Fakes and Frauds (Rant)

(Here's a rant I wrote a long time back.  Be aware that there are some obscenities in it.  I have since learned to ignore most of the Internet Idiots.) 

Fakes and Frauds

 

There are a lot of people on the Internet who are too lazy or cowardly to accomplish anything for themselves.  Fortunately for them, it’s easy to claim experience or qualifications that they don’t have.  Recently, I had quite a run-in with a fraud claiming to run a shooting school in Minnesota.  He claimed he was an ex-cop with “many years of experience” and an ex-Chief of Police.  When I tried to pin down where he supposedly served, he became evasive and abusive.  He’s a cagey SOB and he’s very careful about giving actual specifics about his claims.  What investigations I was able to complete with a few phone calls convinced me that he was a fraud and I wasn’t willing to spend any more time on that loser.

 

This jerk and others like him are able to gather a following of believers on forums and Newsgroups.  The response by them and their followers to anyone who questions their qualifications or takes exception to the information they’re handing out is to flame ‘em till they go away.  Often they will demand that others “prove” that they are lying.  You can’t prove a negative.  Given enough time and some specific claims you can usually weed out the lies but these guys are pretty clever.  They will usually try to avoid getting specific and when backed into a corner will respond by getting hostile rather than proving what they say.

 

What makes these people dangerous (and annoying) is the fact that they don’t usually know what they are talking about.  If they were content with quoting reliable sources, that wouldn’t be a serious problem, but they don’t even know what sources are reliable.  In addition, there is a tendency for these people to increase their apparent importance by giving information or advice that goes against conventional wisdom.  What they don’t care about is the fact that often conventional wisdom is established through experience; experience that they lack.  In some areas that doesn’t really mean anything.  When it comes to combat, self-defense, firearms and the like, bad advice and information can get you killed!  The audience they are misleading is usually made up of people that don’t have any way to know they are being misled.  Most people looking to the Internet for information are, frankly, beginners.  Everyone started out with no knowledge and built from there.  Some build on experience and some on bullshit.

 

If someone on the shooting range starts to blow hot-air, you can challenge them to demonstrate their skills on the spot.  That’s why blowhards don’t do their talking on the range.  The frauds know full well that they will probably never be called upon to demonstrate their imaginary skills.  In fact, because you can’t see faces, that 40 year old CIA guy you’re talking to could very well be a 15 year old loser who wets his pants at the very thought of Army basic training.

 

I ran into one fellow in the Air Force.  He was very impressed with his extensive knowledge of firearms and went to great pains to let everyone around him know how impressive he was.  The guy was full of manure to the eyeballs and should have been a little more careful where he spread his fertilizer.  I was advising another fellow about what type of defensive pistol to buy.  I recommend the 1911A1 .45 ACP for a whole bunch of reasons and I was explaining them.  Mr. Blowhard interrupted me with the statement that, “The U.S. got rid of the .45 ‘cause the recoil will break your wrist!”  My response was rather sharp and ended with an invitation to accompany me down to the firing range where they both could fire my personal .45 and see for themselves that it won’t break anybody’s wrist.  His response was typical of the type.  He called me a liar, refused to go to the range, and ran away (presumably to cry like the child that he was).  Had I run into this guy on a News group he and his buddies would have undoubtedly flamed me until I got fed up and went away.  I have abandoned several forums and Newsgroups for just that reason.  I don’t have the time to spend messing with that stuff.  I’d rather be at the range or the reloading bench.  There’s another clue that the guy’s a fraud, if he’s always on the ‘net he can’t have time to be doing anything for real.

 

People who were or are SEALs, CIA operatives, or almost any other government employees can prove it!  Any military personnel will have complete records of virtually all their initial training including Special Forces, Ranger, UDT, and SEAL selection courses.  More importantly, the government will have records of their training and service.  A very few training courses and a fair number of specific military operations will be classified but a SEAL can always document his entry into the SEAL teams.

 

There will always be public records that a military decoration was awarded.  The specifics of the action that led to the award may be classified but no one has ever been awarded the Medal of Honor in a “secret” ceremony.  The Medal of Honor is quite literally awarded by an act of Congress (thus the “Congressional” Medal of Honor) in a public ceremony.  There is no way it can be awarded secretly.  It is vaguely possible that the paperwork for some lesser medals may have gotten misplaced during wartime.  It was also common for a cowardly REMF (Rear Echelon Mother Fucker) to simply grab a medal headed for a true soldier on the lines and claim it for himself.  Don’t be embarrassed or afraid to ask for proof.  Folks that performed really classified or deniable ops knew going in that there would be no medals for them.  Some of the bravest and most skilled warriors on the planet received no recognition for their deeds.

 

As for the intelligence wannabes– if a mission or operation is so classified that no records were kept then maybe the would-be James Bond shouldn’t be talking about it!  People involved in truly classified operations will have one of two types of records.  If the operation is only mildly classified, then the records will exist but they will simply be marked with their security classification and unavailable to the public.  Eventually, they will become unclassified and available through the Freedom of Information Act.  There is almost nothing from the Viet Nam War era or earlier that has not been unclassified.  The second type of records are those kept for people involved in truly “black” operations.  If someone is involved in an operation that must be deniable they will be provided with a cover story, complete with documentation.  With military special operations this often means the individual will be “assigned” to a training unit that will keep complete and ongoing records even thought the individual is never there.  Sometimes the operative will be separated from the service while the operation is underway.  Either way, there will be some sort of paper trail on any of these people.  If there isn’t– they’re supposed to keep their damned mouths shut!

 

Don’t be afraid to ask these people for specifics on their qualifications.  If they respond with hostility instead of immediate straight answers, run away.  Do not send any money to anyone on the Internet until you have verified their claims.  Don’t just take their word for it, make a couple of phone calls.  Get some references and check them out.  The elite people move in some pretty small circles and their peers will know about them.  There are too many legitimate folks on the ‘net.  You don’t have to settle for a vastly inferior imitation.

 

If you want to do something then do it!  Don’t sit around talking about it.  You want to join the military?  Join!  Volunteer for that selection course and tough it out.  I have infinitely more respect for someone who washes out of Airborne training and admits it, than some yutz who didn’t have the guts to enlist in the first place.  There are good civilian schools out there, as well.  Completion of a defensive pistol course under one of the top instructors is something to be proud of.  Just don’t try to parlay a week at the Chapman Academy into a tour in Viet Nam.  Earn that black belt, don’t dream about it. Practice with your pistol until you can do something with it.  Nothing comes for free but once you’ve paid your dues you have something to be proud of.

 

As for the fakes and frauds, they know what kind of scum they are.  They will live out their lives in fear that they will be discovered and exposed.  If they’re really lucky, they’ll get a chance to demonstrate those imaginary skills in the real world.  That’ll shut ‘em up for good.