Senate stolen valor laws

Penchant, not pension.

 

ASR, don't bother. Beez has transcended into his own plane of existence that is far beyond a realm of our understanding.

 

The Medal of Honor is mostly given out now for trying.

 

a) I thought your job was to scrub toilets?
b) see, Mr44? Malware script.

 

Sorry, that is not my job. I fix cars.

 

After this guy has ****** them.

 

I want that car now dammit.

 

In the year 2000, the United Sates census showed that only 1,002,511 in country, Vietnam veterans were still alive. On the same survey 13,853,027 respondents falsely claimed to have been in country, Vietnam veterans. Until I read those numbers, I thought the poser problem consisted of a "few weirdos" too. But the ratio of liars to service members is a sickening 14:1.

Look at this thread. There's someone claiming to be in the U.S. Navy, and he wants you to believe that, "If you can get away with [impersonating a Navy SEAL] it, it's a great lie to tell." So taking a salary by lying about your education and work history is acceptable? What's more, does anyone believe that taking income from a qualified applicant, who lost out to the liar, is anything less than a theft?

 

You know, I don't care if it's really 14:1. How does being a veteran "qualify" someone for anything-- other than, say, being law enforcement or a mercenary? Anyone who lies about combat experience for a job that involves combat or firearms or whatever is going to wash out or get adequate training anyway. Same with specialized jobs such as aircraft mechanic. If someone manages to impress some red-white-and-blue-heart white-collar middle-management moron who doesn't bother to check up on such a claim, then I don't care. The job market is not a meritocracy and most people are not the most qualified for a position when they first get it, if ever.

 

well, in the case in the OP the guy didn't wash out despite lying about his sealness

 

Apparently he was capable enough to be a police officer despite lying. Go figure.

 

I'm sorry, are you referring to Souderwan with that comment regarding being in the US Navy?

 

Or SEALness isn't actually that impressive and seems to be mostly about the masochism required to get in and the PR image than hypercompetence.

 

It's a logical fallacy to blame victims. If a con-artist steals from you, I'd bet you wouldn't call yourself a "moron". If we're competing for income in a marketplace of qualifications, you don't want to hold applicants liable for their claims?

 

That's an interesting take on my perspective--especially in the full context of the discussion I was having.

Certainly, you could choose to interpret that I was sanctioning these kinds of lies. But a more obvious reading would be that I think it's patently obvious why someone would choose to lie in this fashion.

Edit: Your point about blaming the victims is a valid one. But the discussion in this thread is about whether it's appropriate for the law to specifically target this particular lie above others. That someone should be subject to criminal penalty for it.

 

Your blaming the victim too. If a con-man cons you it's our fault?

 

Put it this way, have you ever heard of the expression caveat emptor?

 

What victims? Is my hypothetical middle-management guy who's not paying money out of his pocket a victim? Was that police department where that dude served competently for 26 years a victim?

 

And you're intentionally ignoring the fact that you mis-characterized my statement.

Also, I'm assuming you weren't suggesting that simply because I disagree with stolen valor laws, my "claims" to being in the Navy are somehow invalid. Is that a valid assumption?

 

Also, who the hell is this guy? Did he sign up just to troll this thread?

 

Dur. I didn't look at his sign-up date. I can't believe I fell for that. Stupid.

 

My apologies, I didn't read your edit. It's appropriate to legally examine all facets of a loss. It doesn't appear frivolous, we are a society based on rules, regulations and laws.

 

I have a personal interest in the discussion, I assure you I am no troll.

 

That is exactly what a troll would say...

 

We have a lot of laws that attempt to protect us from unscrupulous operators. Almost every profession has a full body of laws that protect consumers from vendors. Doctors, lawyers, accountants, all must meet strict guidelines in order to call themselves professionals. To be honest I've never checked a my medical doctor's qualifications, because I have faith in the law. Even used car sales are regulated in my state. We have lemon laws which put to bed the idea of caveat emptor.