Anyone who claims to understand the forces at work in modern U.S. politics has almost certainly exaggerated.
For instance, on July 13, former President Donald Trump responded to a failed assassination attempt with a display of defiant courage. Afterward, only the most deranged Trump haters could deny that they had witnessed what all human beings from the beginning of time have recognized as rare bravery.
Then, little more than three weeks later, Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris chose as her running mate a man who, according to a former command sergeant major and fellow NCO in the Minnesota Army National Guard, would “still be hiding under his desk” had he not skipped out on deployment to Iraq nearly two decades ago.
According to Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Tom Behrends, who served a two-year deployment to Iraq, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, whom Harris selected as her running mate on Tuesday, showed “pathetic” leadership and “abandoned” the men in his command — all as a prelude to “stolen valor.”
Behrends made those comments in a 2022 interview with Alpha News, posted to YouTube.
In sum, the Iraq veteran’s charges against Walz — if true — involve both cowardice and dishonesty.
Do American voters care about those things, or do they care about celebrity endorsements? Time alone might reveal that answer.
In the meantime, Behrends’ interview painted a picture of an opportunist who shrank from duty.
“As soon as the shots were fired in Iraq, he turned and ran the other way and hung his hat up and quit,” Behrends said of Walz.
To be clear, the current Minnesota governor never actually made it to Iraq.
In 2005, the Minnesota Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery, received a “warning order” to “mobilize” for Iraq. But Walz, who held a conditional command sergeant major rank, retired and ran for Congress before deployment. Behrends took Walz’s place.
Though he never satisfied the conditions required to retire as a command sergeant major, Walz nonetheless used that title.
In fact, in a letter to Walz, Behrends expressed concern.
“I would hope that you haven’t been using the rank for political gain, but that is how it appears,” the Iraq veteran wrote.
“It’s stolen valor is really what it is,” Behrends said in the 2022 interview.
Indeed, Army records showed Walz as reduced in rank. Thus, he retired as an E-8 master sergeant, not an E-9 command sergeant major.
On the whole, Behrends described Walz as a liar and a coward.
“If he would’ve went to Iraq, he’d still be hiding under his desk over there, ’cause that’s just the cowardice that I seen portrayed with him,” Behrends said.
Walz’s alleged cowardice appears quite the contrast next to Trump’s spontaneous courage.
Furthermore, allegations of stolen valor will not sit well with voters who respect honest veterans, such as Trump’s running mate, Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.
Nonetheless, longtime observers of American politics surely must detect something strange afoot.
After all, aside from ideological alignment with his fellow radical leftist Harris, Walz brings nothing valuable to the ticket.
In fact, he only amplifies Harris’ most obvious weaknesses. For instance, just as Walz allegedly stole his retirement rank, Harris stole the Democratic nomination without winning a single presidential primary.
Indeed, the contrasts between the two tickets could not be more striking. Surely voters still care about courage and merit, right?
Thus, one wonders what Democrats and the deep state have up their sleeves for the 2024 election.
In light of the Walz pick and the resurfaced Behrends interview, I would be lying if I claimed to know where any of this is heading.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
