John Glaser, one of those smelly, limp-wristed hippies who writes over at AntiWar.com, celebrates his right to free speech by denigrating the recent American reawakening of the value of those who defend Glaser’s free speech rights. he takes up the case of Rick Strandlof;
Colorado resident Rick Glen Strandlof also “faced criminal charges for falsely claiming to have been awarded the Purple Heart for wounds and the Silver Star for heroism in the battle of Fallujah during the Iraq war,” and for using an alias when he established a group called the Colorado Veterans Alliance.
Glaser doesn’t mention that Strandlof also was a member of Iraq veterans Against the War, in fact he was their head mental health counselor to treat PTSD episodes at Winter Soldier II in Silver Spring ,Maryland. Also, Strandlof made advertisemnts for Democrat candidates with his anti-war message – so apparently, some anti-war types place some value on medals and war stories. But not Glaser;
…we are living in such a culture of honor, so subservient to militaristic symbolism and emblems of primordial brutishness, so reverent for the acclaimed sacrifice of those who devote themselves to violence at the order of the state, that such a violation of the human right to speak without harm to his neighbor can be passed unanimously in our legislature. This law, especially if it is upheld by the Supreme Court, is indicative of just how deeply sunk are Americans’ fondness for a martial culture, placing it even above the equally arbitrary religious pieties so prevalent here (since I don’t believe it’s against the law to declare yourself the messiah).
Yes. we’ve elevated our soldiers above the son of God, you clucking pusillanimous pullet. by not mentioning that Strandlof pulled his wool over the eyes of the anti-war crowd, he nearly avoids pointing how Stolen valor is actually fraud who harms us all. Even the numbnuts who don’t believe in valor.
(since I don’t believe it’s against the law to declare yourself the messiah)
Well, Obama supporters might get upset at people horning in on his action, but it’s not technically illegal.
without harm to his neighbor
And therein lies the key phrase, asshat. Too many of these clowns actually HAVE done harm in the form of fraud.
Honor isn’t limited to the military. Then again, if you had any, you might understand that.
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
John Stuart Mill
This is simple, really. If dressing up in a uniform not earned, or wearing decorations not earned is a “form of speech”, then so is wearing a set of Doctor’s scrubs, walking around in a hospital, or a fire fighter’s turn out gear around a fire, or a police officer’s uniform around a crime scene, or a judge’s robes around a courthouse.
After all, it’s just “speech”, and no one gets hurt by “boasting” or “casual lies”, right?
I think he can’t stand the idea of a meritocracy.
I wonder how Mr Glaser would feel if I practiced my right of free speech and stole his identity – and credit cards – and bank accounts (that is, if he has any of the above).
Up North:
All of the examples you give are not illegal nor should they be. If I dress up as a Doctor or claim to be one without collecting money or trendering any kind of treatment, I’m fine. Same thing with claiming to be a Fire Fighter or a Judge. One the other hand, if I practice the profession without the required training, I am liable for fraud and practicing without a license. Same thing with Identity theft or fundraising by fraud. These are crimes independent of stolen valor. Telling a bar story is just telling a bar story. You have no constitutional protection from jackoffs. Sorry.
Personal Gain…take the recently publicized SV Case of Terry Calandra who was trying to get his bogus Silver Star upgraded to the MOH. Some have sympathized with him by noting he raised money for MOPH but never himself personally profited thereby. In fact, it his bogus SS had been upgraded, he would have received a tax-free monthly MOH stipend in excess of $1,000 per month for the rest of his life. That he DID NOT is moot…he was attempting to rob tax payers of that stipend. It is UNLAWFUL to PLAN a robbery, whether you actually complete it or not. And Calandra was certainly planning a robbery here.