An ugly Veterans Day

NOVEMBER 14, 2007
An ugly Veterans Day
BY LISA SORG

Veterans Day: The solemn parades, dutiful salutes and moments of silence are packed away for another year. But the rhetoric marches on.
While President Bush memorialized past and present troops last Monday—"Their determination, courage and sacrifice are laying the foundation for a more secure and peaceful world"—he threatened to veto a bill laden with millions of dollars for veterans job and rehabilitation programs.
Yet, the hypocrisy isn't limited to Bush. Both the left and the right use current soldiers and veterans as convenient poster children for their respective causes. Bring the troops home, declare congressional Democrats, while thousands of soldiers are on their third, even fourth tours. Support the troops, proclaim their conservative counterparts, while backing the president and his fellow hawks, who feign interest in the soldiers' well-being.
Even veterans don't always support their fellow veterans. The American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars have failed to openly criticize the president. Instead, they warmly welcome him to their annual conventions for another helping of platitudes. (However, the American Legion did demand that President Bill Clinton withdraw troops from Yugoslavia in 1999.)
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We cannot forget that all this happened while the DAV, the VFW, the American Legion, the Vietnam Veterans, and every group established for the veterans, did not fight for them. It was also during a time when the Republicans told these organizations they did not need to testify any longer. Why they willingly supported Bush and what he was doing is a well kept secret they are not willing to share. They leave the rest of us to wonder who it is they are interested in. Bush or the men and women who serve this nation? I know many in these organizations and they do wonderful things for the veterans yet it is their leadership lacking tenacity unjustifiably defending the administration doing the most damage to the veterans they claim to be serving.