Phony Soldiers and Stolen Valor

This is the story of a politician. Richard Blumenthal has been one for around thirty years, the last seven of which, at least, he has been making lying and or misleading statements about his "military service". (More about the "scare quotes" later.) In 2003, according to the NYT, he stated:

“When we returned, we saw nothing like this,”

Returned? Returned from where, Dick? A Toys for Tots drive? Via Hot Air:

I wore the uniform in Vietnam and many came back to all kinds of disrespect Nov. 9, 2008. “When we returned from Vietnam, I remember the taunts, the verbal and even physical abuse we encountered.” May 18, 2009

“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,”

March 2008. NYT The Times went on to write:

There was one problem: Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat now running for the United States Senate, never served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records. The deferments allowed Mr. Blumenthal to complete his studies at Harvard; pursue a graduate fellowship in England; serve as a special assistant to The Washington Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham; and ultimately take a job in the Nixon White House. In 1970, with his last deferment in jeopardy, he landed a coveted spot in the Marine Reserve, which virtually guaranteed that he would not be sent to Vietnam. He joined a unit in Washington that conducted drills and other exercises and focused on local projects, like fixing a campground and organizing a Toys for Tots drive.

David Curry, a “professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and an expert on the Vietnam draft“, according to the NYT, had this to say about Blumenthal's reserve service:

“The Reserves were not being activated for Vietnam and were seen as a shelter for young privileged men”

Hmm. Does that put you in mind of anything the Left has been harping on about any recent Presidents? Nothing wrong with collecting Toys for Tots, or sprucing up campgrounds and marching around in your uniform. But it is not comparable in any way to combat service. Blumenthal is now trying to get ahead of the criticism by saying he "misspoke". Really? He misspoke for seven straight years and never attempted to correct anyone's mistaken perception if they should happen to draw the wrong conclusion from his less than forthright statements?

…In at least eight newspaper articles published in Connecticut from 2003 to 2009, he is described as having served in Vietnam. The New Haven Register on July 20, 2006, described him as “a veteran of the Vietnam War,” and on April 6, 2007, said that the attorney general had “served in the Marines in Vietnam.” On May 26, 2009, The Connecticut Post, a Bridgeport newspaper that is the state’s third-largest daily, described Mr. Blumenthal as “a Vietnam veteran.” The Shelton Weekly reported on May 23, 2008, that Mr. Blumenthal “was met with applause when he spoke about his experience as a Marine sergeant in Vietnam.” And the idea that he served in Vietnam has become such an accepted part of his public biography that when a national outlet, Slate magazine, produced a profile of Mr. Blumenthal in 2000, it said he had “enlisted in the Marines rather than duck the Vietnam draft.” It does not appear that Mr. Blumenthal ever sought to correct those mistakes.

This is a politician who scours or has his people scour news accounts and correct things as minor as an incorrect middle initial, but for seven years allowed people to think of him as a combat veteran when he was not? This was calculated on his part. You don't live this kind of lie for seven years without contributing to it personally with at least a cowardly silence on your part. This is where the stolen valor comes in. I have heard what Blumenthal has done been described as a "victimless crime". But I disagree. Whenever anyone claims military service they did not perform or claims military honors they did not earn, it is a counterfeit. They are borrowing valor they have never earned from those who have. They steal the reputation of men braver than themselves. They use it to falsely enhance the opinion that others have of them. They may use it to gain preferential treatment in employment (or political campaigns). They may also use it to pick up women in bars, but that's another story. The men and women of our armed forces are to be honored for their service. Those who have heard shots fired in anger, even more so. For the lily livered Dick Blumenthal to claim to have been in harm's way when first, he assiduously avoided shouldering that responsibility and then second to accept the accolades as if he had, is a base lie. If anyone wants accolades and honor for serving in the military, let him earn them. Otherwise he is nothing more than a common thief stealing that which is valuable and claiming it for his own. At least Bill Clinton showed a modicum of honesty when he said he "loathed the military". And Senator's son Al Gore at least showed up in country with his typewriter as an REMF. Mr. Blumenthal: It is a sad thing when Bill Clinton and Al Gore show more integrity in military matters than you do. And if you weren't by now convinced that Dick Blumenthal is not above lying to enhance his resume, consider this:

In two largely favorable profiles, the Slate article and a magazine article in The Hartford Courant in 2004 with which he cooperated, Mr. Blumenthal is described prominently as having served as captain of the swim team at Harvard. Records at the college show that he was never on the team.

Something comes to mind here about "Lying Liars" but I can't remember exactly what! Cross posted at Say Anything