The LuLac Edition #2117, July 7th, 2012

The Supreme Court seal. 

THE OTHER SUPREME COURT DECISION

We were so taken with the Supreme Court decision on Health Care, we forgot to mention the other one the Court ruled on. The Military Medal Controversy: The Court ruled that people who say they received military medals but did not are protected by free speech. By a 6-3 vote, justices decided that making it illegal to say something just because it is false violates the constitutional right to free speech. Some forms of lying are illegal, they said, but only ones that cause some harm to individuals or society, like perjury, impersonating a police officer, or lying to perpetrate a crime. But the justices in the minority argued that even if lying about your own military service doesn’t directly harm anyone else, the lie still harms society by cheapening the achievements of those who legitimately received the Medal of Honor. For that reason, they argued, Congress should have a right to ban that sort of speech. I have to agree with the minority on this one. There is something very sacred about military service. And while free speech should be protected at all costs, there are exceptions. And this is one of the most important exceptions there is. Can you imagine a family that has lost a loved one in combat having to endure some lout or clown passing himself off as a military hero? It is bad enough that some people in the military embellish their service but at least they served. They might not have been in Vietnam but if they were in the Pacific they were at least somewhere doing something. This decision is wrong because it says that free speech of a wannabe trumps a true hero putting their life on the line in combat. It is salt in the wounds of a grieving family. This decision stems from when Congress passed the Stolen Valor Act. That law made it illegal to falsely claim to have won a military medal or decoration, with even stricter penalties for those who claim to have received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Now that the law is struck down, let me offer some advice with a cautionary tale. Years ago, a female friend of mine who was crazy then and is even more so now claimed she was dating a New York Mafioso. She regaled us with stories of how “dangerous” and “tough” he was. One evening, one of her old boyfriends was released from the Lackawanna County prison and of course the first place he went was her Swoyersville home. He started banging on the door and scaring the hell out of everyone residing there. She didn’t call the police because she still cared for him, (I told you she was nuts) but was legitimately afraid for herself and three kids. The jailbird was scared off by a 68 year old neighbor wielding a shotgun. And Mr. Mafia? He was hiding in a closet. Turns out the closest thing he was to a mafia member was that he waited tables at a restaurant near Sparks Steakhouse where John Gotti had Paul Castellani offed. My point is this, if you have to tell someone you’re a hero, you’re usually not. Military men who have seen war never brag about the horrors of it. Only jerk offs who have no idea how bad it is tell you how brave they were. It’s unfortunate they now are protected from free speech. But the saving grace is this: you can usually see them coming. And if you press them on details, they’ll back off. Like cowards and bull shitters usually do. I’m sorry the majority of the Court couldn’t see that. The six who voted yes were Chief Justice Roberts, Kennedy (who wrote the opinion), Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan and Briar. The three who voted no were Scalia, Alito and Thomas.

RE SENTENCING TEEN KILLERS 

The Times Leader had a story about another ruling which said teen who were given a life sentence now are entitled to a life sentence. The story goes on to recount how a convicted killer will get a new sentence  because he was 15 at the time he shot two campers who befriended him and another scumbag. Murdered for their kindness were Diane Algar and Jose Molina. Public Defender Al Flora says said scumbag has to be granted a new hearing. Good. Grant him the hearing. I say commute the sentence and let him go. Have him get as far as the courthouse steps and then shoot him dead. One bullet. He got his hearing. The Supreme Court is happy. The survivors of Molina and Algar are happy and said scumbag won’t be feeding off of the public money for the rest of his sorry ass life. He showed no mercy at the age of 15, what makes any Court, even the highest in the land, think he’s going to show it again.