Water boarding ruled constitutional

I happened to read this story today. The 9th US circuit court of appeals ruled that a law against lying about military medals is unconstitutional. The case involved a member of a water board in California (hence the title of this post) who claimed to have received the medal of honor when in fact, he hadn't. The majority opinion claimed that there is no evidence that lying about military medals harms anyone. I would strongly disagree with that statement, especially when it concerns someone gathering support for a cause or office.

I couldn't help thinking of this story which was in the news the previous day. The electronics company Best Buy is threatening legal action against Rev. Luke Strand of Holy Family Catholic Church in Fond du lac, WI over the "God Squad" logo on his VW beetle.

I'm not condemning Best Buy, quite the contrary. Institutions should control how their trademarks are used. The underlying reason behind that is to protect the company's investment in its brand, but also to protect the cnsumer by preventing misleading information. Now, I understand the difference between civil and criminal law, but doesn't it strike you as wrong that the military can't "enforce it's trademark" in restricting the usage of medals it produces?

And so I offer the photo above as a suggestion for a "legal" alternative for Fr. Strand and his vehicle.

Posted in: America,Constitution