Having made 2 trips to
Washington DC in the past
few months to advocate
for veterans issues, I
found myself taking note
of the fact that the VA
and Congress is fronting
some of their dirty work
with a wall of other
Veterans.

In case none of you know
this, more often than not
when you go to appear before
a commission or committee
these days in Washington,
almost every panel that
is set up in front of you
has 2 or more Veterans
themselves sitting in the
lineup.

The VA Disability Commission
is almost entirely Veterans
some of which are retirees
or Medal of Honor recipients.

You can start to see the
problem that this poses in
the world of lobbying and
advocacy. When you get your
speech planned for the floor,
and your bearings are cocked
and loaded with blunt remarks,
now here comes creeping in
the reality that you have to
take down one of your own
just to get past the issue.

H-m-m-m-m !!
Another problem is that
advocates who arrive in
DC to a hearing or whatnot,
and upon learning that the
VA standoff is loaded with
other Veterans, they never
take the time to go back
and adjust their speeches
before going to the floor.
The outcome of that is
arguments which are completely
intended for non-veterans,
gets delivered to one of
our own at the elementary
school level, and is almost
a waste of time, We are
preaching to the choir.

If only it was known in
advance that the panel was
stacked with other Veterans,
then any speech could be
adjusted into an advanced
level of communication
to at least hold their
interest until a better
moment of inspiration comes.

As we all argue between ourselves
as to why nothing very dramatic
ever gets done on major national
issues, this problem for sure
is part of why. Many loyalists
will simply defer their entire
speeches once they are confronted
with the reality that the VA
has stacked the deck with our
own.

If you are an advocate and
have plans in the future to
go after the VA or congressional
committees, then you have to
catch the message here and
now that the deck is stacked
and you can almost be sure
that the wall of retirees
will be in front of you.

What to do in that scenario
is a whole other matter.
I make it a point to say
"the VA sucks" instead of
saying "you suck". I also
try to stay with phrasing
that the veterans who are
fronting the system can
also connect with. If anybody
can sort out whether or not
my issues are a pile of crap
then it will certainly be
THEM, so I always try to
play it on the safe side.

Trying to make other opposition
Veterans into supporters of
your cause is no small task
but you have to believe
that it can be done as this
will reflect in your speech.

But there is also a larger
and more valid question about
why it is, exactly, that other
Veterans even allow themselves
to be put into these
oppositional positions to
begin with?? What are they
thinking??

Akin to this novel breed is
the proverbial JAG lawyer ---
now WHO wants to be one
of THOSE ?? Go ahead Johnny
just stand at the front of
the room and tell the Veterans
that you are a JAG lawyer
real fast and then RUN FOR THE
HILLS........!! Yeah Right !

It's imperative that we all
come to terms with the
new and compelling question
about what to do when
both barrels are loaded for
your confrontation of the
century and then the entire
baloon of plans goes hissing
off the walls of the room as
you find out that the entire
panel is stacked with other
uniforms.

Whether or not we should
issue a call for a boycott
by veterans on certain
government jobs is a pressing
question that we will all
have to dig down deep within.

But for now, it's enough
to merely let you know that
this is the problem that
many of us are facing when
we walk into the rooms of
power and try to get
something important done.

The reason why we can't get anything done, is that we are playing their game. We have lost the tactical advantage of war. They have dictated to us how we are to fight this war and we have been losing this fight for a very longtime. We complain about the way we are treated and how the politicians don't take us serious.

Some how we need to change our tactics. For the life of me, I can't understand why veterans still march in Veterans' Day Parades, then turn around and complain to each other who the VA treats us. They slap us and we say please sir can I have another. I am tired of being slapped. It is time to slap back.