In The Grand Scheme Of Things

This is thinking out loud.  Be nice in the comments if you think I am completely wrong.  kthanx

Stolen Valor doesn't really matter all that much.

The people who are "stealing" are usually pretty obvious to the people being "stolen" from.  They're normally not fooling anyone, or in all honesty, doing any harm.

I think I'd have a bigger corncob up my butt about this if there'd been a lot more effort put into exposing fraudulent Vietnam vets.

Fake 'Nam vet, don't care.

Fake Gulf War vet, prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law!

Fake War on Terror vet, BURN THE WITCH!!!!!

Getting all worked up about this... well... don't.

I'm not angry about people trying to make themselves look bigger, I'm saddened.

But... there's always a but...

An industry has sprouted up where you have to be certain kind of veteran to apply for the job.  It's created a strong incentive to lie about your background in an area that's moderately difficult to check and relatively easy to fake.

We're starting to see some of these people getting caught.

I wonder, though...

There was a controversy at Iowa State where a building was named after a Woman's Suffragist.  It turned out she'd spoken at a meeting of an organization similar to the KKK and uttered the dread word "CENSORED".  Suddenly all the good she'd done advocating for suffrage was erased because she'd tailored her presentation to the racists to show that it was in their advantage to let women vote.

She'd tailored her speeches to other audiences as well, but since we can say "paddy" and "guinea" without someone getting the vapors now, it don't matter.

The outing of a trainer here and there for not being in the military feels like that.

Does their being in the military somehow sanctify the training?  If so, why?  As a tank-crewman I was trained by The Army to use a handgun.  Should I become a pistol trainer?  FUCK NO!  The handgun training for a tanker is as applicable to the real world as light saber training!  That includes the combat they were ostensibly training me for!

Maybe we should look at what was taught, rather than the distant past of the teacher?