L.A. VA’s Way: War on Whistleblowers

Whistleblowers –the maddening troublemakers hammering away at legislators who lost or sold their gavels, until we know the truth; and only the truth will set us free.

It seems irrational, that VA Secretary Robert McDonald who pledged to transform the department and claimed that he “celebrates” whistleblowers would wedge or even tolerate a war against them.

 Did Secretary McDonald “misspoke” again? Maybe he just chose to misinterpret a stubborn fact:  The whistleblowers shouldn’t be punished for scandals. They don’t cause scandals; they bring them to light.

In a letter dated on 16^th of September 2015, the Office of Special Counsel informed Mr.McDonald that:”Recently OSC has seen an alarming rise in retaliation and disclosure caseload brought forth by VA employees.”

Since we keep hearing stories about mismanagement, retribution and intimidation, it’s fair to say that the “corrosive culture” of VA didn’t change under McDonald’s “values-based leadership.” It seems clear enough that to change the “corrosive” in VA, the investigation must be focused not only on coercion but also on corruption.

A VA psychologist, lieutenant colonel of Air Force Reserve David Tharp felt that war zone was a better alternative than enduring harassment: “At least in Kandahar, Afghanistan, I knew who my enemy was. At VA, I come back and it’s been a minefield ever since-and it continues…”

If the decaying department torments its own psychologist, what kind of treatment do other dissidents receive? Why talking about tipsters VA mentions their workers only? Does Mr. McDonald bother to listen to the most important whistleblowers of them all: our Veterans?

LA: No country for old Veterans

If we don’t hear enough about VA scandals in Los Angeles, it’s probably because LA has a double symbolic character: the capital of Veteran homelessness and VA “sharing agreements” taboo.

An investigator, who truly wants to interrupt the transmission of VA leprosy, can’t skip the analysis of LA symptoms: corruption, cronyism and coercion are in advanced stages. Local VA is also plagued by a troubling form of amnesia: the Department has no right to use land deeded for the exclusive use of homeless and disabled Veterans for other purposes, and yet comes up with “sharing agreements” profitable for everyone but our Veterans.

It turns out, that decisions of justice declaring VA leases as illegal can be creatively modified, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors ignored and whistleblowers ostracised; selective forgetfulness is a long –standing characteristic of legal dementia.

Whistleblowers versus useful experts

It’s difficult to find people who know more about needs of local homeless Veterans and LA’s VA state of affairs, than members of Old Veteran Guard who for years, have been standing their ground (and the ground of homeless Veterans) in unfair circumstances. Agreeing with the “sharing agreements” is the first commandment of local political correctness, so OVG dissidents’ voices are simply muffled.

Integrity and dedication of Old Veterans Guard’s leader Robert Rosebrock is recognized internationally, but locally, the honorable Veteran is constantly subjected to shameful treatment. Additionally, it seems the “restoring trust” declarations of Secretary McDonald do not apply to local VA; the meetings concerning taboo subjects are simply clannish and whistleblowers are not welcomed.

 With “homelessness connoisseurs” such as Bobby Shriver or Vince Kane, Mr. McDonald can forget about credibility; VA secretary will not be holding trust relationships with Veterans as long as VA is holding trust assets from the “mismanaged” homeless heroes’ property.

A shot of truth for Senator Feinstein

Senator Feinstein has a very interesting way of dealing with Veteran activists opposing “sharing agreements” and her creative legislation: security guards block them from entering her “news conference”, even if the “bothersome Veteran”, such as Mr.Rosebrock is wearing VA Media Press Pass. It seems that Sen.Feinstein would like to ban not only fire arms but also “shots of truth”.

A Nobel Prize recipient, author of anti-Stalinism classic “The Captive Mind”, Czeslaw Milosz wrote: “In a room where people unanimously maintain a conspiracy of silence, one word of truth sounds like a pistol shot.”
 

 They do it VA’s way

Whenever the media turn their attention to private businesses on Veterans’ land, VA states that the premises are about to get closed. As soon as the cameras stop rolling, a city dog park for example, gets “re-legalized” and re-opened. Secretary McDonald tends to underline that VA’s policy is to put Veterans first but in LA, quite literally well-being of homeless Veterans comes after recreational activities for dogs. It’s ridiculous to pretend that our homeless heroes are VA’s numero uno, while they are locked out from their sanctuary which serves as a park for dogs’ number two.

VA spends money as they make promises: generously and not on the topic. Local whistleblowers have been calling for state of emergency for years, while the authorities manage to spend money for the purpose other than shelter and safety of homeless Veterans. Whenever local activists come up with a good plan to help a large number of inhumanly treated ex-soldiers, VA hijacks the project and turns it into a ribbon cutting ceremony involving symbolic number of Veterans.

Until a thorough investigation kicks in – in LA it’s old VA’s way and Secretary McDonald will keep running with scissors.

                                                                        Joanna Rosamond