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The American Prospect: "A Middle Finger To Vets" By Trump/Musk And New VA Secretary. [1]

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Date: 2025-02-23

The American Prospect has, IMHO, an excellent write up of the mounting chaos and destruction at the Veterans Administration brought on by Musk/Trump and new VA Secretary Doug Collins. I’ve never been in the military (I admire those who have served and continue to do so), but from what I have read for many years is that most veterans have been voting Republican for God knows how long. Therefore, like American farmers, all veterans are about to feel the consequences of those who voted for Trump. And the details provided by this article are worse than even I imagined. It’s bad enough what Musk is doing at the VA, but the proverbial rabid fox is now in charge of the hen house with Collins running the VA.

While you may not think of Senator Blumenthal of Connecticut as some kind of populist orator, he said it best lately for this article:

Blumenthal—who happens to be the richest member of the U.S. Senate—warned the richest man in the world that “nine million veterans are watching you give them the middle finger and we’re not going to stand for it!”

So let’s recount the wrecking ball taken to the VA.

There were several health professionals who were new hires to the VA had their contracts terminated. It’s reported that some of those were people who had moved to take these job offers that are no more. This has sent a chill to anyone interested in applying to the VA for a job. Why do it when they can take away the offers in a nanosecond?

It’s reported that some of those were people who had moved to take these job offers that are no more. Why do it when they can take away the offers in a nanosecond? Probationary VA workers have been purged. It didn’t matter if you worked at the VA for years before starting a new position at the VA. Out the door you go.

It didn’t matter if you worked at the VA for years before starting a new position at the VA. Out the door you go. With the budget freeze, medical researchers were told to stop their work and back their bags, according to Senator Patty Murray of WA. This was the quote from the article about what these medical researchers were working on:

Those laid off included staffers working on treatments for vets with cancer, respiratory problems, missing limbs, and opioid addiction.

This response from Murray was done after VA Secretary Collins stated that the 1000 job dismissals at the VA would no way affect treatment of veterans. In fact, Collins seemed to “crow” about the job cuts at the VA.

The ending of remote work has forced many VA employees to quit. This is because remote work allowed those workers to avoid long commutes to facilities that cannot properly provide workspace for VA health professionals.

One such worker, who helps coordinate care for VA patients in already short-staffed facilities in Nevada, Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam, told us: “The pending return to work requirement will have a profound and widespread impact on veterans, especially in rural areas.” One regional VA leader, who understandably chose to remain anonymous, told the Prospect that the ban on remote work is impossible to actually implement. Because of Congress’s long-standing failure to allocate funding needed to maintain or improve facility infrastructure, there is no place to put employees who previously worked from home. “You can’t put six psychologists or appointment schedulers in the same room and ask them to do jobs that involve having private conversations with veterans.” This means, the VA leader said, that people will have to keep working remotely and risk being fired.

Part of the purge hit the Veterans Crisis Line (the people who try to help veterans who are thinking of suicide). Here is one of those VA employees.

“I am absolutely devastated. Last night, myself and many others at the Veterans Crisis Line were terminated without warning via an email sent after hours, due to actions by the Trump administration. Nobody, including leadership, had any idea this was coming. This decision not only deeply affects me and my family but will also negatively impact Veterans who rely on this service.”

NOTE: One of my former students father was a veteran. I didn’t know he was suffering from PTSD, but he eventually took his own life. I had a parent teaching conferance with him. This is real world for me.

I also suffer from long term depression, and I have considered suicide in the past. I’ve been in therapy, and it does help. Therefore, I think I can offer some advice to Democrats on how to give a straight, blunt message to veterans. I’m no messaging expert, so please bear with me while I use words that some will find offensive. I think, however, they may be necessary to get through to veterans that Republicans are their enemy.

“Musk/Trump have a simple message for veterans, especially those suffering from PTSD or mental illness: ‘Get over it you bunch of crybaby p*****s! If you are not tough enough to deal with problems on your own, go ahead and kill yourselves! We will save money that way!’ “

As I stated above, I have a long term mental illness, and I have had words similar to this thrown at me. Maybe veterans need to hear the same hurtful or dismissive language to snap out of their love affair with Trump and the GOP? I do know that hearing an indifferent tone from an operator on a suicide prevention hotline that sounded like I was talking to a McDonald’s employee about my food order snapped me out of those thoughts because I GOT SO FUCKING ANGRY AFTER I HUNG UP THE PHONE!

Sometimes anger can give someone a purpose. And after having a supposed help line let me down, it made me want to do something about my situation if only to say “FUCK YOU!” to what’s wrong with the world. Maybe the same can work with the veterans?

Anyway, I’m just trying to think outside the box. As I said, I’ve never been in the military, so I do not know how veterans think. But I do know whatever their thoughts on Trump and the GOP that veterans have a man at the helm who will gladly carry out Musk/Trump’s orders to destroy the VA.

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