Welcome to the Hotel California: Veterans versus VA-mpires

Welcome to 388-acre West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs (WLAVA) property.

It was deeded to the government in 1888 “to be used exclusively by homeless and disabled Veterans.”

Under the deed, anything done on the land should directly benefit Veterans and Veterans’ health, and other activity would be considered illegal.

 

Such a lovely place…

 

Unfortunately the area has been haunted by local VA-mpires and their ghoulish cronies for years, making the grounds totally inaccessible for the rightful owners.

Ironically, California is the “hotel” for thousands of homeless Veterans whose ordeal could end if they found shelter on their own property…

Yes, the Article 17 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights does say:” No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property”, and Article 25 affirms that everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for his health and well-being, but to comprehend local “hospitality” you must simply forget about the existence of national and international laws.

 

Imagine that you have inherited a piece of land and your old, dear uncle Sam is supposed to make sure that it’s exclusively yours. Then, you discover that there are private businesses, not to mention public parks, all over your property and a phoney uncle Sam informs you that he made some “sharing” agreements with local moneybags.

Initially you’d think it’s just a nightmarish joke and you’d be happy to hear the Judge calling the deals “illegal” and kicking the arrogant thieves out of your property.

Well, the appeal of your adversaries must have been very appealing indeed, because the Judge suddenly changed his mind, and not only him- your lawyers, even some of your close allies  seem to  approve “sharing” what’s yours and leaving you out, homeless and desperate.

 

What a nice surprise, bring your alibis …

 

Oligarchy, lawlessness and ruthless greed contribute to the specific “microclimate” of the decaying “Hotel California”. It’s not only about corruption and cronyism; it’s about anti-values killing our values in all impunity.

 

We are talking about thousands of American Veterans, men and women, often elderly and disabled, suffering torture of homelessness, while a bunch of unprincipled gutless wonders hogs their property. If such a state of affairs is allowed on the local level, why wouldn’t entire country resemble more and more the creepy Hotel California?

Local VA-mpires and monstrous elite members do not need alibis – they have power and money, not to mention a licence to steal and lie. Absurdly, all of them boast about their “humanitarian” record and will tell the world about their “efforts” to end homelessness of Veterans. If they smell garlic of an investigation, the VA-mpires are simply disappearing in the thin air, jumping in the abyss of lack of accountability on golden parachutes.

 

And in the master’s chambers, they gathered for the feast…

 

Secretary McDonald has developed an obsessive-compulsive disorder of ribbon cutting and making speeches on “value based leadership”. Meanwhile unleashed canines are defecating in a Public Dog Park (on Veterans’ property), LA’s Marathon has just galloped through the sanctuary and the VA-mpires thrown a parteeh of a non-veteran fundraiser.

Not sure how commercial auto dealerships relate to the “exclusive use for homeless and disabled Veterans” but their cars sure are stored on the property. The “yoga for homeless Veterans” charlatans from “Veterans Park Conservancy” are still juggling the illegal deals sure to make some rent free profit.

 All this, in front of eyes of our Veterans who wake up in Skid Row to scavenge in garbage dumps in order to survive one more torturous day.

“Hon” comes back like a boomerang in front of Sec.McDonald’s name. With blatant lies on his military record, participation in “sharing-agreements” of Veterans’ land and “misspeaking” on number of fired VA fraudsters –it can not stand for “honorable”, can it?

Maybe, unable to become America’s sweetheart, Mr.Secretary tries to be the Hotel California’s Honey?

 

One day, a monument will be build to honor the lost lives and potential of our Veterans, but it is not and it will not be an excuse for not doing enough for the living and suffering heroes. The Hotel California will stay haunted –by the souls of our defenders who died waiting for humanitarian relief. Facts are stubborn things, and even if the wrongdoers hope to get away with the tragedy caused, they will have to acknowledge:

“You can check-out any time you like,

   But you can never leave!”

 

                                                                         Joanna Rosamond