Tammy Duckworth on Veteran Compensation

[The Feral Underclass]

How to deal with issues around veterans is not something the left has ever really tackled to my knowledge, but I think this short clip of Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (a veteran who lost both her legs in combat) berating a guy who cynically exploited veteran compensation programmes is actually really spot on. The guy is a dick.

http://www.upworthy.com/whats-the-worst-thing-you-could-say-to-a-congresswoman-who-lost-her-legs-in-battle-found-it

[Consistent.Surprise]

"I thank the lady, & the time was well spent" (first time to actually like Boehner)

She brings up a lot of great points. & Castillo sputtering his story is exactly how a person can tell he knows he's in the wrong.

The wait lists are horrible here. Vets, who even though I do not support the wars & conflicts they fight because I think my country is a frakking bully, deserve far better than what they get. I know women, from different wars & services, who suffer PTSD & one has to fight every year only to be denied therapy & a prescription that works for her. My uncle, a Vietnam vet, has received care & replacement for a knee he injured in HS & at the Naval Academy but it would not have needed the replacement if it weren't for the shrapnel in the opposite side hip, which caused him to put weight on the injured knee.

Service members are a touchy thing because of the fact that they support the state as it is. They aren't on the left but the vast majority of them are either ignored or manipulated by the state. Or in the case of Manning, tortured. It's all FUBAR.

[The Douche]

Service members are a touchy thing because of the fact that they support the state as it is. They aren't on the left...

We can speak for ourselves, actually.

[Consistent.Surprise]

We can speak for ourselves, actually.

Please, tell your story. I would really like to know what you think. I only have a few examples & would like to know more from a service person's side.

Edit: I should have stated more of "from what I have experienced or discussed" so, my apologies for any offense. It was not intended

[The Douche]

Please, tell your story. I would really like to know what you think. I only have a few examples & would like to know more from a service person's side.

Edit: I should have stated more of "from what I have experienced or discussed" so, my apologies for any offense. It was not intended

What is there to say? Veterans, like all other people, are not some homogeneous mass.

I don't know that I really have a "story", I wasn't radicalized by my experiences in the army. But there are a number of organizations of anti-war and anti-imperialist veterans, such as Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and March Forward, to name a few.

[Consistent.Surprise]

What is there to say? Veterans, like all other people, are not some homogeneous mass.

I don't know that I really have a "story", I wasn't radicalized by my experiences in the army. But there are a number of organizations of anti-war and anti-imperialist veterans, such as Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and March Forward, to name a few.

When you joined (unless you're one that was drafted as many were In Vietnam) were you of the mindset of pro-USA? Did you feel it was the country you wanted to defend?

I never doubt that many Vets feel fucked over, because they have been for the most part IMO. But the ones I know (not just the few mentioned) are still very pro-America & would cringe about my left leanings.

I think my real question has to be were you a leftist before being in the army, & if not, what moved you to the left?

I know. Tons of questions but I can't really discuss leftist ideas with those service people I know.

[The Douche]

When you joined (unless you're one that was drafted as many were In Vietnam) were you of the mindset of pro-USA? Did you feel it was the country you wanted to defend?

I never doubt that many Vets feel fucked over, because they have been for the most part IMO. But the ones I know (not just the few mentioned) are still very pro-America & would cringe about my left leanings.

I think my real question has to be were you a leftist before being in the army, & if not, what moved you to the left?

I know. Tons of questions but I can't really discuss leftist ideas with those service people I know.

Demoralized and defeated leftist who felt personally betrayed by individuals who were friends/comrades, going through a period of burn out, combined with being a young high school dropout who was under pressure to "get it together". I also just had the desire to test myself/learn those kind of skills/have that experience.

I served '06-'12, btw, not that old.

[Rafiq]

I have always respected The Douche for his military background. Not that I support the military or consider any of the wars worth defending but just the fact that it probably takes a lot of courage and in a world where if you've not many friends or people willing to help sometimes becoming a soldier to get away is a viable option. I don't think joining the military is in any way shun worthy in the same way becoming a cop is. Furthermore, soldiers tend to have a proletarian nature, unlike cops. I wouldn't join the military and I definitely don't recommend it and again I completely oppose the existence of the armed wing of the bourgeois state and it's imperialist endeavours, but becoming a soldier when life's little to offer is something I guess I can sympathize with, it carries more weight, weight beyond current geopolitics, a sort of thing that's as old as capitalism itself. I guess I'd say unlike cops, I wouldn't be quick to blame soldiers rather than the military industrial complex itself. I don't victimize soldiers, I can just see where they're coming from in a lot of cases. American workers probably actively engage in indirectly helping imperialism by producing steel and so on, and for Marxists that is never grounds to oppose them.