I'll let you in on a little secret: I was enrolled in the Duke University Ph.D. program in political science, getting my Masters Degree (which, I admit, is worth the same to me as a piece of paper towel).
Since then, presumably because I was enrolled in the doctoral program and they wanted money from me, I have occasionally received fundraising appeals and other publications addressed to "Dr. David Strom."
In other words, I could refer to myself as "Dr. Strom" and even point to actual paperwork from Duke as "proof" that I earned a doctoral degree. It would be total BS, of course, but I could explain away the confusion by referring to paperwork. I was on track to becoming a Doctor of Political Science. Duke gave me the title, so I think it is reasonable to leave people with the impression that it is true.
Would I be lying? Indeed, in my mind, I would think so. Most other people would conclude the same thing if they weren't trying to cover for me, but I could whip out correspondence from Duke to "prove" I had the right to say it.
I could go further. I could legitimately say "After my time at Duke getting my doctorate, I taught classes at Carleton College and the University of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul." These facts are all true--in fact more true than any implication that Tim Walz spent any time in Iraq or Afghanistan while serving in the National Guard, and no less true than Walz's claim that he served in Operation Enduring Freedom.
You might assume that I meant that I got my doctorate and went on to become a college professor, but that is not EXACTLY what I said.
This is all resume padding--something that I abhor beyond description--but it would be minuscule compared to Tim Walz's own stolen valor.
The man has lied about the rank at which he retired. He lied about going to war. He lied about his retirement. He lied about the troops he led, calling them "19-year-old cooks" incapable of doing one of the jobs they were assigned to.
His commanders, his chaplain, and many of the troops he led straight up call him a coward and a liar.
Yet all the Harris campaign can do is say he misspoke, and Walz himself lies again, claiming that he is being attacked for serving honorably.
No. He is being criticized because he is a liar who pretended to serve honorably on the battlefield. He didn't.
I haven't served. I would never claim to have served. I honor all who have served, either in battle or as a cook stateside. People who volunteer for military service are putting their lives at risk to protect us all, and an Army without cooks is as useful as an Army without front-line soldiers.
If Tim Walz had been honest about his service, it would be worthy of great honor. Twenty-four years in the guard, deploying to Italy, and rising to the rank of Master Seargent are impressive accomplishments.
Why lie? Obviously, it is to steal valor and gain an advantage by doing so. And it has worked. He is now the Democrat candidate for Vice President of the United States.
He got there by stealing the honor of others.
If I had been climbing the academic ranks by implying to people that I have a Duke Ph.D. and was discovered to have faked it I would be fired, vilified, and laughed at for the rest of my life as a fraudster.
Walz? He is still on the ticket and attacking his soldiers who criticize him and the service of J.D. Vance, who did deploy to Iraq.
Disgusting.
