I am puzzled by the recent revelations about Connecticut atty. general Richard Blumenthal. It seems that Blumenthal claimed service in Vietnam, when (in reality) he had never set foot in the country.
For a lawyer (trained in defining the truth)-how is this possible?
Or is “misspeaking” about qualifications common in the legal community?
Could this be a simple case of perjury (i.e. not telling the truth)?
What are the implications of his statements-are they to be interpreted as simple lying, or is there more to this?
By opening his mouth and lying.
Not sure about the legal community, but among liars it is very common. I think he just thought he could get away with it.
He said he’d tried to be careful to say he was a “Vietnam-era veteran,” which is true, but might’ve “slipped” and said he was a “Vietnam veteran,” which is false. Don’t know how often he “slipped,” but apparently it was more than once.
You may have noticed “misspeaking” about qualifications is quite common in politics. Being a lawyer has nothing to do with it.
Perjury is not the same thing as not telling the truth. Perjury is not telling the truth about a material matter while under oath. If I say tomorrow that my neighbor’s hideous baby is cute, that’s not perjury. If while I’m giving a deposition under oath tomorrow I say the hideous baby is cute, that’s not perjury either unless the cuteness or hideousness of the baby is material to the case.
It’s not cute anyway; it’s “breathtaking.”
Not only did he lie himself, but he heard himself introduced to various audiences, and described in various newspapers in the state of which he is AG, as a Vietnam combat veteran, and he apparently made no effort to correct any of them.
Maybe–maybe–the whole thing began with an accident or misunderstanding (which would be uncharacteristic for a man otherwise described as a precise speaker)… but he perpetuated it both actively and passively, and let it become a signature part of his political biography.
Most of us exaggerate, use shorthand, fill in details, etc. when telling stories about our lives or things that have happened to us. Most of the time it doesn’t matter whether you actually met her in the grocery store or the mall, or whether it was a Tuesday or a Thursday. I’ve heard a variety of stories over the years of exactly how my parents met, or why they picked my name. If you’re talking about your military service, and it was during a war, even if you weren’t actually in the war, it wouldn’t be all that difficult to end up telling the story as if you were actually serving in the war. And if it was just among your family and friends, it probably wouldn’t really matter (there’s no evidence that he ever described particular missions or combat actions as if he participated). That doesn’t make it right, it just makes it typically human.
The problem arises when you are a politician, and you are using your stories to try to win votes. Then it becomes outright lying, and good cause to question whether you are fit to serve in public office. But for me, at least, it’s not that hard to understand how human storytelling gets out of hand.
The guy is a lying scum. Being in the Marine reserve is barely being a veteran. Had he left it at that, he might have got away with it. If it hadn’t been for those meddling kids. But he let people introduce him as a Vietnam combat vet? Talk about fraud.
That’s how St. Luke’s correspondent got his name you know. When he was shown as a newborn to his father to be named, the man took one look at him and said, ‘That’s Theophilus looking baby I’ve ever seen!’" 
Tell that to Elaine!
That may have been true in the Vietnam era, but I can assure you that it is not true of Reservists/Guardsmen in the last decade.
The Blumenthal campaign released a video of the entire speech in which he clearly says he is a Vietnam-era veteran.
It is funny the national attention this is getting when those of us in Connecticut don’t really care. We’ve know Blumenthal for years and know that he does not go around telling people stories about his buddies dying face down in the mud in 'nam like he has been represented in the national media and blog. In the local articles and stories, the only quotes of outraged people happen to be Republican operatives.
Here is a good synopsis from a reporter that has covered CT politics.
http://blogs.courant.com/rick_green/2010/05/now-theres-more-to-the.html?icid=sphere_tribune_hartfordcourant_inline
So because the reporter has an ax to grind, it’s fine to lie about your military service? Nice!
Well this guy from Connecticut cares. It’s amazing to me that these people are always the smartest ones in the room. Until they forget that they didn’t spend a year in Viet Nam of course.
For all of us that were never in Viet Nam. Have you ever just slipped up and said “Back when I was in Viet Nam?” Didn’t think so.
The day we elect a guy like this, is a signal to all the politicians that they can now lie to us 100% of the time and get away with it.
How can one not care about this?
I though he lied about being captain of the swimming team in college too?