Pants on Fire

The blight of service misrepresentation amongst public officials rears its head in Georgia:

In June, [Cherokee County Commissioner Derek] Good ended his campaign for a third term after his claims of service as an Army Ranger and an earned bachelor’s degree were challenged by the Cherokee Ledger News. He later acknowledged he did not serve as a Ranger and lied about a business degree from the University of Maryland.

He has said he plans to stay until his term ends in December because he doesn’t want to leave the district without representation.

I know it can seem like a relatively minor issue, especially in this case, but any deviation from the truth when it comes to one’s military record can instantly become a personal affront to the over 20 million Americans who have served in uniform.  Even more so, in this technologically and politically savvy generation of military-aged men and women alone, not only have millions served in GWOT (or OCO, depending on your temperament), but thousands have died and tens of thousands more have been wounded.  I’d argue that our post-9/11 warfighters are an extremely perceptive bunch.  I understand that politicians will embellish certain aspects of their biography in order to appeal to a wider range of the electorate, but in this 24-hour news environment, pols should tread lightly.  Especially considering it’s one of the easiest parts of a person’s resume to research.