Can anyone remember, since, oh the Spartans and the Athenians, when a politican has declined the chance to hear from their hoplites, members of their army of the realm, their veterans? I cannot.
So why does
this (and
here) ring so flatly?
And as if to add insult to injury, House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) recently announced that veterans service organizations will no longer have the opportunity to present testimony before a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees. For several decades now, these joint hearings have been held each year to allow the leaders of veterans service organizations to discuss their group's legislative agenda and foremost concerns with the lawmakers who have jurisdiction over federal veterans programs.
Eliminating these joint hearings is an affront to the men and women who have fought and died to protect our Constitutional rights, including their right to petition the government.
I think it has the omerta of payback. Remeber this?
Does anyone remember how W supposedly reacted?
Bush refers to those who protest his war as "motherf---king traitors" and he was so enraged when he heard reports about the "bullshit protectors" that he screamed at his aides, "Tell those VFW assholes that I'll never speak to them again if they can't keep their members under control."
Can there be any doubt of a connection?