Is Tim Walz a Coward? Stolen Valor?

The Stolen Valor Act of 2005 was a US law that made it a federal misdemeanor to falsely claim to have received a US military medal or decoration. The law also expanded previous legislation that prohibited the unauthorized manufacture, sale, or wearing of military medals and decorations. The act was signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 20, 2006.

In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 unconstitutional in the case United States v. Alvarez. A divided Court held that the prohibition against making false statements of having been awarded a military medal under the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 violated the First Amendment. However, the six justices in the majority could not agree on a single rationale for the decision.

In the case of United States v. Alvarez, Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion highlighted the potential benefits of a Government-created database as a less restrictive means of safeguarding the integrity of the military award system. He suggested that a database accessible through the Internet could effectively verify and expose false claims. In response to this, President Obama announced the establishment of the DoD Valor Database, which can be accessed at valor.defense.gov, in July 2012.

Note: the website listed above has some dead links and is not extensive in that it only lists three medals per branch.

The Stolen Valor Act of 2013 was signed by President Barack Obama on June 3, 2013. The Act makes it a federal crime to fraudulently claim to be a recipient of certain military decorations or medals in order to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit. This does not cover lying about service, rank or anything other than decorations. Therefore, Walz would not be guilty of Stolen Valor in the legal sense.

Mac and I disagree somewhat on this issue. I do not believe we know the full story behind his retirement. There are those who testify both ways. One group says he was going to retire before he knew about the deployment and the other group says he retired because he knew. Of course, he has not made himself available for comment and we might never know the truth. He has lied about other things so why would we expect the truth on this issue? However, Mac is convinced that he knows since he was in the Army Reserve.

I have no frame of reference to make an honest judgment on this. In my unit some people knew more than others. Things were often held back or compartmentalized. Everything was on a “need to know” basis. You could hold a Top Secret clearance and not know things that a person with a Secret clearance knew. If your part of the unit was not going to be deployed or used you would not know it was going to happen.

Funny side note: My aunt worked for the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office. I’ll never forget the day she looked at me and said “Admit it. You are a Spook.” For those who don’t know, that means a spy. No matter how much I denied it she never believed me. I could not explain there is a difference between being a spy and belonging to a unit that did that kind of work from time to time because I did not yet know. Years later I would be read in. That mission is now all changed and declassified. This link is a brief history.

I mention that for a reason. I don’t want to judge a person as a coward without knowing what they knew. Above all we should strive to be impeccable with our words. Mac could be right and I might later be moved to make the same judgement. However, I see it as less important than the lie/exaggeration about his rank and combat service versus the policy positions he holds.

In this video Walz tells us he did not pass a basic civics class.

The First Amendment protects hate speech from government interference in the United States. The Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment protects most speech that would be considered hate speech in other Western countries. The government’s role is to protect freedom of speech, which includes allowing for the expression of unpopular opinions, even if they are offensive or hateful. Hate speech is not the same as making terroristic threats.

The First Amendment protects the right to spread misinformation, it doesn’t shield individuals from the consequences of doing so. People can still be held accountable for harm caused by their false statements, such as in cases of defamation or fraud.

Private platforms like social media companies have their own rules and can choose to restrict or remove content they deem harmful or misleading. This Vets for Trump website can also restrict speech as it is a privately held platform. For example, we receive many comments that are full of nonsense and misinformation. These are deleted without notice and often automatically. However, policy debate/criticisms are perfectly acceptable.

People have all kinds of character defects. There is an old saying I like. “An honest man can lie to you and a liar can tell you the truth.” Each thing said or position held must be analyzed based on the merit of the position taken.

Well meaning intentions can cause negative outcomes. Most of us have heard the term “enabling” or “enabler”. One man who runs 3/4 houses for drug addicts used the term “loving people to death”. I believe some progressive policies fall into this category.

For example, who doesn’t have compassion for people who are worse off than ourselves? Some people suffer from gender dysphoria. It seems to be on the rise. This post cannot do the subject justice. Whatever is behind it, the government mandating tampons be made available in school boys rooms is a bit much. It likely causes more ridicule than doing nothing at all. This is how Walz became known as Tampon Tim. Do you agree with his policy?

Walz also openly states one person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness. To some this might seem like a reasonable statement. To those who understand the meaning of socialism it makes no sense at all. Socialism proved devastating everywhere it has been practiced. Over 100 million have died in the name of socialism and its brother communism.

Under Walz, Minnesota became a “sanctuary state” for children seeking transgender surgical procedures and hormone prescriptions. While most European countries have woken up to the problems with hormone blockers and surgeries for kids, many progressives in the U.S. refuse to follow the science. Would you want your child to have medical procedures without your permission? Apparently, Walz is fine with that.

Then there is the fact that Walz let Minneapolis burn. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was critical of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s response to the unrest in his city in May 2020, saying later that year that the governor hesitated to send the National Guard as the city burned in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. Regardless of what Trump did or did not say about this the fact remains the Mayor was critical of Walz.

We could delve deeper, but this should suffice for now. At the very least, Walz seems misguided and lacking in critical thinking. At worst, he comes across as deceitful with a mindset that is both anti-parent and anti-merit. It’s up to you to decide.