Blackburn ruled that the government did not show it has a compelling reason to restrict that kind of statement.
The "kind of statement" Blackburn's referring to is lying. Plain, overt, bald-faced lying.
The prosecution's argument was that lying about having military medals dilutes their meaning and significance. Which is true.
"This wholly unsubstantiated assertion is, frankly shocking and, indeed, unintentionally insulting to the profound sacrifices of the military personnel the Stolen Valor Act purports to honor."
You'd think that Blackburn was referring to lying about having military medals, but he's not. He's outraged that the prosecution said that lying about having medals dilutes their meaning, which is true.
Blackburn goes even further in condemning the prosecution for making such outlandish statements by digging himself even further, by saying:
"To suggest that the battlefield heroism of our servicemen and women is motivated in any way, let alone in a compelling way, by considerations of whether a medal may be awarded simply defies my comprehension."
Of course it does. Blackburn's complete incomprehension of the point at hand is proof of that.
Blackburn in that statement has replaced the valid point made by the prosecution about a man who was never even in the military by trying to shift the focus to real military personnel and falsely saying that the prosecution is implying that real military personnel give consideration to whether they will be awarded a medal as a factor in determining their actions before going into battle.
There's nothing in the prosecution's statement about that. What Blackburn said is apparently a projection of how he would behave were he in that situation, because he had to be thinking along those lines before he could impute that kind of despicable behavior to someone else.
Obviously, Blackburn has never been in combat. If he had, he would know that when combat starts, all considerations, all plans beyond the next few minutes, are completely gone. All that matters is surviving the immediate chaos going on around you. To imply that while you're lying there in the mud and the dirt, the blood and the gore while someone is trying their damndest to kill you, that you decided to do this to get a medal reveals Blackburn's complete lack of any understanding of what combat veterans think about during battle.
It most assuredly is not about getting medals. It most assuredly is about staying alive.
Blackburn had no choice but to approve of and sanction lying as acceptable, given that serial liar Republican George Bush appointed him. Even though his decision approving of lying only sets legal precedent in his district, it will be used by the Republicans as an example of how you can lie and get away with it.
It's not clear whether Blackburn intended his approval of lying to apply retroactively, to cover all of the lies of George Bush, and whether it will be sufficient to cover all the past and future lies of his fellow Republicans, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and the staff at Fox News. Since it actually happened in the real world, it's doubtful that they'll ever be aware of it.
So, you're now free to go out and lie about anything you want to, to anyone you want to and never worry. Judge Blackburn's got you covered.
