I guess Sam Stein works for The Bulwark now, so of course he thinks that their "Six Things to Know About Tim Walz's 'Stolen Valor' Claims" is sober, comprehensive, and very important. At first, I was skeptical of the claims of stolen valor — they were flying thick and fast, from no less than J.D. Vance himself. Maybe Walz retired from the Army National Guard to run for Congress before he knew his unit was going to be deployed to Iraq. But as I've since learned, you need to think that a lot of people who served with Walz are lying in order to believe his story. I mean, the Minnesota Military Veterans Museum claims that Walz stood "on the tarmac at Bagram Air Base in Iraq." So which was it … was he in Iraq or in Afghanistan? It's clear now that he was deployed to neither one, although you wouldn't know that by asking him about his combat experience.
This is a sober, comprehensive, very important analysis of all 'stolen valor' claims being thrown at Tim Walzhttps://t.co/BnuurENdSJ
— Sam Stein (@samstein) August 13, 2024
All right, Bulwark. You're up. Let's hear it. Will Selber writes:
1. This story is still evolving.
Although Walz has been in elected office for a long time—a dozen years in Congress followed by five years as the chief executive of Minnesota—the level of scrutiny his reputation will face over the next three months is more intense than anything he previously faced.
More attention than ever before will be paid to Walz’s verbal or written inaccuracies, both old and new. A slip of the tongue? A mistake in a moment of forgetfulness? A lost form, or one filled out wrong? An exaggeration while telling a story? A major pattern of long-term deception? You can expect any of these to be dug up and to be treated by his political opponents as devastating and disqualifying.
Why is it still evolving? How long does it take to tell the truth?
This video appeared Tuesday:
Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn son. Walz is done. pic.twitter.com/sB5evVUapq
— The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) August 13, 2024
Here's tough-talking political strategist Rachel Bitecofer:
We’re not going to let y’all Swift Boat Tim Walz, esp since you’re running Cadet Bone Spurs again.
— Rachel Bitecofer 🗽🦆🌴🥥🇺🇸 (@RachelBitecofer) August 7, 2024
Kerry went to Vietnam - so there is no comparison
— Charles R. Smith🔹 (@softwarnet) August 8, 2024
It's true … at least John Kerry went to Vietnam. What he did with his medals is certainly fictional, though.
They're not going to let us swift boat Walz? Then what are they doing about it besides publishing pieces about how the story is "still evolving." Walz could call a press conference at any time and clear up those slips of the tongue, mistakes in a moment of forgetfulness, lost forms, or one filled out wrong, and an exaggeration while telling a story.
But Harris and Walz don't do press conferences. Harris hopes her team can put together a sit-down interview sometime before the end of the month (it's the 13th).
I never served in the armed forces, and that's something I regret now — I wish I had. So I don't know all of the intricacies of an E8 versus an E9. But I've tried to give Walz the benefit of the doubt and again, you'd have to call just about everyone he served with a liar for his version of events to be true.
There is no confusion here. There is documentation showing when he knew he was likely to be deployed and other people in his unit have corroborated these facts. You are only confused if you refuse to read anything other than curated media sources for Democrats https://t.co/5fcrHbtRGY pic.twitter.com/eJgVdWsn1I
— Joe Gabriel Simonson (@SaysSimonson) August 13, 2024
It would be so easy to clear up.
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