I worked with a military spouse who insisted that Trump love veterans. No amount of evidence to the contrary has yet to change her opinion. It frustrated me to no end.
My nephew entered the military at 18, we know that our brains reach near full maturity at 25. He is now 35 and supports Rump. On every base in the military, they have Fox News, Newsmax, OAN, and the Blaze. The men and women in the
military have been brainwashed at a young age to support the GOP.
A friend who served in Iraq described being sent to Germany for a few weeks before returning home. Apparently, it was for emotional decompression after Iraq.
They were in the mess hall morning, noon, and night while Fox “news” blared continuously from televisions mounted around the room.
"Veterans" is a weird demographic, heavily skewed towards the much larger Cold War military, from a time when the population was whiter. So there's a lot of overlap between "old white man who served 30+ years ago" and the MAGA base.
Anecdotally, the few not-so-old veterans I know are positive about the VA and very angry about the cuts. The VA has been objectively an efficient and effective healthcare organization.
Thanks, that's just the info I was looking for. I've heard similar from the other side, friends who are doctors/nurses who've worked for VA said it was doing well considering the massive task it has
As a software guy, I've heard that the VA is ahead of the curve in computerization of health records - tough to make those investments in the fragmented private healthcare sector - and they have potentially very useful data from millions of patients - though hard to analyze through the bureaucracy.
I probably wouldn’t be teasing a cabinet appointment for anybody with the last name Cheney if I were interested in gaining votes from military personnel.
Oh believe me, at the same time he also expressed his desire for drug testing people on Medicare, so I made sure to point out the hypocrisy of wanting something better while at the same time wanting to limit others’ access to care.
Internal group spite. As in, mil members who think theyll get care but maybe some of these "other" undefined members dont deserve it, only weak soldiers get sick
Take your pick. But im seeing alot of angry Am Legion old folks here so idk
FYI: the OPM-mandated government shutdown contingency plan (which every agency has to create and keep somewhat fresh) only has 26,525 employees required to keep the VA delivering services required or implied by law
Their workforce is immense, but they outline 414,353 employees are financed by a resource other than annual appropriations. So if Trump-Musk is using the shutdown plans as a guide to whom to fire (as reporting has outlined)...I wouldn't be surprised if the cuts go deeper.
I didn’t vote for the Orange Mango in 16, 20, 24 & I’m retired Navy (33 yrs). I use VAHC, I have a 30% disability from my time in service. I do gave TriCare for Life & Medicare. I use the VA because it works for me, this whole situation sucks. I feel bad for the folks who have no alternative.
The dumpster 🔥 never has been with or for our military. Acting service members need to support this administration. Retired and now, summarily dismissed, do not support this administration.
They should all support a revolution instead.
Anything would be far better than letting a dictatorship of MAGA evil people being established.
Trump/Musk, Vance and the entire administration is the worst imaginable group of evils since Hitler,Himmler and Goebbels.
2/2 remember that while on active duty you no longer share the same rights as other Americans. You are subject to the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. Political speech is not protected under the UCMJ.
Do you have any friends on active duty? Literally just ask them why they like Uncle Don. Mine say stuff about how both sides don’t make everyone happy and the economy and how democrats call them “baby killers” and how FEMA touted their NC response but he didn’t *personally* see them.
Members of the military swear an oath to the constitution, not the president. My service spanned three different administrations. I didn't necessarily agree with all of them. The people I served with represented a wide swath of the country (except the wealthy political class). It's important 1/2
You're right but, disobeying orders can ruin your career and possibly your life. Court martial, dishonorably discharge, treason and so on. Not to mention Pete Hegseth at the helm OMG 🤯. Has to be all or none unfortunately. It's up to us vets who got out to speak up and we are with little affect. 🙏
Should this really surprise anyone? He wishes to be honored and worshiped by the military. He is but a man.....sort of, anyway. What kind of man wants that? One who has no respect for those he asks this of. And respect is something every human deserves at least a basic amount of.
I think a lot of it has to do with the information landscape and the way that viewpoints are ‘shaped’ instead of developing from an informed, reasoned perspective.
It's quite simple, really. Trump's made no secret of the fact that he feels veterans are "suckers and losers." And I'm sure most of the MAGA representatives and senators share that opinion. They probably consider veterans an unnecessary burden. Oddly enough, I feel the same way about the MAGAheads.
The full spectrum of military folks, cadets/trainees >> veterans/retirees. You have a voice - make it known to your Reps and Senators, no matter your political leanings - protect healthcare entitlements. It’s worth it for you and your fellow military folks.🇺🇸
I was protesting yesterday and the whopping 6 counter protestors were veterans…seemed confused when I asked them what happens when they lose their VA benefits…too stupid to realize this impacts them.
I'm a Marine veteran and agree....all my Veterans friends are against this Russian puppet. But there are some out there still supporting this evil Russian puppet regime. My guess is they are bigots too.
all these folks waiting for the cultists to have their "find out" moment are going to be sorely disappointed. Their ability to kick the goalposts around, deny bald facts and find others to blame is unmatched. I can promise you from experience they will lean absolutely nothing.
I know my Navy nephew-in-law keeps his true politics under his hat. My other disabled vet nephew-in-law is finally getting the message. I worry for them both more than for retired me.
Remembe that Trump is acting like there won’t be any repercussions during elections exactly because he plans on having no more elections!
He said it himself. He wasn’t just spouting off.
Keep doing things to get us to rise up and when we do, declare martial law and federalize local/state law enforcement to force us to bend to their rule. If they can do it to the US, other countries will be easy. Or so they think. Never underestimate a country full of people with nothing to lose.
It's like 75% of veterans. Fednews on reddit is full of VA stories of veterans increasingly treating staff like absolute sh*t and screaming these cuts will make things better! In my hometown they cut VA cleaners and had to stop all surgeries for the day because ORs weren't ready. Maddening.
Like, this is a tiny amount of money compared to how much trump is getting for dinners with executives, but stunts like this stuck in the minds of people who wanted to support him anyway.
I hope it's not because they are ideologically aligned to the lying bigot. Then again, the absence of clear and decisive leadership within the ranks to lead a revolt, on top of a real fear of repercussions, are massive impediments to anything changing the seemingly silent acquiescence.
America is easier to understand if you shift how you think about the average Joe republican voter.
They literally don't have individual thoughts. They only know what they're told to think. So it's patriotism patriotism patriotism until they're told it isn't.
I spent my first ten adult years in uniform & things change over time. E-4 & below will always respond to whoever talks the most shit loudest - this includes older veterans w/one hitch. Getting more responsibility makes you more critical, aware of nuance & politics and ... well, more responsible.
I don't think I would do such things if my well-being were regularly solely in the hands of the military as they transported me from place to place in airplanes and helicopters
It's staggering that we've done so much warmaking that we need an agency with half a million staff to take care of the damage we did to our own people.
Luckily I had the honor of working with members of the military who are decent humans with integrity. There are also those who are not…as evidenced by veterans who participated in January 6th.
Comments
military have been brainwashed at a young age to support the GOP.
They were in the mess hall morning, noon, and night while Fox “news” blared continuously from televisions mounted around the room.
He won’t get it but his local VA clinic might be closed down. He might have to drive 150 extra miles to get care but yea ok.
Take your pick. But im seeing alot of angry Am Legion old folks here so idk
https://department.va.gov/contingency-planning/human-capital-contingency-plan/
Sad.
They sure as fuck don't want soldiers who can think for themselves running around
Conservatives cheering, unable to contain their mirth
Anything would be far better than letting a dictatorship of MAGA evil people being established.
Trump/Musk, Vance and the entire administration is the worst imaginable group of evils since Hitler,Himmler and Goebbels.
It’s illogical
Active service = TROOPS must be protected at ALL COSTS
Veterans who can no longer serve = FREELOADERS
He said it himself. He wasn’t just spouting off.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-tells-christians-they-wont-have-vote-after-this-election-2024-07-27/
They literally don't have individual thoughts. They only know what they're told to think. So it's patriotism patriotism patriotism until they're told it isn't.