These Dems enjoy “Rambo” on the silver screen, but they despise the true warriors to do it for real. The BS-detector should be blaring when their “golden boys” sound too much like Rambo and nothing like John Q Public. When something is “too good to be true,” it most likely is.
Since the Dems live in fantasyland, one never need worry about facts, as only the value in the story is what’s important. Unless things change in the next 2 years, we’re in for some very hard times.
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