Bill discussed Hillary's Bosnia lies last week during a speech. He mocked to press, saying that they acted like Hillary had committed a "bank robbery".
Ironically, she had. It's called "Stolen Valor". Congress even passed a law making it illegal to falsely claim to have earned a Medal of Honor.
Many soldiers are speaking out on this.
Washington Post Fact Checker reports that Bill is in the news again, this time with lies about his wife's lies. Here's the video.
On 10 April 2008, Bill blamed the press for the Bosnia debacle, where Hillary lied about being under sniper fire. Bill says the press acted like Hillary committed a bank robbery. (Perhaps Bill had in mind that in December a woman committed a real bank robbery in Clinton.)
Ironically, Hillary's lies about Bosnia were a a real theft of sorts. There's a term for it: "Theft of Valor", or "Stolen Valor". In the military, false claims of having been in live action are called "theft of valor" and they are taken seriously. This is so important that our government passed a law called "The Stolen Valor Act of 2005". Senator Clinton co-sponsored the Act, it passed unanimously in the Senate.
The Stolen Valor Act makes it a federal offense to falsely claim to have earned a Medal of Honor.
We prosecute people who falsely claim to have earned a Medal of Honor. A trial is beginning soon against Xavier Alvarex who did just that. The trial prosecutor, Craig H. Missakian, said, as reported by the New York times:
"Congress ... recognized the great sacrifice that people awarded the Medal of Honor made on behalf of their country. To the extent we have phony Medal of Honor winners running around like Alvarez, it dilutes the value of their sacrifice."
Senator Clinton has not claimed to have a medal of honor, so she has not committed a crime. However, her offense is just a lighter shade of the same color, it is still dishonest, and highly offensive.
Defending our soldier's valor is important. They give their lives to protect us. There is no act more nobel. The only compensation we can give our soldiers is to honor their service. Theft of valor undermines that honor. Theft of valor is taken very seriously.
A letter by Tammi Hetherington, a veteran in Tazlo while Hillary visited, talks about the personal respect between the soldiers for facing live action: Pennsylvania Progressive
It was my fortune to be working in the Headquarter building as a Communications Specialist, and while I did go out to the ZOS (Zone of Separation) once and lived under "Full battle rattle" rules, I would never in any way compare my experience with those who daily risked their lives. That was the M.P.'s who went on daily missions trying to round up weapons and militant individuals who opposed the Peace Accord, and the contract workers who aided the Multi-National forces in trying to rebuild the infrastructure (bridges, communication, water) that had been blown up. If, as I believe, it is improper for me to compare my involvement with those who took the bulk of the real risks it is even more improper for any visiting dignitary to compare their own for any reason, let alone for personal gain.
Having co-sponsored the Stolen Valor Act, and sitting on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hillary should have known better, she probably did.
How does this make the troops feel?
Rep. GK Butterfield, of North Carolina, a Vietnam-era Army veteran, has said he is "appalled" on behalf of his constituents over the claim. Calling the misstatement "a strike against" the New York senator, he added that she owes the citizens of his state -- and America -- an apology for it.
And General Stewart says:
... in the military accurate representation of titles and performance are at the core of ethics. This is why fabrication of service or battle credentials - what we call "valor theft" - is so offensive to service members and veterans (or should be). Be you soldier or civilian, if you didn't "earn it" in service to your country, for shame that you might be wearing it or talking about it - and it is equally shameful for those who have served with honor to defend the dishonor of others. Valor theft degrades every service member and veteran, and, as a point of honor, I call on the former admirals, generals, and service veterans who are publicly in support of Senator Clinton to renounce that support. Continue it, and her dishonor is your dishonor.
Recently, Hillary has joked about it on Jay Leno, and now Bill blames the press for the public reaction, rather than taking responsibility. It reminds me of a three year old covering their eyes in a game of hide and seek so that daddy won't find them. The Clinton's pretend this wasn't offensive, and hope that we don't notice.
We cannot repay the debt that we owe to our soldiers. We can only honor them, and treat them well.
I echo the soldiers' calls to Senator Clinton to apologize for her remarks.
But we should not stop at words, we should work harder to give these soldiers the support they need, before, during, and after their time of service.
To all of the soldiers serving our country, I give you my greatest gratitude and respect. To the families and friends of soldiers and all people around the world who have died because of war, you have my deepest sympathies.
A longer article on this can be read at Tammi's Poem.
Cross posted at dailyKos.
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