High court examines lying about military exploits

[acg8276]

hahahahaahha====excellent point

A knowing laugh???

[acg8276]

Your integrity and honest answer to that last one should keep you out of the un employment lines Dave.

Semper Fi

[fl1946]

Here is the other issue. If "they" can make lying (not under oath) a crime, for lying about military service, then they can make lying about your age a crime too, if they wanted to, or lying about anything, so that you could actually be prosecuted for not being truthful in everyday life, even by mistake. It would know no bounds.

So it is a matter of free speech. Are the posers idiots and jackazzes that need their azzes kicked? Yes. But do you really want laws that require you to tell the truth about everything all the time, not just military service but everything?

What kind of a step would it be from lying about military service to lying about anything? Do you think the power to make laws against lying about military service could never go any further than that, into other areas of everyday life?

You could be mistaken about any subject whatsoever, and be prosecuted for "lying".

It has been said time and time again throughout our history that "you cannot legislate morality". You cannot make people act "right" by prohibiting every kind of conduct we don't like them to engage in.

If you can prosecute them for lying about military service, you also have the power and the clear power to enact laws prohibiting differences of opinion, and you could pass a law making remarks against the president, treasonous.

This kind of power is really unlimited, once you unleash it in one particular area, because if the government has the power to make ONE law, then it will have the power to make similar laws in other areas besides military service, and then you have a police state, where you will never have to worry again about military posers or anyone, including what you yourself say, because once laws are passed, you won't be saying too much of anything anymore.

When you give power to the government, any government, that government does not have to restrict its use of that power to any one particular area---they can branch out. And then it is too late.

If you are under 21 and caught with alcoholic beverage, it's a crime albeit possibly a misdemeanor. This is where age is the deciding factor.

[Mongoose]

I think those who impersonate a person decorated for valor, is a person who more than likely never accomplished much in life. Nor does he have much, if any family. They are looking for something they can't achieve on their own. However, I'm like Dave. We let people burn our American flag and allow people to stand up and yell, God Dame America, all under the guise of free speech. If your going to go after those who impersonate people decorated for valor. Then go after those who impersonate Americans.

[ChuckH]

This just in 40 minutes ago:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court appears to be sharply divided over a law that makes it a crime to lie about having been awarded top military honors.
The justices engaged in spirited debate Wednesday over the constitutionality of a 2006 law aimed at curbing false claims about military exploits.
Some justices said they worried that upholding the Stolen Valor Act could lead to laws that might make it illegal to lie about an extramarital affair or a college degree.
But others indicated that the law is narrowly drawn to try to prevent people from demeaning the system of military honors that was established by Gen. George Washington in 1782.

[R Landry]

As to Alvarez, the man whose false medal claims are the center of this case, he is currently in jail, not because he lied about military medals, but because he claimed his ex-wife on his health insurance, a lie that amounts to fraud.
That, plus his other lies, leads inevitably to one question: Is Alvarez just a nut case?


His lawyer pauses awkwardly when asked the question, and then acknowledges: "Certainly some of his colleagues have been quoted as saying that. When you first meet him and talk to him, it's pretty clear that you can't trust anything that comes out of his mouth."