Hi Sgt. Grit,
I just read on the Internet that the 9th District Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling that the Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional. Apparently it is OK to lie about military service, but a crime to make heated, loose-liped remarks against an elected official. The Courts would have us believe that Freedom of Speech is absolute, but we know differently.
Perhaps everybody is just going about this Stolen Valor thing all wrong. Maybe a different solution to the problem is in order.
Here's an idea. While working in Ft. Worth, Texas a few years ago I saw several billboards along the road with pictures and personal information on “Deadbeat Dads,” men who owed thousands and thousands of dollars in back child support payments. Every month there was a new Dad, another new face on the billboards. Apparently Texas doesn't mind airing someone's dirty laundry in public.
So what I am suggesting is this: The next time one of these phony-hero types rears his ugly head and gets caught in the act, maybe some local veterans groups can take up a collection and buy a full page ad in the local news section of the local paper showing the faker's (deliberately misspelled) picture and all of his personal information (who he is, where he lives, where he works, what church he goes to, etc) and what he has done to deserve this public humiliation treatment. The ad should also ask the community to give this guy the “silent treatment”.
You know, don't talk to the bastard, turn their back on him, complained to restaurant management about his presence ruining the evening if he enters while people are enjoying a meal. You get the idea. Treat him for the low life he really is. Think of this as a public pillory.
Sounds like a good idea, don't you think?
Wesley K.