# Kamala Harris's choice of Tim Walz as VP **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** kamala-harris\ **Created:** [August 6, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352 "2024-08-06T21:19:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/223 "2024-08-08T00:21:15Z")
> [@3AxisCtrl](#): > > I’ve run across this on a couple of generally right-wing sites. Can anyone verify whether this is a valid quote from Tim Walz: > > > There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech, and especially around our democracy. Yes, he said that, and in the context in which he said it – misinformation driving people to vote based on outright lies, or people dying from COVID due to outright lies, Walz is absolutely right. Free speech absolutism can be deadly to democracy, and just deadly, period. He says it here at around the 4:00 mark in this MSNBC interview about a year ago: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/y8ns76RCmWs/maxresdefault.jpg "Minnesota Gov. Walz Asks Fellow Democrats To ‘Think Big’ When It Comes To Fixing Voting Issues") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8ns76RCmWs) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/224 "2024-08-08T00:26:32Z")
I’m just waiting for them to say he’s ineligible because he’s a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, not a Dem. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/225 "2024-08-08T00:32:55Z")
Ah-context does matter. ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/226 "2024-08-08T00:41:56Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Walz is absolutely right. Free speech absolutism can be deadly to democracy, and just deadly, period. I’d be interested to hear his ideas on how to objectively decide what is misinformation or hate speech. No human has yet managed to do this. Absent that, you inevitably end up with the-powers-that-be deciding who should be silenced / prosecuted: the Hitler / Stalin / Mao version of free speech - “Say anything you like, so long as it doesn’t offend the powerful”. No thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/227 "2024-08-08T00:43:09Z")
I’d say something that’s deliberately untrue, just as a baseline definition? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/228 "2024-08-08T00:45:54Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > One more Walz talking point bites the dust: Trump praised Walz in 2020 about Walz’s response to the Floyd protests. Caught on tape. In 2019, Trump appointed Walz to the Council of Governors. [https://meidasnews.com/news/donald-trump-claims-tim-walz-is-extreme-yet-appointed-walz-to-key-position](https://meidasnews.com/news/donald-trump-claims-tim-walz-is-extreme-yet-appointed-walz-to-key-position) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/229 "2024-08-08T00:47:53Z")
> [@3AxisCtrl](#): > > I’d be interested to hear his ideas on how to objectively decide what is misinformation or hate speech. No human has yet managed to do this. You wanted to know whether Walz actually made that statement. I showed you where he made the statement and the full context in which he made it (you’re welcome). Further discussion doesn’t belong in this thread but if you want to spin off another thread I’ll throw in my two cents, but those sorts of threads usually end up being philosophical stalemates. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/230 "2024-08-08T01:02:50Z")
FWIW here’s one of the multiple past ones. > [@Are social media's recent bannings a freedom of expression issue?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-social-medias-recent-bannings-a-freedom-of-expression-issue/930330): > > Starting a new thread because I think the other one ([OK Let's do this: who thinks social media's recent bannings are first amendment violations?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-lets-do-this-who-thinks-social-medias-recent-bannings-are-first-amendment-violations/930310/38)) asked the wrong question, but there was interesting discussion developing on the question of freedom of expression. Banning incitement to violence, or anything else that’s actually illegal, should not be a problem. But going further and banning political speech (and that includes ‘hate speech’ when it can be defined so broadly) is a freedom of expres… Maybe revive it? Some good arguments made and they moved me a small bit off my hardline take on the fist amendment. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/231 "2024-08-08T01:25:22Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > the fist amendment. Is that the 2nd? The right to bare arms? 😀 Apologies if this has already been shared but I found this article on Vance criticizing Walz on his military record. > **[Vance reopens line of attack into Walz’s military record as two veterans now...](https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/07/politics/tim-walz-military-record-vance-attack?cid=ios_app)** > > Donald Trump’s running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance stepped up his attacks on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s portrayal of his military career, accusing him of ducking service in Iraq when he left the Army National Guard and ran for Congress in 2005. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/232 "2024-08-08T02:14:41Z")
I believe it has been (I very nearly posted it myself), but perhaps worth re-posting because I think it highlights this nontroversy as yet another example of a right wing “news” rag playing fast and loose with the truth, and then the lies and insinuation spreading faster than the truth possibly can. Now we have people insisting there must be something to the accusations, even as there doesn’t seem to be a reliable source that Walz knew his unit was due to deploy when he put in his retirement request, let alone that he chose to retire for the sole or primary purpose of avoiding deployment to Iraq. Or that, even if he did, it was anything but a principled (if quiet) stand against an unjust war. Rest assured, they’d have found a way to deprecate even Kelly for his military service if he’d gotten the nod. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/233 "2024-08-08T02:32:16Z")
I agree with [Conor Friedersdorf from The Atlantic:](https://x.com/conor64/status/1821313254683242535) > [@](#): > > Walz’s statement is misinformation: The First Amendment guarantees free speech, and there is no exception for hate speech. And, of course, Walz’s misinformation is protected by the First Amendment, too. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/234 "2024-08-08T02:37:34Z")
Herr Freidersdorf, and the current SCOTUS, may think it’s awesome to allow Nazis to march through the streets attacking people, but the Constitution isn’t a suicide pact. “First, they came for the Nazis. Then, everything was cool because there weren’t any more Nazis”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/235 "2024-08-08T02:39:11Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > I agree with [Conor Friedersdorf from The Atlantic:](https://x.com/conor64/status/1821313254683242535) He took the comment out of context. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/236 "2024-08-08T02:43:46Z")
Freidersdorf is spreading misinformation. It took me ten seconds to find out that hate speech is illegal in Illinois. From the Illinois Department of Human Rights homepage: > Yes, IDHR treats racial harassment as discrimination based on race. If a person is subjected to name-calling or negative comments based on a protected class, this may be unlawful discrimination. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/237 "2024-08-08T02:45:49Z")
But I think this is bordering on a hijack. The question should be “Is this quote going to make one single person who was planning to vote Democratic change their mind?”. I’m saying no. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/238 "2024-08-08T03:39:01Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I have not seen anything to indicate he retired for medical reasons. There is a process for that which makes much more sense than retiring for non-medical reasons especially if that hearing loss was service connected. It would be extremely clear in his records if he was retired medically. @Gyrate and I both posted about his hearing loss and its effect on his eligibility to serve, back in posts 118 and 119. Gyrate posted this passage from Minnesota Public Radio: > [@](#): > > In late 2002, he was ordered to appear before a medical retention board about the hearing impairment. After waiting for a decision for months, he was given clearance to serve out the remaining years of his final six-year enlistment. > > Medical records show that in 2005 Walz underwent stapedectomy surgery, a procedure in which damaged bones inside the ear are replaced with a prosthesis. He said it has improved his hearing. > **['Citizen soldier' Walz honed leadership in uniform](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/10/03/tim-walz-national-guard-career-minnesota-governor-race)** > > Democrat Tim Walz's 24-year military career is a central part of his background and style as he runs for Minnesota governor. I then posted this inquiry: > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > That article makes it sound like he was not allowed to continue serving after that enlistment was up? Does that affect the criticism that he left rather than deploy? Would he have been allowed to deploy if he had a hearing impairment and a clear end-date to his service? As far as I can tell (it’s a long thread), no-one has responded to that inquiry? If he was told in 2002 that he could finish his six year term, does that have any impact on the fact that he retired three years later, in 2005? It doesn’t say when he started that six-year term. Also, with that medical finding on his record, could he have been deployed to Iraq? I have no military experience, as I’ve said before, so I don’t know the answers to these questions and would appreciate clarification, if that’s at all possible. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/239 "2024-08-08T03:43:39Z")
I watched a few minutes of Jesse Waters on Fox. Their talking point today is not only is Walz a coward for bailing out before deploying to Iraq, but he lied to Kamala and claimed that he actually had served in Iraq, and when is he going to tell her the truth? Under the chyron “Stolen Valor”. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/240 "2024-08-08T03:46:24Z")
Because…the Harris campaign wouldn’t have done the most basic research on candidates before bringing them in for interviews? Whatta tool. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/241 "2024-08-08T03:47:02Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Although orders such as those aren’t classified they aren’t generally found on the internet. Some from his unit say that they received the Warning Order in early 2005. That jibes with my experience of the WARNO coming 6 months ahead of the alert. Which would put it in February. ABC News has published a timeline that says his unit got an “alert order” on July 14, 2005. Is that different from the “warning order” you’re mentioning, Loach? Here’s the relevant passage from the ABC News article: > [@](#): > > According to records by the National Guard, the 1st Battalion of the 125th Field Artillery received an alert order on July 14, 2005, – two months after Walz retired. The mobilization order came in August and the unit mobilized in October. > > Joseph Eustice, another retired command sergeant major who served with Walz, tells ABC News that while there was speculation of a deployment around that time there was no firm indication that Walz’s unit would be sent to Iraq until that July alert order. > > Eustice says he remembers Walz struggling with the timing of wanting to serve as a lawmaker but also avoiding asking for a deferment so he could do so. > > "He had a window of time. He had to decide. And in his deciding, we were not on notice to be deployed. There were rumors. There were lots of rumors, and we didn’t know where we were going until it was later that, early summer, I believe,” Eustice told ABC News. Does this help to clarify what Walz knew, and when? > **[What to know about Walz's military record and Vance's accusations of 'stolen...](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/walzs-military-record-vances-accusations-stolen-valor/story?id=112618991)** > > Donald Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance, is alleging Kamala Harris' running mate, Tim Walz, is guilty of "stolen valor." Here's what to know about his record. ---
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/242 "2024-08-08T03:59:05Z")
You beat me to it. I was just coming in here to post the same thing. I think your cite directly contradicts the speculation that he retired because he knew he was being deployed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352.md?page=13)