The Crime of Spreading Hope
I read an article today about a 78 year old man who is potentially facing charges for passing himself off as a retired US Marine General and attending fundraisers and veterans gatherings. The irony is that none of the veterans groups that he dept with even realized that he had not achieved General status during his 19 months in the army. Apparently the confusion started when the man, William Lawson, was mistaken by the Shreveport Post as a general and it snowballed from there. He was soon being asked to make public appearances. He went along initially thinking it would fizzle out but it didn't and he ended up carrying on the charade until finally someone checked his credentials.
Now this brings up a lot of issues. In the day and age of national security and information non-privacy how was this man allowed to run around impersonating a general? I'll tell you why, because people are stupid, lazy, complacent sheep. Everyone claims to be looking out for suspicious activity and fact checking but they're not. After 911 security checks became very tight and then over the course of a year or so slacked off again. Despite our lack of innocence we are still inclined to take people at face value, especially when they are 78 years old. And while that is actually a nice thought to think of it makes you wonder how many harmful people are running around impersonating persons they are not who are in positions to actually do damage.
But that isn't so much what concerns me about this case. What really bothers me is the way this man is being treated for what he did. True it was rather disrespectful to fool people about such a touchy subject as military rank, especially since so many have died in combat. But Mr. Lawson was really doing nobody any harm in doing so.
In fact he was spreading hope, and because of his assumed status he became the voice for people whose cries were going unheard. William Lawson made hundreds of appearances to vets both young and old, many of which sick or disabled by war injuries, trading stories and giving these men hope and encouragement. He was a hero to those who once were heroes and now had nothing left but memories of days and healthy lives lost. He spoke out at rallies on such issues as the proper disposal of US flags left on the memorials of dead soldiers. William Lawson's methods might not have been technically honest but his intentions were of the highest moral caliber.
The man didn't seek this lifestyle out deliberately, the situation just fell in his lap. And rather than bask in faux glory, which would have been very easy to do, he actually DID something to make a difference in people's lives. He used the societal power people bestowed upon him because of their perception of what he was to spread hope and promote good deeds. that's more than our own government does.
In a day in age in which there are more devils than heroes visible amongst us William Lawson should be praised for his good works, not punished for a harmless mistake. And really that's what it was. The man didn't harm anyone by what he did. The most that can be said is a negative impact is that he bruised a lot of egos when his true military record was exposed because multiple places along the way people fucked up and now look like asses. If that's a crime then everyone on the face of the planet is guilty.
