I’m glad you wrote about this issue. The cuts of vital services to veterans in unacceptable. Our daughter is a clinical psychologist who counsels veterans with PTSD at a VA Hospital. She is very concerned about her vet clients who are already having great difficulty. Taking away mental health professionals and others in health care is something they’re already facing at the VA. All from two super wealthy men who’ve never served and with no real understanding of what the federal government does. Elon Musk just got someone to brief him on the federal budget process recently! He thinks he understood the entire federal government in 45 minutes? It’s insane. They’ve approached this massive challenge like two drunk frat rats. They’re already impacting other businesses, too. I was just at the medical center provided by our insurance, and the nurse said they’ve been told to expect layoffs there, too.
I didn’t know any of this about veterans and the federal workforce. Thank you.
What has happened to the idea of “accountability?” Republicans shrug at brazen acts that, as you say, are cruel and un-American. This is incomprehensible, just as January 6th was incomprehensible. It is the work of tyrants.
But we need to focus on the veterans, on their needs, because all signs are the tyrants are going to continue being tyrants. My senator is Tammy Duckworth who is out in front on veterans’ issues. I’m proud of her.
Very good point. Where exactly are Tom Cotton, JD Vance, John Cornyn, Mitch McConnell, John Thune, and Joni Ernst in this? I must have been mis-informed about their patriotism.
I served in Viet Nam from December of 68 till May of 70 with the Navy (voluntarily) and voted against Trump twice. It was an easy choice for me but know that some of my fellow Nam Vets have the opposite opinion, though I really can't understand it. If there were actual justice in America Trump would have been convicted of one of his many crimes before he ever ran for office and would be in prison now.
100% of the vets I know personally are anti-Trump. That's a dozen or more. I have morning coffee with 2 of them each week. One was an infantry platoon lieutenant in Nam and the other was a torpedoman on a nuke sub. What's PINO?
Bob, it's an acronym coined recently - it stands for "President in Name Only". I think whoever started using it was referencing all the dark mutterings of Trump a year or two ago, talking about "RINOs" (Republicans in Name Only).
Lark's response is basically correct. I first saw it used, after the Musk/ PINO press conference in the Oval a few weeks back. PINO barely said a word and seemed to be more of a prop than POTUS.
Thanks for commentary that brings home all of my too-emotional feelings. My heroic Green Beret husband spent three tours in Vietnam because he believed in our country and his oath to it. I know he’d be turning over – – he’s at Arlington National Cemetery – – and I’m (somehow) glad he can’t see what’s going on. Our daughter, also Army, may well be affected by the travesty of this treasonous administration.
Should we be surprised that President BoneSpurs and Musk, a child of apartheid South Africa don't put America's Veterans First? They may claim to want to Make America Great Again, but they have failed miserably in proving it to many of us over the past 5 weeks or so.
The VA Secretary, during a video from his desk said he looked forward to working with his partners at DOGE to get rid of things to make the VA better. Hope he learns fast that making the VA is about improving, not shit canning systems of which he obviously has no comprehension.
Our country needs to be absolutely outraged by DOGE's treatment of veterans. Thank you for this article. We all need to make sure the people in our immediate circle of family/community are fully aware of what is being done so we can make our voices heard and stop this. It is a form of insanity.
A vet who is a patient in a VA hospital that is under staffed can suffer from medical mistakes when there’s not enough staff to sign off when patients are getting treatment. Tag teaming helps prevent medical errors from occurring and boosts safety in hospitals. This happened to my dad back in the 90’s during the Gulf War. Dad was between jobs and was using his VA hospital benefits when he had to have surgery on his throat that involved his thyroid gland. Lots of the medical staff including doctors and nurses and technicians were back on active duty so the hospital was short staffed. My sister in law was visiting dad and she happens to be a nurse but she also knew the protocol that dad was to be on and she brought it to their attention. They had to back track and verify and turns out my sister in law was right. So thankfully dad was going to be ok and at the same time she saved someone’s butt. It never hurts to bring a nurse or doctor friend to a hospital so they can verify what treatment your patient is to be given. Very scary.
A well thought out and written commentary on what our veterans are facing. The current 'slash and burn' methods of Musk/DOGE are unacceptable. It's impossible to comprehend how one individual, and a private unelected citizen at that, could be allowed to commit such a level of mayhem. Our system of checks and balances is clearly out of whack.
I'm a disabled Vietnam veteran and I just wanted to add that the people working at my local VAMC are saying that their work environment has turned toxic with everyone worried about losing their jobs.
This is 180 degrees out of the last forty-five years I have been disabled when all the staff were upbeat and dedicated to working and helping veterans. Veterans were always placed above personal situations.
Since the arrival of the fascist in the Whitehouse, nothing but fear and doubt have surfaced within the halls of the hospital.
Veterans have served their purpose as cannon fodder. Therefore they can be tossed aside, until some of them need to be trotted out to put on a nice patriotic show on national holidays...as long as they aren't disabled, because the short-fingered vulgarian doesn't like looking at disabled people, even vets. That's why disable vets are no longer able to sell things on "his" 5th Avenue - a benefit they had since the Civil War.
What I don't understand, and never will, is that some vets, and certainly some active military, support and admire this abject coward, who thinks the military and vets are beneath contempt.
thank you for writing this- both the facts and the real life stories. Labels lose connections- 30% of federal workforce- especially those disabled in our service- abandoned! Congress is weak
I know my fear has nothing to do with this articles subject; the cruelty being directed towards our Military Veterans . But it haunts me. I can foresee our military in the not distant future being told by MuskVancePutin to fire on protesting American citizens. My thought is they will follow that order and rhe takeover will be complete. What do you think?
I don't see that ever happening. I doubt the soldiers would obey unless they were told the people were out to commit harm to people or property. Many of today's soldiers are used to having opinions and airing them.
I attended a a March for Democracy on March 4th in Olympia Washington. there were several hundred people gather to march to our capitol when a Miltitary helicopter swooped in at a very, very low altitude. Certainly not a coincidence☹️
You are right. Veterans need our collective support. This is unconscionable. Many other groups are also being impacted by DJT, Musk and DOGE. Siding with Russia, abandoning our allies, tariffs on our nrighbors. It seems to me DJT and his enablers are purposely trying to weaken the USA.
My original reaction to the election results was much the same as yours -- they made their bed, let them sleep in it. However, after reading a few things and thinking about it a bit, I changed my mind. A number of things contributed to this, including my own desire not to be sleeping with them in the bed that they made; an acceptance that, for various reasons, the bulk of Americans are not as well informed as Contrarian readers are or were before the Contrarian existed and before the election; and the reality that, even in demographics that voted heavily for Trump, there were large numbers that did not vote for him. If that 65 or 70% number is correct, then 30 or 35% of veterans voted against the current abomination. Should we not care about them either? If you and I just give them a giant middle finger because the majority of their demographic voted for Trump we're not very likely to have them on our side for much longer. And of the 65 or 70% that you cite as having voted for Trump, I can't imagine that many of them went into the voting booth thinking "I'm going to go in here and vote to get rid of the VA suicide help lines, vote to increase my wait times to get an appointment, and, while I'm at it, that guy that threw my shot-up ass over his shoulder and carried me back to safety, yeah, I'm going to vote to get him fired." Nor can I imagine that any of the farmers that voted for Trump and are getting now getting their lives destroyed cast their votes with the intent to bankrupt their operations and leave their families up the proverbial creek. The same goes for many other individuals or demographics that voted for Trump and now know, or will soon find out, that they participated in royally screwing themselves, the rest of the country, and the rest of the world. It's awfully hard for me to understand how they could have missed what I, and I'd imagine most other readers of this article, would consider blatantly obvious signs, but they did. And again, the giant middle finger and a loud "you're getting what your dumbass asked for and deserves" might be the first impulse, and might even feel good for a moment, it's not going to help us get out of this mess. I'm a believer that the key to getting out of this bed which Trump voters made for us is sheer numbers, overwhelming numbers. Numbers that first motivate our elected officials to take action, and second, vote out those that don't take action. And I believe that in order to obtain those kinds numbers we need to tell the stories of people getting hurt by this administration's actions. We need them to feel comfortable telling their own stories to their friends, their families, and the members of the general public that either voted for Trump or did not vote. Getting those folks to see, understand, and react to at least some of the implications of what this administration is doing is key to our chances of getting out of this and getting our country and our lives back.
Absolutely yes, Clark! The number of actively protesting citizens that appears (statistically) to effect change is 3.5%. In our country that would be 11 million. So we all have a job to do! Collect the stories from friends & family; share them widely; and protest. This will spread quickly when all of the country wakes up to what is (rapidly) happening.
this is where the Democrats commit a major mistake. Whatever happened to the Party that Cares? Where's your compassion? One false move and you throw people overboard? Sorry, but that's shameful. Are you perfect? (No.) Should the public, for example, ignore the cries of a homeless person because of their mistakes or opinions with which you disagree? If you keep that attitude, good luck ever drawing people back to the Party. The coalition has disbanded, you need to choose compassion not condemnation. Or the Dems will remain a minority Party. Just when a viable alternative is needed.
I’m glad you wrote about this issue. The cuts of vital services to veterans in unacceptable. Our daughter is a clinical psychologist who counsels veterans with PTSD at a VA Hospital. She is very concerned about her vet clients who are already having great difficulty. Taking away mental health professionals and others in health care is something they’re already facing at the VA. All from two super wealthy men who’ve never served and with no real understanding of what the federal government does. Elon Musk just got someone to brief him on the federal budget process recently! He thinks he understood the entire federal government in 45 minutes? It’s insane. They’ve approached this massive challenge like two drunk frat rats. They’re already impacting other businesses, too. I was just at the medical center provided by our insurance, and the nurse said they’ve been told to expect layoffs there, too.
I didn’t know any of this about veterans and the federal workforce. Thank you.
What has happened to the idea of “accountability?” Republicans shrug at brazen acts that, as you say, are cruel and un-American. This is incomprehensible, just as January 6th was incomprehensible. It is the work of tyrants.
But we need to focus on the veterans, on their needs, because all signs are the tyrants are going to continue being tyrants. My senator is Tammy Duckworth who is out in front on veterans’ issues. I’m proud of her.
Very good point. Where exactly are Tom Cotton, JD Vance, John Cornyn, Mitch McConnell, John Thune, and Joni Ernst in this? I must have been mis-informed about their patriotism.
Follow the money.
Some are too scared to do the right thing.
She's mine too, and she's excellent.
I served in Viet Nam from December of 68 till May of 70 with the Navy (voluntarily) and voted against Trump twice. It was an easy choice for me but know that some of my fellow Nam Vets have the opposite opinion, though I really can't understand it. If there were actual justice in America Trump would have been convicted of one of his many crimes before he ever ran for office and would be in prison now.
My Dad served two tours in Vietnam. He was later his county's GOP Chair. But he would never, ever have supported Trump. He had a lot of integrity.
Have you asked your PINO voting fellow Vets how they feel about their vote now?
100% of the vets I know personally are anti-Trump. That's a dozen or more. I have morning coffee with 2 of them each week. One was an infantry platoon lieutenant in Nam and the other was a torpedoman on a nuke sub. What's PINO?
Bob, it's an acronym coined recently - it stands for "President in Name Only". I think whoever started using it was referencing all the dark mutterings of Trump a year or two ago, talking about "RINOs" (Republicans in Name Only).
Lark's response is basically correct. I first saw it used, after the Musk/ PINO press conference in the Oval a few weeks back. PINO barely said a word and seemed to be more of a prop than POTUS.
Thanks for commentary that brings home all of my too-emotional feelings. My heroic Green Beret husband spent three tours in Vietnam because he believed in our country and his oath to it. I know he’d be turning over – – he’s at Arlington National Cemetery – – and I’m (somehow) glad he can’t see what’s going on. Our daughter, also Army, may well be affected by the travesty of this treasonous administration.
Should we be surprised that President BoneSpurs and Musk, a child of apartheid South Africa don't put America's Veterans First? They may claim to want to Make America Great Again, but they have failed miserably in proving it to many of us over the past 5 weeks or so.
The VA Secretary, during a video from his desk said he looked forward to working with his partners at DOGE to get rid of things to make the VA better. Hope he learns fast that making the VA is about improving, not shit canning systems of which he obviously has no comprehension.
Our country needs to be absolutely outraged by DOGE's treatment of veterans. Thank you for this article. We all need to make sure the people in our immediate circle of family/community are fully aware of what is being done so we can make our voices heard and stop this. It is a form of insanity.
A vet who is a patient in a VA hospital that is under staffed can suffer from medical mistakes when there’s not enough staff to sign off when patients are getting treatment. Tag teaming helps prevent medical errors from occurring and boosts safety in hospitals. This happened to my dad back in the 90’s during the Gulf War. Dad was between jobs and was using his VA hospital benefits when he had to have surgery on his throat that involved his thyroid gland. Lots of the medical staff including doctors and nurses and technicians were back on active duty so the hospital was short staffed. My sister in law was visiting dad and she happens to be a nurse but she also knew the protocol that dad was to be on and she brought it to their attention. They had to back track and verify and turns out my sister in law was right. So thankfully dad was going to be ok and at the same time she saved someone’s butt. It never hurts to bring a nurse or doctor friend to a hospital so they can verify what treatment your patient is to be given. Very scary.
A well thought out and written commentary on what our veterans are facing. The current 'slash and burn' methods of Musk/DOGE are unacceptable. It's impossible to comprehend how one individual, and a private unelected citizen at that, could be allowed to commit such a level of mayhem. Our system of checks and balances is clearly out of whack.
Thank You, Gen. Eaton,
I'm a disabled Vietnam veteran and I just wanted to add that the people working at my local VAMC are saying that their work environment has turned toxic with everyone worried about losing their jobs.
This is 180 degrees out of the last forty-five years I have been disabled when all the staff were upbeat and dedicated to working and helping veterans. Veterans were always placed above personal situations.
Since the arrival of the fascist in the Whitehouse, nothing but fear and doubt have surfaced within the halls of the hospital.
You should share your concerns with you Members of Congress.
Veterans have served their purpose as cannon fodder. Therefore they can be tossed aside, until some of them need to be trotted out to put on a nice patriotic show on national holidays...as long as they aren't disabled, because the short-fingered vulgarian doesn't like looking at disabled people, even vets. That's why disable vets are no longer able to sell things on "his" 5th Avenue - a benefit they had since the Civil War.
What I don't understand, and never will, is that some vets, and certainly some active military, support and admire this abject coward, who thinks the military and vets are beneath contempt.
thank you for writing this- both the facts and the real life stories. Labels lose connections- 30% of federal workforce- especially those disabled in our service- abandoned! Congress is weak
I know my fear has nothing to do with this articles subject; the cruelty being directed towards our Military Veterans . But it haunts me. I can foresee our military in the not distant future being told by MuskVancePutin to fire on protesting American citizens. My thought is they will follow that order and rhe takeover will be complete. What do you think?
I don't see that ever happening. I doubt the soldiers would obey unless they were told the people were out to commit harm to people or property. Many of today's soldiers are used to having opinions and airing them.
Hope you are right Karen .....😬😬😬
I attended a a March for Democracy on March 4th in Olympia Washington. there were several hundred people gather to march to our capitol when a Miltitary helicopter swooped in at a very, very low altitude. Certainly not a coincidence☹️
You are right. Veterans need our collective support. This is unconscionable. Many other groups are also being impacted by DJT, Musk and DOGE. Siding with Russia, abandoning our allies, tariffs on our nrighbors. It seems to me DJT and his enablers are purposely trying to weaken the USA.
What percentage of that 30% of the federal workforce voted for Trump?
70% of veterans voted for the abomination. So, I don't really care, do you?
My original reaction to the election results was much the same as yours -- they made their bed, let them sleep in it. However, after reading a few things and thinking about it a bit, I changed my mind. A number of things contributed to this, including my own desire not to be sleeping with them in the bed that they made; an acceptance that, for various reasons, the bulk of Americans are not as well informed as Contrarian readers are or were before the Contrarian existed and before the election; and the reality that, even in demographics that voted heavily for Trump, there were large numbers that did not vote for him. If that 65 or 70% number is correct, then 30 or 35% of veterans voted against the current abomination. Should we not care about them either? If you and I just give them a giant middle finger because the majority of their demographic voted for Trump we're not very likely to have them on our side for much longer. And of the 65 or 70% that you cite as having voted for Trump, I can't imagine that many of them went into the voting booth thinking "I'm going to go in here and vote to get rid of the VA suicide help lines, vote to increase my wait times to get an appointment, and, while I'm at it, that guy that threw my shot-up ass over his shoulder and carried me back to safety, yeah, I'm going to vote to get him fired." Nor can I imagine that any of the farmers that voted for Trump and are getting now getting their lives destroyed cast their votes with the intent to bankrupt their operations and leave their families up the proverbial creek. The same goes for many other individuals or demographics that voted for Trump and now know, or will soon find out, that they participated in royally screwing themselves, the rest of the country, and the rest of the world. It's awfully hard for me to understand how they could have missed what I, and I'd imagine most other readers of this article, would consider blatantly obvious signs, but they did. And again, the giant middle finger and a loud "you're getting what your dumbass asked for and deserves" might be the first impulse, and might even feel good for a moment, it's not going to help us get out of this mess. I'm a believer that the key to getting out of this bed which Trump voters made for us is sheer numbers, overwhelming numbers. Numbers that first motivate our elected officials to take action, and second, vote out those that don't take action. And I believe that in order to obtain those kinds numbers we need to tell the stories of people getting hurt by this administration's actions. We need them to feel comfortable telling their own stories to their friends, their families, and the members of the general public that either voted for Trump or did not vote. Getting those folks to see, understand, and react to at least some of the implications of what this administration is doing is key to our chances of getting out of this and getting our country and our lives back.
Absolutely yes, Clark! The number of actively protesting citizens that appears (statistically) to effect change is 3.5%. In our country that would be 11 million. So we all have a job to do! Collect the stories from friends & family; share them widely; and protest. This will spread quickly when all of the country wakes up to what is (rapidly) happening.
I didn't. What is the source the 70% number?
65% according to Responsible Statecraft
Neither did I. I'm interested in the 70% stat source, too.
this is where the Democrats commit a major mistake. Whatever happened to the Party that Cares? Where's your compassion? One false move and you throw people overboard? Sorry, but that's shameful. Are you perfect? (No.) Should the public, for example, ignore the cries of a homeless person because of their mistakes or opinions with which you disagree? If you keep that attitude, good luck ever drawing people back to the Party. The coalition has disbanded, you need to choose compassion not condemnation. Or the Dems will remain a minority Party. Just when a viable alternative is needed.