Denver Post goes squishy on Duncan/Strandlof
Back in May, when Rick Duncan/Richard Strandlof was first exposed as a phony veteran who had starred in VoteVets commercials and headed money raising schemes ostensibly for veterans, the Denver Post led the posse to put Standloff on the gallows.
A few days ago, some half-witted and unknown band of lawyers from Virginia called the Rutherford Institute filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Strandlof’s case that said, in effect, that calling yourself a veteran and claiming certain awards and accolades as your own, is protected speech and that the Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional.
Today, to prove to us how enlightened they are, the editorial board of the Denver Post declared that they agree with those nimrods of the Rutherford Institute like good members of the Liberal Bobblehead Brigade.
Upon arresting him, federal authorities said he claimed to be a wounded Marine veteran who had received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star.
Reprehensible? Yes. But criminal?
We have doubts about the constitutionality of the 2006 Stolen Valor Act, which makes it a crime to merely say you had received certain military decorations when you hadn’t.
The First Amendment protects even deplorable, distasteful speech, particularly in cases where that speech doesn’t injure someone else.
Strandlof’s alleged deception began to unravel in May, when members of the group he founded, the Colorado Veterans Alliance, began checking out his claims of having served three tours in Iraq, surviving the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and suffering a brain injury from an improvised explosive device.
It has not been alleged that Strandlof lied to gain anything for himself other than publicity. He is accused of using his created persona to solicit donations on behalf of veterans.
We are not defending the alleged lies, but there hasn’t been a case made that he was making such claims to line his own pockets.
You might argue that the “injured party” is really the integrity and honor associated with the awards — that they are cheapened by frauds who falsely claim them. Frankly, if anyone is injured by such false claims, it would be the person who is lying.
The veterans community that Strandlof had so integrated himself into turned on him, and for good reason, once they realized he wasn’t who he said he was.
The Stolen Valor Act, introduced in the U.S. House by Colorado’s Rep. John Salazar, broadened the provisions of prior U.S. law that prohibited the unauthorized wearing or manufacturing of military decorations and medals. Salazar’s website says the congressman supported the measure because “These imposters degrade the meaning of medals earned in service to our nation and sometimes use their ‘standing’ as a medal recipient to commit further fraud and more dangerous crimes.”
Pursuing fraud charges against those who make false claims to enrich themselves or hurt others is one thing. But criminalizing the mere act of lying is entirely another. Would truth police squads pursue all lies?
Weasel words if any were ever written. I guess the Denver Post wouldn’t mind if I started calling myself a Pulitzer Award winning former editor of the Denver Post and put that in my bio. Lord knows, I wouldn’t make any money from it (the way you guys won’t click my Google Ads) – and my use of occasional profanity and odd sexual references wouldn’t reflect poorly on the Post at all, would it?
So what is the solution for veterans? The Post says we should make the government put all of our records up for public scrutiny so that we’ll all know who the phonies aren’t. Isn’t that a bit like putting all of the personal information online of everyone who HASN’T committed a crime so we know who the criminals aren’t?
We hope the judicial system will recognize the value of free speech, even when it’s not popular.
When Strandlof led the Post and several other “journalists” down his merry path of anti-war activism, they were calling for his nuts on a skewer . Now since they’ve cleansed themselves of that, the Post wants to shove veterans under the bus and encourage the Rick Strandlofs to continue their behavior, at the expense of real veterans.
Strandlof’s stories of his four dead Marines and stories about his experiences were meant to damage the war effort in this country and only benefited the anti-war movement. His stories about being gay make me wonder if there are really any gays in the military these days. All of the utter phonies we’ve outed have also claimed to be gay. Aren’t there any real gays who want to tell their stories?
In short, because Strandlof supported the anti-war and anti-DADT platform and used his lies only for good (supporting Democrat candidates), the Post has determined he hasn’t done any real damage.
Maybe he hasn’t done any damage up until now, but he’s exposed the Post for being a bunch of hypocritical Leftist ideologues who’ll take any bait tossed them from a bunch of no-name lawyers in Virginia.
Fuck you, Denver Post, you spineless cum bubbles.
Category: Media, Phony soldiers
But, Jonn, we read you BECAUSE of the odd sexual references . and I clicked. 🙂
Amy
Using this twisted logic then it should be OK to say you’re a Police Officer, Judge, MD, RN, Senator/Congressman etc… All of those are illegal to impersonate in most States.
It’s just a way for these asshats to protect a fellow asshat.
Jonn said: . I guess the Denver Post wouldn’t mind if I started calling myself a Pulitzer Award winning former editor of the Denver Post and put that in my bio.
I do like that.
Let’s see if we can help him flesh that out some?
How long, and when, was he there?
What did he edit?
His prize winning effort was about what?
Hmmmm… this is such a great idea I think I’ll spin my own yarn for my bio.
Even though I worked side-by-side with Jonn on the material that won him his Pulitzer he chose NOT to credit me. I’m considering a civil suit against both him and The Post. They fired me for claiming credit for Jonn’s work!
Bwahhaha…
Jonn, Don’t you know the people who live in Boulder are fucked up? They. don’t. count. TAH. The. only. news. source.
How many Balldusters have you cracked, after all?
Hell, I can top that…..we got a President running around pretending to be a Nobel Laureate……
I think I’ll call myself an OBGYN tomorrow….
Old Tanker, he also calls himself a lawyer, and graduate of Hahvahd Law School. Today, I’m officially saying that I, too, am a lawyer, newspaper editor and a Nobel Prize winner.
Remember the “Doctor Roxana” at Shiela Jackson Lee’s Townhall meeting in Texas this past summer?
From ACE: http://minx.cc/?post=290875
One supporter, Roxana Mayer, praised the reform plan for overhauling a broken system.
“I don’t know what there is in the bill that creates such panic,” she said.
Mayer identified herself as a physician who does not live in Jackson Lee’s district. However, her name does not appear in the database maintained by the Texas Medical Board, which licenses all doctors in Texas.
In an e-mail to the Chronicle on Thursday morning, Mayer confirmed she is not a licensed physician. “I have been advised to refrain from making any further statements,” she said.
“And note how the hard-charging investigatory journalism stops immediately when a liberal malefactor is discovered.”
Is there no integrity or honor anymore? How will our society function with liars everywhere?
Oh yeah, I would like to see the birth certificate. Call me a birther if you want, but they’re too many frauds out there following the lead. Lying is so ingrained within the left’s tactics that it’s now believed by them to be a 1st Amendment right to lie.
You have google ads?
I wonder what ever happened in this case?
http://www.whnt.com/news/takingaction/whnt-amcom-maxey-breach-of-trust-investigation,0,3218629.story
Former AMCOM Employee Claims He Paid the Price for Exposing Fake Degrees
…He says he brought concerns about bogus degrees to the attention of Army higher-ups and ended up paying a price for it. He is Mark Maxey and his story begins halfway around the world. In the land of the Valley of the Kings, home of one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, an exotic land steeped in history, a desert American Maxey and his wife, Junko, called home.
Maxey worked for the AMCOM Security Assistance Management Directorate in Cairo, Egypt. Maxey was the Chief of the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command Egyptian Liaison Office which supported the sale of American military hardware to the Egyptians. Maxey explained, “I was working with the Hawk Missile System and the Avenger eventually. And, my secondary job was to run the office.” …
The Denver Post: “You might argue that the “injured party” is really the integrity and honor associated with the awards — that they are cheapened by frauds who falsely claim them. Frankly, if anyone is injured by such false claims, it would be the person who is lying.”
Oh, I get it. So Duncan is the real victim here.
Not to state the obvious, but everyone knows that the Denver Post would have a different point of view if it weren’t a left-winger.
Awww Ray, I was excited I was finally gonna be able to flash my fake FBI badge and phony Yale PHD. I even bought flashing lights for my truck
Isn’t there enough issues going on today, and spending time and money to go after people playing dress up is a waste?
Ok, so the guy said he was a soldier. Big deal. Isn’t impersonation the highest form of flattery? Say what you will, but he was an outspoken guy who brought a lot of issues to the attention of the public. How can that be a bad thing?
He might have said a few things that caused some feathers to be ruffled, but in the big picture he was helping troopers.
What’s next, are you going after kids at halloween who dress up as gi joe?? Let’s be rational here.
“Pursuing fraud charges against those who make false claims to enrich themselves or hurt others is one thing. But criminalizing the mere act of lying is entirely another.”
Ya know I can understand why a group of lawyers would be upset about this trend of action. After all, if lying were really going to be illegal, how the hell could they make a living and stay out of jail. It’s an impossibile quandry for them. Once that situation is acceptable where would we find politicians? In jail of course.
1stCAV
There is an update over at Blackfive
Ooops, wrong thread….my bad. 1stCAV, disregard my last, it’s not related to your story…..although this one will make your blood boil.
Jonn, Jonn, Jonn…The Rutherford Institute, founded by attorney John W. Whitehead, is very well known as the band of lawyers who are always fighting the ACLU in court on religious freedom issues and also for defending parents’ rights and homeschoolers against intrusion by the state.
While as a veteran I agree with your position on fraudulent vets and all, I also have a lot of respect for Mr. Whitehead.
Also FYI, they are conservative Christian fundamentalists, not liberals.
I wondered how long it’d take you to question that description of Rutherford. Although they defended Paula Jones, they’ve more recently opposed the PATRIOT ACT, defended Gitmo detainees, and participated in the Lawrence v. Texas case. They don’t sound all that conservative.
Okay, you shamed me into it. I clicked.
Chris, this wannabee Jarhead didn’t help anyone but himself and in fact hurt troopers with anti-war bullshit.
Offer him 2 years felony probation and make him mop and clean bed pans at VA hospitals every weekend for the next 2 years as community service.
Jonn, Yeah, it took me about a tenth of a second to question your description of the Rutherford Institute after I read it this morning. What it really boils down to is what your definition is of conservatism and what conservatism means to you. This is a classic debate, covered very thoroughly and expertly many years ago by Frank S. Meyer in refuting the philosophical underpinnings of the “New Conservatism” (as he termed it) of Russell Kirk (and others), much of which was originally published in the National Review back in the 1960’s and has since been published as a collection of essays entitled, “In Defense of Freedom,” available from http://www.libertyfund.org. That has long been one of my favorite books on freedom and if you’re not familiar with it, I can strongly recommend it. In fact, I’d be very interested in your reaction to it. With regard to the PATRIOT Act, which has some very unconstitutional provisions, there are MANY conservatives, including the ultra-conservative Phyllis Schlafly and the Eagle Forum that she founded many years ago, who have opposed it, or portions of it. While some of it is necessary and correct, I view the PATRIOT Act overall as being very statist and more in line with modern liberal values than with traditional conservative values, as well as in line with what has been commonly referred to as neo-conservatism rather than the more traditional kind of conservatism as defended by Meyer, as noted above. It surprises me, in fact, that you would disagree with John W. Whitehead’s position on the PATRIOT Act since most of you here do seem to be pretty aware and on board with the problem of Homeland Security and their overweening concern about veterans, etc. Have you read John W. Whitehead’s paper on the PATRIOT Act? It is really very good. I used as a significant resource in my research paper on “Domestic Terrorism and the Securing of America’s Liberties,” online at http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfjr5r3x_46fj5kqdr – and Whitehead’s paper on the PATRIOT Act is linked in the references section at the end of my paper. With regard to… Read more »
Debra- quick question, do you believe that folks not in a uniform, and not member of a state military are covered by the Geneva Conventions, and if so, which portions?
TSO, I believe the US Supreme Court has ruled that they are. Is that not enough of an answer for you?
I thought about this over the weekend and I have to say I like the idea of having some regulation over wearing unearned medals and decorations.
If we as a veterans community want to make sure D-bags like this are punished criminally and not just through torts then the Act that requires such has to be airtight, and the Stolen Valor Act seems to have some holes.
Comparing it to obvious frauds(lying for money), impersonations that accompany frauds (impersonating police) or non-criminal offenses(saying you work for the Post) doesn’t get us very far. Most of those things are torts or crimes because of the fraud and not the lie. Just because what he did might not be illegal under the law “as is” doesn’t mean it was right. That dichotomy is short changing this discussion.
R D/S might win this case which is unfortunate since it seems that might have been avoided if the legislation was clearer. This is a point where some lawyer vets and policy minded vets who care about veterans can come together and make sure the next round can’t be circumvented by poorly written statutes. This shouldn’t be about politics.
I have to say Chris is very wrong. The harm idea needs to be solidified but certainly groups like CVA and IVAW as well as the politicians who he lied to have their reputations hurt. His actions caused more bad than good in the end. John and TSO break IVAW down enough as is, guys like this only make it easier. While it may not be a strong legal argument to claim harm to the average veteran, it is very disrespectful to all of us.
Well, under their argument, I should be able to call myself an ACLU lawyer, as long as I don’t benefit from it, it should be protected free speech; right?
I prefer calling myself James Bond, so I can shoot bad guys, play with the most exotic machinery, shag all the smokin hot babes, win at all the gambling casinos, and still be home to watch Hot Shots from my cigarette case while shagging said hottie.
Can I then pretend to have a CDL and drive a truck? Licenses are issued by and regulated by the government. Uniforms are just that, issued by and regulated by the Military(government) There is no inherent “right” for private citizens to wear them in order to deceive and gain from said deception and then try to call it “freedom of speech”
Old Trooper and Tanker,
It seems (and TSO chime in if I am wrong) difference is that while it may not be criminal to say you are an ACLU lawyer they could still sue you for it (them or anyone else you falsely claim membership/employment with- torts and not criminal). Since James Bond either isn’t real or is really you(watch out ladies), you most likely are safe unless there is some economic loss to whoever owns the rights to the James Bond franchise.
Since he pretended to be a vet the uniform/license point sounds shaky too. Veterans aren’t licensed and there is no uniform mandated. It also seems the issue is the actual speech aspect not the monetary frauds he perpetrated while taking part in the speech. The fraud can be punished but the question is can the utterance also be criminally punished?
Think back to OJ Simpson. He wasn’t convicted of a crime but the Goldman’s won the civil suit against him. We all know murder is different than saying you are a vet when you are not (lying), but how do we make lying about this a crime. They tried with the Stolen Valor Act but it may not stand up to constitutional scrutiny. If it does not, he still did something wrong and can still be punished in other ways, but those wrong will have to be punished without the added punishment for lying until the Act is shown to be Constitutionally sound.
I’m not a doctor,…but I play one on TV.
jen et al, it si illegal to represent oneself as or even own equipment and credentials claiming to be an officer of the law, representative of govt and so on. It is also illegal to lie or misrepresent oneself or ones information on any govt documentation. It is also illegal to give false statements to any govt official. Seems this guy commited the trifecta of criminal activity. As for combatants out of uniform on the battlefield, according to the geneva convention, they can be shot on sight. We give them a gift of capture and are well within rights to dispose of them any way we see fit. We do not need to treat them any other way. I say get what we need from them and then transfuse them with pig blood and bury them in a landfill with the remnants from the rendering facility.