Oops They Diss Vets Again

 Since VA “misspent” millions of tax-payers´ money on “art” only(right in front of homeless Veterans´ eyes), it´s fair to say  that the department has become a not so ornamental symbol of corruption and mismanagement. After soft and artful landing, ex VA Secretary McDonald didn´t manage to keep low profile for long, and resurfaced as a member of Rally Point Board of Directorshttps://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/24/globe-newswire-bob-mcdonald-former-va-secretary-and-pg-ceo-joins-rallypoint-board-of-directors.html . It´s particularly ironic that McDonald would quote “Rally Point’s ability to connect veterans online at an unprecedented scale” as his” new focus”: Does Sec Divert Internal https://www.disabledveterans.org/2016/01/22/veterans-affairs-caught-spying-on-whistleblowers/  ring a bell?

In an interview for NH Business Review (March 15, 2018) http://www.nhbr.com/March-16-2018/Q-A-with-former-VA-Secretary-Bob-McDonald/  McDonald traditionally worried about mental health of Veterans and boasted about “big things” he allegedly pioneered in VA …”yoga and equine therapy for post-traumatic stress, to get people off drugs”. Deadly waiting lists, criminal overmedication of Veterans and lack of basic pre-requisites (such as safety and housing) to treat or even prevent PTSD must have been “smaller things”… McDonald did not forget to deliver his usual “10 key principles” sermon, stressing that “character is the most important trait of a leader”. What kind of character one must have to blow millions on luxurious hokum-pocketum when Veterans die homeless and abandoned? What traits allow such a leader to brag about “excellence of leadership”?

The Mayor of L.A (incidentally homeless Veterans capital), Eric Garcetti clearly falls within Obama era “context” praised by McDonald, and just like the ex-VA boss does not care about “all that garbage” – at least the garbage cans our Veterans have been eating from. Apart from letting rich non- Veteran cronies profit from 388-acre property in West LA Brentwood( deeded “to be used exclusively by homeless and disabled Veterans”) ,both the Mayor and the ex-VA Secretary have in common “misspeaking “and making non-Veteran favorites .

In 2015 Garcetti backed off his vow to get every homeless Veteran off city streets by the end of that yearhttps://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/12/the_capital_of_homeless_veterans_eager_to_host_syrian_refugees.html , simultaneously urging Obama “to increase further the number of Syrian refugees the United States would accept for resettlement.” These days the Mayor is urging Trump administration to reunite families of illegal immigrants. As observed by LA Times: “Eric Garcetti is stepping more forcefully into the immigration fray as he continues to weigh a run for president”. Worried about “a broken immigration system” and haunted by children´s “cries” Garcetti emoted: «Children aren´t poker chips. They are people, and we demand that Washington fix the mess that it´s created”.

 What about homeless Veterans:  do you view them as pawns on political chess-boards to be “played” during electoral campaign?

Both Garcetti and McDonald repeat (whenever convenient) ad nauseam that they are Veterans, and both of them did not do for our homeless Veterans what could and should have been done.  McDonald´s prerogative was lavish spending, Garcetti put “refugees” first, and yet they feel somehow entitled to give moral lessons and advice on leadership.

McDonald- the “life-long Republican” remained nostalgic about Obama era and told NH Business Review:” When you´re president, at least in the old world, context means a lot. And politics – the birth certificate and all that garbage –is just that, politics.”

Well, paraphrasing Mr. Macdonald: for a homeless Veteran shelter and a job mean a lot, fancy “I care” pins, as well as millions blown on sculptures and fountains are just Bravo Sierra.

Mayor Garcetti who can hear “cries” of illegal immigrants´ children from El Paso Texas, but remains deaf for moans of homeless Veterans on Skid Row – right under his nose, has recently suggested that “a mayor would be more pragmatic and “decent” than President Trump”.http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/gov-eric-garcetti-presidential-bid.html and told “Governing   the States and Localities»: «We have a lot of indecency”.

Well, it´s difficult to disagree with his last statement: moral sermons delivered by Obama´s “special forces” are totally indecent.

Joanna Rosamond