The public hearings at the
VA Disability Commission
continues to yield drama
and surprise for those who
faithfully attend the
sessions.

At the July 14 hearing in
downtown Washington DC,
this last session was no
less disappointing.

An entire delegation of
Vietnam War veterans had
organized themselves and
travelled down from
Pennsylvania to attend
the session, and each
took turns to tell their
stories of advocacy or
horror as experienced inside
the VA disability system.

As the names were called
to come forward during
the Public Comment period,
one stood out that took
everyone by surprise.

Marilyn Park stepped forward
representing the American
Federation of Government
Employees. She identified
herself as the labor union
representing the VA Claims
Adjudicators. She proceded
to sing the praises of VA
Raters and talked about what
a wonderful and outstanding
job they are doing in the
processing Veterans claims.

We almost lost our breakfast!

This after Vietnam Veteran
Charles Clark had just
finished his statement
of spending 30 years trapped
in the VA disabilty system
since his time in Vietnam,
and it was only after he
had come down with cancer
that the VA reversed it's
hostile position and gave
him his benefits.

To say that you could
have heard a pin drop when
the Labor Union was talking,
is truly and understatement.
I don't really think anyone
in the room knew what to
do right at that moment.

The question of "Why NOW?"
is also truly curious because
we have not known the labor
union to show up in all of
these many Commission hearings
up until now.

But it has only been in the
last 4 weeks that a few of
us in the national protest
arena have been spouting the
issue of insisting upon better
qualified people to take
seats as appointees on the
heels of the VA Data Theft
Crisis and the buffoonish
handling of it by unqualified
Secretary Jim Nicholson.

Challenging the competency
and qualification of VA employees
has for sure, caught on, as
other Veterans have come to see
the validity of this concern. So
the timing of the VA's very
own labor union popping out
of the woodwork at the center
of gripes where all Veterans
are congregated on a monthly
basis, clearly suggests they
have picked up our rumblings of
protest on this very point.

It's not clear just yet whether
we shall see a repeat performance
of the VARO Claims Adjudicators
labor union at future Commission
meetings --- let's hope we don't.

But one thing is for sure, they
are flirting with trouble if
they continue to put out
false propaganda at the hearings,
while the wronged and outraged
Veterans from all the criminal fraud
and inadequacies of those
VA employees are sitting just
a stone's throw away from
the hearing microphone.

It was my own thought that the
only thing that allowed her
appearance to go so smoothly
this last time was that most
of the Veterans were disabled
and elderly. Had the room been
full of younger types, her
misplaced public comments may
have been met with other
demonstrations of opposition.
I know how I was when I was
younger, and I really do think
this was her only saving grace
at that moment.

Veterans at large do have a
new reason now to monitor
the Commission hearings even
more closely than before.
And it remains to be seen
whether or not the VA
Commission members actually
believes what the labor union
has to say.