Turley: Stolen Valor law endangers social life

So the conversation about the constitutionality of the Stolen Valor Act continues among the chattering classes. The Associated Press does it’s best to muddy the waters by asking nimrods like Jonathan Turley;

Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School who is not involved in the two cases, said the Stolen Valor Act raises serious constitutional questions because it in effect bans bragging or exaggerating about yourself.

“Half the pickup lines in bars across the country could be criminalized under that concept,” he said.

Yes, that’s a real and certain danger to our culture isn’t it? It’d be a crying-ass shame if douche-bags weren’t able to lie to babes in bars. Or if Turley wasn’t able to lie to GWU co-eds.

Dozens of people have been arrested under the law at a time when veterans coming home from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are being embraced as heroes.

Many of the cases involve men who simply got caught living a lie without profiting from it.

That’s kind of why the law was written – because laws against fraud for monetary profit already exist. And there is a profit involved in the lies, whether or not it’s tangible. Strandlof lied because he wanted to be a big deal, and the politicians who used him at their events and in their ads profited from his false message. Just like our Michael McManus profited by having CNN believe his message that the Army booted a Lieutenant Colonel after twenty-years of service because he’s gay – regardless of whether it was a monetary profit or a political profit it was still a profit.

Manny Alvarez tried to profit with his lie in the form of an elected office. Even if the profit is merely adulation from peers, it’s still a profit from fraud. Those who’ve used the uniform for cheaper airfares, or even free drinks at a bar, still profit from others’ heroism and sacrifice.

And if you can’t get some strange without sticking to the truth about yourself, build a porn collection and stay at home, doofus.

Doug Sterner, a friend of this blog, quotes George Washington;

Sterner noted that Washington created the Purple Heart, the nation’s first military decoration, and wrote: “Should any who are not entitled to these honors have the insolence to assume the badges of them, they shall be severely punished.”

I can’t leave the subject without quoting TSO’s man-crush, Peter Lemon, an honest-to-God hero;

Army veteran Pete Lemon of Colorado Springs, who received the Medal of Honor for turning back an enemy assault and rescuing wounded comrades in Vietnam while injured himself, supports the law, saying that pretending to have a medal can bring undeserved rewards.

“It gives you the power to entice somebody into marriage,” he said. “It could give you the power to be able to join an organization, get special treatment with regards to getting tickets to a football game, getting license plates, getting preferential treatment in a job situation.”

Category: Phony soldiers