Hero to Zero

Rick Duncan claimed to be a Marine who was wounded in Iraq. He told people he’d received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star. He even founded a veterans group in Colorado Springs and shared his story at fundraisers and political events. But in 2009, the military outmaneuvered Duncan, exposing him as a fake; as a result, Duncan — whose real name is Rick Strandlof — was charged with violating the federal Stolen Valor Act, which makes it illegal to pose as a war hero.

Whether that law is constitutional or violates the First Amendment has been discussed numerous times in court. In fact, a Denver district judge dismissed the case against Strandlof, saying that he was exercising his rights to free speech — but last Friday, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling. Because of cases similar to this one around the country — in California, Georgia and Missouri — the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up the matter of whether the Stolen Valor Act is constitutional.

There is no law (at least not yet) against pretending to be a Jewish oil-and-gas attorney with a penchant for flash mobs, however, which is something else that Strandlof has been accused of doing. Last year, Strandlof was claiming to be Rick Gold, an attorney with the firm of Patton Boggs, when he got involved with a new social circle. He quickly worked his way into this group of young Jewish professionals, and even partnered with friend Eric Rosenberg to create Denver Flash Mob, an outfit that planned about a dozen wacky flash mobs around town over eight months. But when Rosenberg found out that Gold was a fraud, mob mentality took over, and Strandlof was booted from the group. (You can read about that on the Show and Tell blog at westword.com.)

More recently, Strandlof has been hanging out at Occupy Denver — where he’s been using his real name. He frequently refers to his life before now as a grab-bag of drugs, alcohol and lies, and keeps a blog at http:// rickstrandlof.blogspot.com, in which he refers, vaguely, to the recent U.S. Circuit Court decision: “This is a single court ruling in one of many misdemeanor cases in the unfortunate history of a single human, one Of billions that currently suck oxygen on a tiny blue planet orbiting a small yellow star in the backwaters of a typical galaxy in the expanse of one of an infinite number of realities that exist in the mind of G-d,” he writes.

“I am nothing special. There will be those who claim that I am a terrible human being and should have all manner of terrible thing done to me as a result. They are probably correct. Or not.”

Girls, girls, girls: Tim Tebow has also been dealing with lies and conjecture, but of a very different nature. Tebow, it seems, is married to his faith — which is fine, because it means he has more time to practice his footwork and accuracy in the off-season. But that doesn’t mean that the ladies aren’t lusting after the Second Coming. The latest woman to make a forward pass at the Big Tebowski, at least according to Internet rumors and an upcoming National Enquirer story, is Kim Kardashian, a woman who is famous for, um, what is she famous for again? Well, there’s a reality show or two, and her short marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries, and that sex tape. Okay, well, whatever. She is famous and may or may not have a crush on the Broncos quarterback.

But Tebow, who appeared shirtless in a recent Jockey underwear ad, probably won’t be showing Kardashian his skivvies Anytime soon. The devoutly religious fellow has been linked to numerous women on the Internet, but is reportedly saving himself for marriage and hasn’t officially claimed to be dating anyone — famous or not. Not that people aren’t interested. In December, skier Lindsey Vonn watched a Broncos game from the Tebow family box and Tebowed after a winning a race, but she denied any sort of romance. And last month, singer Katy Perry’s minister parents reportedly suggested that their daughter would make an ideal girlfriend for the Mile High Messiah.

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