A week or so ago someone wrote in the opinion section that the Stolen Valor Act should be ruled unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment.
I am assuming that the author of this article either is not in the military or doesn’t have any immediate family in the military because this individual just spit on the one percent of Americans who serve in our nation’s military that defends the 99 percent.
By individuals claiming to have served in the military, they not only take away from the individuals who are still alive who have received their medals, but the ones who have been killed and were never able to see them pinned on their chest or put around their neck.
According to your argument I should be allowed to assume your identity and say whatever I want because it is “free speech.” I ask that the author of this article go to the VA on the West side of campus and look a Medal of Honor recipient in the face and tell them that an individual can spit on what they have done for this country.
It is one thing to sit behind your computer and talk nonsense; it is another to say it to their face.
I leave you with this quote, “It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet who has given us the freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protestor to burn the flag.”-Father Denis O’Brien
David A. Rose