The American Spectator : An Imposter's Complaint

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An Imposter's Complaint

By R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. on 6.2.11 @ 6:09AM

In pretending to be SEAL, Joseph Cryer was doing what a lot of successful politicians do.

WASHINGTON -- Here we are now in the afterglow of another Memorial Day. The flags and the bunting are being put away. The memories endure for another year of our honored dead, of the brave wounded, of the veterans -- some grizzled, some still youthful -- all deserving their country's gratitude. Then there are the imposters, who have created often from zilch military honors, whole careers, records of heroism and splendid triumphs. What wretches!

One is Joseph Brian Cryer, 45, who claimed to be a U.S. Navy SEAL and boasted online of his "77 confirmed kills" during a glorious operation in Libya in 1986. A genuine SEAL, Don Shipley, exposed Cryer as an imposter. Shipley has taken it upon himself to expose frauds and veterans who engaud their war records. It must be a full-time occupation. This kind of thing happens surprisingly often, and very much in public. A best-selling historian was suspended for a year from his college teaching position for bragging to his students of his Vietnam War feats, and, oh yes, he claimed exploits on the football field too. Both claims were fabrications. Now with SEAL Team 6's exploits in snagging Osama bin Laden, SEALS are turning up everywhere.

Cryer admitted his hoax to the Washington Examiner, explaining that he confected the story as "a coping mechanism" because of some grievance he had against the Navy. He did serve in the Navy in the 1980s, but as a seaman not as a SEAL. I thought a "coping mechanism" was a euphemism for drowning one's problems in booze or some other addiction. Now a coping mechanism is a lie. Well, it did not help Cryer.

Actually, in Cryer's case his embellishments are somewhat understandable. He was running for office. He was a candidate for city council in Ocean City, Maryland, in 2006. He was just doing what a lot of successful politicians do. They run claiming achievements that are completely fictional and those who are caught often win office anyway.

Remember Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general of Connecticut? He ran for the Senate claiming, "We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam." That was a lie, but the Hon. Blumenthal repeated it in various forms throughout his campaign. In truth, he received no less than five military deferments and finally a sweet job in the Marine Reserve. He also lied about his athletic career. Contrary to his claim, he never was captain of the Harvard swimming team, or even swam on the team. The voters elected him nonetheless.

How many other whoppers had this fraud told pursuant to becoming a member of the U.S. Senate in 2010? I would suggest his record abounds with them. However, so does the record of countless other politicians. There is Jimmy Carter claiming to be a nuclear engineer. There is Senator Jean-François Kerry, launching his campaign for the presidency as a war hero, despite his taped appearance before Congress denouncing the war and alleging that his comrades committed war crimes. There is Al Gore getting ensnared in a thicket of petty lies beginning with his campaigns for the Senate, continuing with his campaigns for the presidency, and culminating with his present campaign where he serves as the world's chief proponent and exploiter of global warming. It has made him millions, and forget not the Clintons. They are the longest running con act in American history, with Bill conning his draft board and Hillary creating her visit to a Marine recruiter -- or was it an Army recruiter?

So I can understand if Joseph Brian Cryer feels a little abused. Had he won his campaign for city council he would be on his way to greatness. He could have been a Joe Biden. Maybe from the city council he would have sought the governorship, possibly the Senate. By then he would have received a Purple Heart, possibly the Congressional Medal of Honor. He had his whole life before him until the spoiler Shipley struck. Shipley has denied the masses another hero. How many more politicians' lives will Shipley destroy?

About the Author

R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. is the founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator. He is the author of the forthcoming The Death of Liberalism, published by Thomas Nelson Inc. His previous books include the New York Times bestseller Boy Clinton: the Political Biography; The Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton; The Liberal Crack-Up; The Conservative Crack-Up; Public Nuisances; The Future that Doesn't Work: Social Democracy's Failure in Britain; Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House; The Clinton Crack-Up; and After the Hangover: The Conservatives' Road to Recovery.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (105) | Leave a comment

drudge ette obama| 6.2.11 @ 6:21AM

It would never occur to me to lie about such things.

Just like it would never occur to me to take a "Weiner Picture."

Introduce Weiner to Shipley.

MikeBee| 6.2.11 @ 8:23AM

DEO,
Weiner was doing the same thing Shipley did: trying to embellish something that, on its own, was rather unremarkable.

Con Chef (NB)| 6.2.11 @ 12:40PM

Weenie's favorite joke:

A man walks into a clock shop. He walks to the back of the store, where there is a display case full of pocket watches. He drops trou & places his unit on the glass display case. The woman behind the counter looks at him in horror & says, "uh, sir, this is a CLOCK shop!" The man replies, "I know. Put 2 hands & face to THIS!"

Ramage| 6.3.11 @ 7:37AM

This comment at 12:40 PM is why one cannot steer young, eager, interested minds here. Yes, students who might want to read up on the big issues of the day and see adults making solid, informed commentary.

Who is the pervert who wrote this at 12:40 on June 2? And why doesn't an American Spectator online site monitor simply remove?

Oh, filth is permissible?

Seems that there are no standards here either.

An apology all around would be in order.

Immaturity does not have an age limit.

Con Chef (NB)| 6.3.11 @ 12:08PM

Tell you what, Junior. You write what YOU wanna write & I'll write what I wanna right. Spare me your self righteous indignation.

Ramage| 6.4.11 @ 4:57PM

Repent.

Yes, you are unrighteous. And unworthy. Look up what unrighteous means. The Biblical (and only) definition.

Repent. Your/our/the end is near.

Notice how no one commented on your wonderful joke -- as in commented to praise it? Because that vile thinking has no home here.

Tomorrow is Sunday. Get your rear in church and spend some time with Almighty God. No, He does not need you; you need him.

And beware the lives you drag down around you. You are responsible for what occurs to them.

Appleby| 6.2.11 @ 7:04AM

I have always lived by the belief that if I tried to embellish my credentials, I would caught. The nuns taught me that being caught in a lie was worse than the actual lie. Now there are fewer nuns and more lies.

PCC| 6.2.11 @ 9:00AM

With all due respect, those are some pretty messed up nuns!

David T| 6.2.11 @ 9:06AM

What's the basis for your statement?

Tom| 6.2.11 @ 9:43AM

Perhaps that getting caught is the real sin and not the actual sin? From a religious perspective that is pretty messed up.

David T| 6.2.11 @ 10:18AM

Actually, I misread PCC's comment. I thought he said "there are" instead of "those are."

Even so, I don't think the nuns were saying lying is ok as long as you don't get caught. I think the point was that when your lies are exposed, the shame and scandal are not worth whatever you might have gained by lying. (Of course, this was presumably pre-Clinton era.)

Appleby| 6.2.11 @ 11:35AM

That's the point Sister Mary Bernadette et al. were making; the lie itself was bad enough, but when everyone knows you have lied, that's even worse because from then on, they will not trust anything you say.

SpiralArchitect| 6.2.11 @ 12:06PM

I remember that in 2012 :/

Purpleguy| 6.2.11 @ 9:04PM

Somebody should tell politicians that ... none of them got the memo ...

Dan Hirsch| 6.2.11 @ 10:19AM

PPC, Tom,

I may not know the exact nuns that Appleby does - but I spend a lot of time with nuns as a school boy and an altar boy. Their point was probably like this:

"Child, I am telling you not to lie because it is offensive to the God Who loves and created you. If that is not enough, remember, while you may think the lie will get you out of difficulty, when you get caught, as you probably will, your problems will be far worse." Okay? It's not the nuns who are messed up, it's the kids!

In the realm of the nuns versus liars, the nuns' numbers are down, the liars' numbers are up. But this situation is not doing any good for anybody. The liars still offend God, and they quite often get caught and mess themselves up quite completely. I pray for more nuns!

GO, DON SHIPLEY, GO!!!!

Dan Hirsch| 6.2.11 @ 10:59AM

Oops! Danged fat fingers. I meant to say "I spenT a lot of time with nuns..."
Nowadays, nuns seem to be scarce. I did end up in a hospital calling itself St. Mary's last weekend and asked if they had any nuns around. Answer: "We did until a few months ago..."

The world needs more nuns!

The Bishop| 6.2.11 @ 7:18AM

May Shipley's trophies increase. And what do the cited frauds all have in common? Why, of course. A "D" after their name.

Purpleguy| 6.2.11 @ 9:12PM

Oh, no you don't - when your people live in glass houses, watch what stones you throw ... Shall we discuss Senator John Ensign? How about Senator Tom Coburn, coverup artist? Remember Senator Larry Craig, Mr. "Widestance"? Did you forget Prostitution King Senator David Vitter? Whoops, let's not forget serial cheater Newt Gingrich ... Perhaps you have ignored "Palin Place" Queen, Sarah and her out-of-wedlock baby making daughter? Oh, and my favorite - Congressman Mark "I like little boys on our payroll" Foley. And, that's just to name a few in the last few years.
BTW - these are all proven, not just allegations that all of these Republican slime have admitted to. This twitter thing is not something that Congressman Wiener has been indicted for, convicted for, nor resigned over and has denied he did.

Nick| 6.3.11 @ 12:44AM

PurpleJackass,

Shall we discuss:

Blago
Rahmbo Deadfish, made crooked deals with Blago
O'Bama, smart enough not to get caught on tape making crooked deals with Blago
William Jefferson, democrat-Louisiana
Maxine Waters
Carol Mosley Braun
San Fran Gran Nan Pelosi
Chrissy Dodd, jr.
Eric Massa, the homo Wrestler
Client #9 Elliot Spitzer
Jim McGreevey, homo adulterer Governor
John 'the Breck Girl' Edwards, scumbag adulterer
Bwawny Fwank
Charlie Rangel
Gary Studds, homo page chaser
Gavin Newsom, dirt bag adulterer
Teddy 'the swimmer' Kennedy, let a young woman die in his car, because he was a spoiled, rich brat
Bubba 'the pervert' Clinton, king adulterer and rapist

The democrat party is the party of perverts and felons.

dee see| 6.2.11 @ 7:44AM

More sideshows of sideshows 'sealing'
the FAKE op.

---------It's 2011!

--------------MOVE ON dot NOW!

Dan Hirsch| 6.2.11 @ 10:22AM

dee see;

Remember when Giuliani cleaned up New York City in the early '90's. He went after the little tiny crimes first - this showed everybody he was serious about crimes, all of them. This may seem like a sideshow to you, but consider if the guy lies about what he did, he's probably lying about what he's going to do...and when he talks to anybody, they can count on him probably lying about something - you just never can tell what...

florin| 6.2.11 @ 3:30PM

I never understood how Richard Blumenthal got eleccted...he lied about having been in the service, in combat...he lied over and over - that should eliminate one from public office but apparently it is an essential requirement...shame!

Purpleguy| 6.2.11 @ 9:14PM

Please hold your R candidates to that will you? Senator Mark Kirk comes to mind - claiming Navy awards for flying in Iraq - that he never did ... just to name one Republican liar.

beebop| 6.3.11 @ 5:50AM

He won because the liberal media took it upon themselves to discredit his opponent while turning a blind eye to his lies. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Ramage| 6.2.11 @ 7:52AM

Fairly recent outting of a CSM (Command Sergeant Major) in the US Army named Stoney Crump. Look it up. He was in. But he fabricated (pure fiction) a lot of his Army biography, awards, honors, etc. Must have used it for better assignments and promotions or swifter promotions.

A total fraud. Lied about his college days, too.

To my knowledge, he was let off terribly lightly. Just busted (means dropped in rank) to E-6, I believe. Means he'll be "retired" and living for the next 25-30 years drawing a E-6 retirement.

You taxpayers are chumps, you see.

Pretty sweet for a fake.

Harry the Horrible| 6.2.11 @ 9:03AM

Look it up. Being bumped down from E9 to E6 retirement pay is actually a pretty nasty punishment. Assuming 20 years, he's losing $900/month.

Pulius| 6.2.11 @ 9:35AM

Yeah, reduction in paygrade from E9 to E6 was likely the harshest punishment allowed under the UCMJ. Hard to know without knowing the articles that he was accused of violating.

SGT Tony| 6.2.11 @ 10:19AM

correct me if I'm wrong, but i believe retirement pay is based on the highest rank you held. So, he would still be pulling E-9 pay. I read about this idiot in the Army Times, and sad to say, they'll let him retire.
My mother told me this story of another sergeant major who was upset that his e-4 mistress got married to an officer. So he went into their apartment (that he was paying for by the way) and try to kill the two of them in bed, with a shotgun. fortunate for the two of them he missed. Once all the tawdry details came out, they retired him. Not a single charge, not even attempted murder, let alone fraternization, fraud, and a laundry list of bad deeds. This is what happens to senior ranks when they get in trouble.
Now you have a E-6 and below make even one of these mistakes? Even say they have an extra army achievement medal (the lowest ribbon)? Slammed. Makes us junior enlisted and NCOs sick. But sadly,far, far too common

Pelligrino| 6.2.11 @ 11:00PM

Reading Harry the Horrible's comment at 9:03 a.m. is very troubling.

If I read it right (and I think I do), Harry seems to think that a senior NCO who falsified many aspects of his career in order to obtain better assignments, further top NCO schooling, and promomtions....

An additional lie: Crump falsified having JumpMaster status

Harry seems to think that such a man should have retirement pay. Really? Justice would only be: $0 retirement money and LOTS of monetary fines imposed upon him once the verdict/conviction on all the lies is final.

After all, he was paid a salary under false pretenses for many years.

We have zero standards if we allow any taxpayer monies to fund this man's vile life.

Mike Hawk| 6.2.11 @ 8:01AM

The first indication of a "phoney soldier" is bragging about your record. Most won't. I say that as a vet. Most vets know who is full of sh#t. On this list we must add Sen Harkin who was a transport pilot and never flew a combat mission. He flew into VN a couple of times and ferried damaged aircraft to Okinawa. That in his mind translated to combat missions. He's also a Democrat like most of the phoneys.

RopeJumper1/75| 6.2.11 @ 8:34AM

Right on, Mike. When I retired from the USA, I told myself that I would continue to learn how to walk the walk instead of talking a talk. I figured it would probably scare the hell out of the civillian's, anyways. I have my support group at the Asheville, NC, VA. Good enough for me. Later........

wukong| 6.2.11 @ 9:05AM

I flew a C-130 (a transport) on 78 combat missions (200+ sorties) in South East Asia into airfields in South Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos. By definition a combat mission was one flown into the airspace comprising the Saigon Flight Information Region (FIR). I think I earned my Air Medals and my combat pay.

If Senator Harkin flew in airspace comprising the Saigon FIR, he flew combat missions.

RopeJumper1/75| 6.2.11 @ 9:43AM

Uh, oh, I have done 25 elevated pushups. You are right, however, I was responding to the first three sentence's of Mike's post. My brother, was also a C-130 Pilot and I got to jump from his plane when I was on my second tour as a SSG with 1/75. You C-130 pilot's are just hot shit. Especially when you would do heavy drop's of cargo. Quite a site to see on the multiple DZ's on Ft. Bragg. Later......

Dan Hirsch| 6.2.11 @ 10:24AM

Yeah, but us civilians can easily be bamboozled by the clarity of military definitions. We hear 'combat missions' and we think "12 O'Clock High." A confusion that some are willing to profit from.

Gentlemen, thank you for your service to our nation.

RopeJumper1/75| 6.2.11 @ 11:09AM

wukong; I gotta tell this tale. When I completed RIP 75 RR, and was returning to 1/75, I had to inprocess Ft. Stewart. I had made the list for my first rocker. I asked the promotion clerk if he could ensure that my promotion order's would be made available before I checked into 1/75. His reply was 2-3 weeks. I said "I will buy you a any case of beer to get me these order's before I check into my unit." He said "Coor's." The next day, he picked up the case, walked down AG Row, got my order's. I went up to my room, unceremoniously pinnd mysel in front of a friend of mine I went to RIP 75 RR, We both never said a word. I went back outside, fired up my Harley FXRT, and reported to my home. The brass never figured me to be a rookie SSG; I immediately fit like a golve.

Dan Hirsch| 6.2.11 @ 12:39PM

See, I am totally impressed and bamboozled. Ropejumper, dude, are you running for office?

I think I got your punchline, but I'm not sure.

With all sincerity, thank you for your service, sir.

Worse thing that happened to me, draft number = 362 in a year when they only got to 20 or so...no, I don't miss the glory, I miss the education, discipline, the work Iwould have been made to do.

Mike Hawk| 6.2.11 @ 1:19PM

Except that Harkin claimed he flew combat jets in combat. My dad was a transport pilot as well, flew anything with wings and was the best. He flew B-24s in WWII. He was in combat, not just in the zone.

Mike Hawk| 6.2.11 @ 1:22PM

I think Harkin made only two or three trips in and out of VN. Nobody denies his service, they are annoyed by his embellishment of it.

Zak Klemmer| 6.2.11 @ 3:09PM

I am equally annoyed that Sen. Harken sounds like Juan Peron (Don't cry for America).

JmsA| 6.2.11 @ 1:24PM

Thank you for your brave and selfless service, wukong.

Roy Lofquist| 6.2.11 @ 12:43PM

Jan-Feb 1961. Basic training, Ft. Ord CA. There was an older guy in the company - 30s. Short and dumpy. His wife was killed in an automobile accident and he was looking for a place to hide from the world. He enlisted to become a cook. Our platoon leader, a big dumb Corporal, rode him unmercifully. Cookie never said a word. Comes the "graduation" formation and we were allowed to wear decorations. We all proudly displayed our marksman badges. Cookie falls in with a CIB, Silver Star, Bronze with device, 2 hearts and a Presidential Unit Citation. To my dying day I will never forget the look on that Corporal's face.

There were a lot of combat vets around at that time - Korea and WWII. I don't ever remember a war story with heroics. Not many war stories at all, in fact. Now whorehouses? You betcha.

KyMouse| 6.2.11 @ 2:58PM

I agree with you, Mike Hawk. My dad, God rest his soul, served in the Pacific during WWII, especially in the Philippines and Guadalcanal. He came home with a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, but there were very few times when he mentioned his service at all.

It did come in handy years afterward, however, when our mother would try to get him to go on trips. He often went, but other times he would say, "No, I traveled enough in World War II."

WRTolkas| 6.2.11 @ 8:05AM

I believe that most people just don't care. They don't care for the honor of the military; they don't care about politicians for the majority of politicians have no honor; and finally, this generation was brought up on the relevancy of the lie. Hey, if the lie doesn't hurt anyone then what's the problem?

Dan Hirsch| 6.2.11 @ 10:29AM

The problem is that it eats one up from the inside out. Lies are like rabbits, they beget and beget and beget and very soon you are overrun and can't tell the truth from a lie.

It does happen everyday, ref. soon-to-be-ex-Congressman Weiner...

grant1863| 6.2.11 @ 11:01AM

soon-to-be-ex ? He's got a D by his name, he won't be resigning.

Dan Hirsch| 6.2.11 @ 12:07PM

Color me optimistic - it's too weird even for the Dems. C'mon, Anthony Weiner? The laughter is already drowning his pleas out. He's been on the front burner for three days now and every day he looks stupider. Even Dems have eyes and ears.

Or I may be dreaming. But (DON'T TELL THEM.) he's too much of an embarrassment - he's hurting them and they are usually pretty savvy about tipping points...

rongordo| 6.2.11 @ 10:55AM

You mean, most Democrat voters don't care...

WRTolkas| 6.3.11 @ 8:26AM

Dear rongordo,

Thank you for the correction.

WRTolkas

Richard Baker| 6.2.11 @ 8:12AM

Hawk:
True. I met Medal of Honor, DSC/Navy Cross, and Silver Star recipients while on active duty and these guys don't brag one whit about their service. The Frauds do. There was one here in Ocala, FL who had plaques of SEAL/UDT Teams on his wall at a Christian school and was caught because a former SEAL saw them and when he asked the usual questions the Fraud was discovered. He had to leave the school for parts unknown.

Michael Tomlinson| 6.2.11 @ 8:15AM

What less can one expect from New Englanders? A liar like Blumenthal fits them perfectly.

Bravo Zulu Don Shipley!

dnicholson| 6.2.11 @ 8:31AM

Yes, MA. and CT. are in New England, but please don't paint us all with the brush of Blumenthal and Kerry. The Northeast Liberal comes from the states of NY, MA and CT(with VT thrown in from time to time)not New England as a whole.

Hillel| 6.2.11 @ 8:20AM

There was the "Stolen Valor Law" to make these fibs a criminal offense. The courts invalidated it on the grounds that the right to lie was part of freedom of speech. (Dont try this with a "law enforcement officer " or while under oath. )

Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 6.2.11 @ 8:47AM

Hillel: If I remember correctly, that law would've only applied to Civilians, and now that it's been overturned, Civilians can lie all about their supposed service (although I'm not exactly sure why they'd really want too?). But try that in the Military, claim to be, or to have done something you haven't done, I assure you, it won't go over well!!

Now I'm sure there's a few Republicans out there, who are guilty of doing this, but I'd be willing to bet (if I was a betting man), the overwhelming majority of these frauds are from the Left. It's just my gut feeling (but I'm sure I'm right)!!

Melvin| 6.2.11 @ 8:23AM

You know being a veteran, sometimes I just want to go up to people like that and slap the ever loving dog squeeze out of them, and watch them collapse to the ground like the perverted little weasels that they are.
Too many of my brethren have died and will never see their children graduate and get married, or tell their loved ones how much they love them because they served their Country with honor, respect, and willingly give up their lives if need be in defense of their most cherished values as an American.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, Joseph Brian Cryer your nothing but low down dirty rotten political opportunistic scumbags, who are the lowest form of human waste.
Senator Blumenthal you may have hoodwinked the electorate in Connecticut with your fake military embellishments. You are completely unfit to wear the title of Senator and I sincerely hope that you or one of your staffers read my post so that you can feel the vile disgust that a real veteran has towards you.
There are many Senators that have served with distinction in this Country's armed forces and are worthy of their Countryman's praise, but you.....there isn't enough words in the vocabulary to describe your cowardice in avoiding serving in the Vietnam War.
I wish I could walk up to your face in Washington D.C. and look you straight in the eye, and tell you. "Your nothing but a low-life lying coward." It is too bad that the voters in Connecticut reward liars instead of loathing them.
To the readers of American Spectator, my words are abrasive, coarse and personal. As I had noted too many of our servicemen and servicewoman have not come back, or when they do, they come back with shattered bodies and minds, to have individuals like a sitting US Senator fabricate himself a war hero as he was sitting in the rear with the gear.

Pelligrino| 6.2.11 @ 8:48AM

Thank you. Many dittos. I think that every day ought to be "HATE/REMOVE Richard Blumenthal Day." (until he dies) The author of this article should be chastised for placing "Hon." in front of his name.

Please drop your silly style book protocols.

Anyone working for him is human scum and deserving of great disdain as well.

Any of those staffers working for him? They need to be elsewhere. Dishonorable people abound.

David T| 6.2.11 @ 9:25AM

Mr. Tyrrell was engaging in a form of sarcasm when he referred to Blumenthal as the "Hon. Blumenthal." See "irony."

FTM| 6.2.11 @ 2:16PM

On the one hand I agree with every word that you said. However in practical reality if you were to slap this guy you'd never see the light of day again. Truth be told Melvin, you probably just wound yourself up on some FBI/Orfice of Homeland Security watch list for publishing the comment.

Staw low, stay cool and remember, hell ain't even half full yet.

Melvin| 6.2.11 @ 8:26PM

Oh, I know, but if Homeland Sec. picks me up, they might give me some cheap thrills. "Oh Janet."

FTM| 6.2.11 @ 9:16PM

Funny, "Janet, Oh, Janet!"

Keep the faith.

bluecollarbytes| 6.2.11 @ 8:29AM

A person's character doesn't matter. We were told that over and over during the Lewdinski tale. Political stances are all that matters, meaning holding the correct thinky-tanky wonky ever-evolving views required by the left's royalty.

If you happen to be on the right, everything from personal 'foibles' to political stance is reason enough to 'take you out'.

This reality has been fully adopted by PopMedia, backing the Democratics/Leftists nearly unconditionally.

Appleby| 6.2.11 @ 11:39AM

Back in the day, a group of us Ayn Randers started a guerilla campaign dropping notes everywhere and tacking them up when we could (washhroom stalls are great for this) reading "If character doesn't count, why isn't Ted Kennedy president?"

Purpleguy| 6.2.11 @ 9:19PM

The difference is your R's preach character, family and Christian values - and then violate all of it in their own personal lives - that's hypocritical and that why they get in more trouble than the D's. Not that the D's don't preach it to, but they are more forgiving of human faults - R's are not - as if they are infallible. Gets 'em in trouble every time.

Jive Bomber| 6.3.11 @ 1:59AM

If I had to name the most likely hypocrite from each party, it would be the Republican who wantonly ignores the "morals/values" they espouse to others, and the Democrat who demands "tolerance", yet extends none of it to those whose opinions or lifestyle disagree with his.

Mutch Moore| 6.2.11 @ 8:41AM

Anger resonates through your text here Melvin - and THAT is what is lacking in society. Your comment is the best one here. These fakes need to be in prison jump suits or, at the very least, humiliated more by the press and others. It is sickening that, instead, they're allowed to just sluff it off like water on a ducks back and resume positions of public trust. Great post Melvin!

PCC| 6.2.11 @ 9:03AM

Dear Mr. Tyrrell,

"Engaud"? Thank you!

Bill| 6.2.11 @ 9:09AM

If you read the interesting book Stolen Valor by a man named Burkett, he tells amazing true tales of people who have made up the most outrageous lies about serving in elite units, getting high-level medals like the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross, and the Distinguished Service Cross, etc., and get away with it, even in veterans' groups. He tells several stories about people who obtained leadership roles in various veterans' groups who finally got outed. How embarrassing that must have been to the authentic veterans who believed the tall tales of valor, distinguished service, and high rank. There are people who served as Spec 4s who have passed themselves off as colonels and even generals.

The press gets hold of one of these phonies, and they never do even the most superficial check to determine their authenticity, they just take them at their phony word.

How sad it is to think of real people, who have served with valor and the highest of motivations having their achievements undercut by phonies. Recently, the TV show 60 Minutes did a spot on a Medal of Honor winner from Afghanistan, who refers to himself as a "mediocre soldier" and who seems to be quite ambivalent about being singled our for the honor; just imagine how a guy like that feels when he finds out somebody claimed to be a MOH winner and was lying.

JimH| 6.2.11 @ 9:27AM

Just a small point. And I know I'm being picky. Medals are not won. They are awarded.

Mike Hawk| 6.2.11 @ 1:24PM

Very good point.

Gary Wood| 6.2.11 @ 9:26AM

God bless you Don Shipley!

TURK| 6.2.11 @ 9:32AM

I am optimistic. The excellent book "Stolen Valor" from the Viet Nam era by B G Burkett and Glenna Whitley , exposed many frauds and in many cases they did time. Then the major transgression was often involving the anti-war movement. Veterens Against The War was riddled with them and ol slime ball himself, Kerry, interacted with them.

The Swift Boat guys and a bunch of POWs pursued Kerry with a vengence in '04. Included in the POWs were 2 Medal of Honor winners. Then and today, many of the phonies will be pursued. Too bad the idiot voters miss the point in re how decrept these phonies are!

Bill| 6.2.11 @ 12:13PM

When I read Stolen Valor, I drew the conclusion that if everybody who said he had done secret missions in Laos and Cambodia had really been there, there would have been more people fighting the "secret war" in Vietnam than there were regular troops fighting the conventional war.

Rear Admiral Snort (ret) USAF| 6.2.11 @ 9:56AM

I clearly remember my days flying B-52s of the USS Ranger while serving in the 'Nam. It was about as scary when I led a group of Navy Rangers through Lybia in '41. Pure horror!

Bill| 6.2.11 @ 12:06PM

Was that before or after they made you a General Admiral of the Fleet?

Renaissance Nerd| 6.2.11 @ 12:48PM

I can't stop laughing...

FTM| 6.2.11 @ 2:24PM

B-52 off a bomb magnet? Sounds like the time we launched the space shuttle out of tube #2. There I wuz...

ncatty| 6.2.11 @ 10:01AM

So you have to pretend to be a Navy Seal in order to win election to the city council of Ocean City, Maryland? I didn't realize it was such a tough town.

Ken (Old Texican)| 6.2.11 @ 10:10AM

Folks,
there are "Texas Tall Tales" for fun. I've told some for fun.
Then there are "Material Untruths". Those are puke-inspiring lies to get "ahead".

Each of us knows the difference.

GENE HAUBER| 6.2.11 @ 10:11AM

SEALS don't like SEAL impostors .....at all

Purpleguy| 6.2.11 @ 9:21PM

I don't blame them - it is not an easy thing to be a Seal and they deserve all the respect and honor we all can give them.

Dustoff| 6.2.11 @ 10:24AM

I'll tell of you another nightmare. I'm a former Army (Dustoff) medic. 1972 57th medevac.
I'ved work with a group in San Diego called Operation Standdown for homeless vets.

I watched as guys would come up to the booth for help claiming to be Nam vets and while I was checking their BP I would ask typical millitary questions.
Like say what was your MOS or where was your basic training at. I was shocked at how many couldn't tell me. They were fakes. To make it worse the daily news would talk about how many "homeless" vets we had cared for.

Drove me nuts!

John K| 6.2.11 @ 12:15PM

Sounds like Eddie Murphy in Trading Places!

Anthony| 6.2.11 @ 10:40AM

The words elected Democrats and frauds are interchangeable.
Blumenthal made a career of obfuscating, bullying, and just plain lying about himself. His campaign against Linda McMahon was a disgrace, a classic right out of the Democrat demonization playbook.
He and the Hartford Courant tag-teamed McMahon with lies and snide comments about her business, a financial success that neither the Courant nor Blumenthal could ever hope to accomplish on their own. The Courant is dying and Blumenthal has moved on to Washington to do his Eliot Spitzer imitation (sans the socks) for all of America.
He is a morally and intellectually bankrupt Democrat, another redundancy.

Purpleguy| 6.2.11 @ 9:21PM

It's war, he won, end of story. McMahon was a terrible campaigner.

Poseur Cryer| 6.2.11 @ 10:45AM

" Excuse me young & lovely sunbathing ladies. I seem to have lost my medal of honor, here in the beach sand."

Kristal| 6.2.11 @ 11:28AM

To be a successful politician, lying is THE most essential qualification.

Years ago there was a PBS TV special that “proved” this.

A university psychology department, from Minnesota, I believe, did an experiment with a bunch of students.

Each kid, individually, was made to taste a horrible substance, and to try to pretend that it tasted good. Some were unable to keep from grimacing, and others could “take it” and hide their tongue’s suffering.

Then, they were put into groups, and told they were stuck on a mountain with their climbing gear in a snowstorm, and had to choose a leader to save them.

And, yes!

Indeed, the best LIARS were regularly chosen.

Ever since seeing this program, politicians = liars has formed the ground realization for yours truly---

Take me to your leader!

Dave| 6.2.11 @ 12:25PM

"I did NOT have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. And I did not ..."

OK, it happens all the time. But what it does is remind me of an old science fiction episode on TV (maybe Twilight Zone) where the Martians dropped down to Earth, made friends with the locals, then helped prove their good intentions by showing them a book they'd written called "How To Serve Man."

Well, it all SOUNDED good (on the surface) until the final scene when as the Martian space ship was lifting-off with a load of Earth people to take back to the red planet for "serving" - someone still on the ground came running out and yelled - "WAIT, DON'T GO! How To Serve Man is ... a COOKBOOK!!

In the end, it's usually better to go with the Buyer Beware mode than believe what 'ya first hear. Because what you initially hear ain't necessarily what 'yer gonna get.

Obamacare? Anyone??

chuck jim fox| 6.2.11 @ 3:14PM

The Doctor Joseph Ellis matter is an interesting case. He is still grinding out books on the Founding Fathers era and seems to be a thorough scholarly historian, but is always going to have a big red Liar branded on his shirt. He lied about his life. All his scholarly credientials are not going to wash it off. I should read some of his books some time, but can't bring myself to touch any of them.

cuban pete| 6.2.11 @ 4:57PM

Ellis is a good writer . The two books of his I read were well done. If memory serves I finished them prior to the revelation of his enhanced biography.
Having never served in the military I am most grateful to those who did and do.
I did, however, participate in athletics at the college level( Division II). Second to fictionalized military service is fantasy athletic participation.
I have run across any number of guys who probably never got closer to college sports than a T.V. remote but regaled listeners with stories of their prowess. A well timed question or two about details would usually end the discussion.

Tom| 6.2.11 @ 4:20PM

Coulda been a joe biden, or a Jean Kerri!!!

Thom| 6.2.11 @ 5:45PM

The Liar’s Badge is the first Merit Badge a Democrat must earn before moving on to Accomplished Liar’s Badge. Someone name me an honest elected Democrat in office?

Some Republicans have this disease too but in most cases it is a case of mistaken identity.

Inventing or embellishing a service record is another required Merit Badge for Democrats. You often see Democrats projecting their weaknesses and the facades they live under onto imaginary selves like Kerry did because they know they are frauds.

We had a high ranking former Navy type run as a Democrat in the Pennsylvania Senate race and everything he did marked him as a Democrat.

Thankfully he lost.

Leveut| 6.2.11 @ 8:13PM

With all due respect, the longest running con act in US history is not the Clintons, it is the Kennedys.

PCPSmoker| 6.2.11 @ 8:41PM

Technically you are right about Jimmie not being a nuclear engineer, as he never did a department tour on a nuclear boat. He was selected, if one can believe the biographies, for then the nascent Naval Reactors unit, exposing him to the naval nuclear power program. Not an outright lie, but certainly stretching the truth.

Patrick| 6.2.11 @ 9:11PM

Okay, I give up. What does it mean to "engaud" one's war record?

Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 11:28PM

Hint: think "gaudy".

Radioman777| 6.2.11 @ 11:49PM

Gee, all I ever did was repair and maintain radios: R-390A's, R-2174's, KWM-2's, GRC-171's, the AN/FLR-9 elephant cage, and a bunch of air traffic control stuff. I did go to Combat Comm school, but so did a lot of others. What I can't understand is how some think that their particular AFSC, MOS or rating is so bad they need to embellish on it. I think I had the best job in the USAF. Ground Rats rule!

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Kary| 6.3.11 @ 8:19AM

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE! NEITHER IS VALOR! Thank you Don Shipley!

jammer| 6.3.11 @ 11:27AM

I understand that Cryer has some issues and clearly is a liar...no one should ever falsely impersonate our military heroes...however, this article is completely overblown and is totally political...It goes from insulting Cryer and praising Mr. Shipley (a very nice and decent man) to using political rhetoric that is steeped in opinion and speculation...and which suspiciously (and unremarkably) uses only examples from the political left. I think the issue here is to weed out people like Cryer...who are clearly nuts and who are stealing valor from the best of the best. Debating Bill Clinton's military record get's us nowhere...why not use G.W. Bush as an example? People like to conveniently forget his draft-dodging exploits...

Skippy| 6.3.11 @ 4:21PM

Boy Bill dodged the draft, loathes the military, and every soldier knows it.
GWB served with honor, and that's why they love him.
Big difference, Mr. Rather.

Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 11:33PM

I'm constantly amazed that people think someone who could fly an early century-series all-weather interceptor with the glide characteristics of a brick and electronics whose MTBF was on par with the life expectancy of a mayfly was lacking in intestinal fortitude. Texas ANG F-102 squadrons regularly flew night intercept missions in some of the worst weather imaginable out over the Gulf of Mexico. Lot's of those pilots became just as dead as those shot down over Route Pac 6--they just didn't get as much press. But protecting U.S. air space from potential threats from Cuba and elsewhere was a vital mission in the Cold War.

Bonnie Collins| 6.3.11 @ 1:53PM

How many more politicians' lives will Shipley destroy?..as long as they lie about their service, Don Shipley will expose them!!!!

Oldmanriver| 6.5.11 @ 1:08PM

Ive run into people of all makes and models that lie about even the simplest of things. It doesnt matter what line of work they are in. Ive met mechanics that lie about all the amazing things they've worked on. Ive met pipefitters who lie about their welding skills. Ive had head hunters that told me my resume needed to be "enhanced" because the one I have isnt going to get me a new job. Almost every person I have met in my professional career brags about how hard of a worker they are. When in fact most people are lazy and shiftless.