Um, That's Actually PFC Lawson

Well, I guess if you're going to put on a show, you might as well go all out:

SHREVEPORT, Louisiana (AP) -- William Lawson looked every bit the retired Marine general this summer as he stood before a crowd of 200 people, demanding that a cemetery properly dispose of the American flags placed at the graves of veterans.

He had on khakis, the Marines' summer service uniform, complete with a general's stars and row after row of medals, including the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Good Conduct Medal. He even wore an eye patch.

It turns out, however, that Lawson wasn't a general at all -- or even a World War II combat veteran. His 19 months in the Marines were all spent stateside -- he ended boot camp after Iwo Jima -- and he never rose above the rank of private first class.

Lawson, 78, admitted the charade after being confronted with his records in interviews with The Marine Corps Times and The (Shreveport, Louisiana) Times. The media checks occurred after Lawson appeared at the flag rally in late June.

"It's something that snowballed," he said in stories that appeared in both newspapers this week.

Lawson did not answer his home telephone Monday when called by The Associated Press.

The Marine Corps Times said Lawson could face federal charges for wearing unearned medals and false rank insignia, and the Marine Corps inspector general is investigating.

Actually, I think the real problem for PFC (ret.) Lawson is simply a matter of who he was pretending to be:

Federal prosecutors will not charge a White House volunteer for allegedly impersonating a Secret Service agent at a Denver speech by President George W. Bush.

The volunteer forcibly ejected three people from the event on March 21 because they arrived in a car bearing a bumper sticker that read: No-more-blood-for-oil.

The three spectators -- Democrats who have been asking the Secret Service to investigate the matter -- said they were taken aside by an event staff member and told a Secret Service agent wanted to see them. They said the man who eventually did eject them dressed and behaved like an agent and threatened to arrest them if they misbehaved -- but never said he was Secret Service.

Prosecutors disclosed their decision not to press charges in a letter to U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., and two Democratic members of the state's House delegation, the Rocky Mountain News reported Thursday.

The letter offered no explanation for the decision, and did not name the alleged impersonator because he was not charged. The complainants have been demanding to know the man's name so they can sue him on free speech grounds, the newspaper said.

Private Lawson--don't you know that Team Bush HATES the military?