{"id":39484,"date":"2014-01-27T13:40:57","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T18:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=39484"},"modified":"2014-01-27T13:40:57","modified_gmt":"2014-01-27T18:40:57","slug":"times-swampland-are-veterans-selfish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=39484","title":{"rendered":"Time’s Swampland; Are Veterans Selfish?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Thompson asks that question today in Time’s Swampland<\/a>, which, in effect, is an answer in the affirmative. In regards to the Cost Of Living Allowance (COLA) cuts to veterans pensions, Thompson writes;<\/p>\n

Then last week, a new storm arose when the Pentagon said it was considering cutting the subsidies it pays to military commissaries\u2014on-base grocery stores boasting lower prices that are reserved for military personnel, including many veterans\u2014that could force many such facilities to close their doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is yet another undeserved blow to our men and women in service\u2014and their families\u2014in the name of \u2018necessary cutbacks\u2019 to reduce an ungainly national deficit,\u201d American Legion National Commander Daniel Dellinger said, after learning of the commissary proposal. \u201cLike the trimming of expenses to be made by reducing military retirees\u2019 pensions, this is an inexcusable way of attempting to fix a fault by penalizing the blameless.\u201d<\/p>\n

The notion that vets are seeking more than their fair share upsets some of their leaders. \u201cVets are anything but selfish!\u201d says Norb Ryan, president of the Military Officers Association of America. \u201cIf anything, vets are too selfless. They are also idealistic\u2026Vets are fair and therefore, they expect others to be fair.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yeah, that’s kind of the point. We planned for our later years based on what Congress and the White House promised us for our loyal service, and sometimes asking of us more than would be considered reasonable by most of the people in this country. But we remained loyal and did what we were told. And this is the thanks we get;<\/p>\n

It suggests that the nation is developing a military caste, separate and apart from the nation. It seems the military is in danger of becoming just another special interest group.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yeah, well, we took it in the ass after Vietnam, we took it in the as in the 90s and now we’re expected to take in the ass again. Like it’s our job to take it in the ass. We didn’t become “another special interest group” all on our own – we were pushed. We were pushed by congressmen who won’t cut spending for illegals and criminals, but won’t blink an eye to slash a cost of living allowance for a widow or disabled veteran who gave as much as they could give. Those are people who can’t just go out and find a job to supplement their pensions, they depend on their pensions and and the cost of living increases. But the votes are what count, and military spending, especially personnel cuts are popular ecause it doesn’t cost them much politically.<\/p>\n

You’re darn tootin’ we’re another special interest group, but we were forced into it. We’ve always sat quietly we bore the burden of politicians’ vote buying frenzies. We’ve also watched the cost which always pays for the electioneering in blood and lives. We were treated like a special uninterest for centuries. Now because we won’t take it sitting down, somehow we’re filthy special interest beasts. <\/p>\n

Just because the 99% don’t accept us unless we’re fighting their wars, or digging them out from avalanches, or pulling them from the roofs of their flooded homes, or bringing them chow during power outages, or marching in their pretty parades so they can feel good about themselves, well, that doesn’t mean we will remain silent when they threaten our livelihoods. Unlike the illegal aliens who want a tax break, we only want what we earned for doing what the country wanted us to do, and we only want what we deserve, not a penny more. Is that really too much to ask?<\/p>\n

Thanks to ChockBlock and ANCCLT for pissing me off with the link.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Thompson asks that question today in Time’s Swampland, which, in effect, is an answer in … Time’s Swampland; Are Veterans Selfish?<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,84,118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media","category-military-issues","category-veterans-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39484\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}