Saturday, February 4, 2012

veteran's rant


Everyone one loves a good parade right?

Seems that way after the recent St. Louis parade, honoring Iraq veterans was such a success and has inspired cities all over the U.S. to consider holding their own parades.

Parades suck!

They’re an ephemeral dodge to placate the guilt of the citizenry, when the real honoring of our veterans and military retirees should be done in the federal budget.

Woo hoo! Let’s throw tickertape around and get those high school bands a-marching while veteran and military retiree programs lay on the chopping block of the deficit hawks.

Let’s march down Main Street while veteran unemployment and suicide rates continue to soar; that’ll show how much we care.

NO increased spending in veterans programs mind you – oh but we’ll have a dandy parade, sell some balloons, and remind ourselves that this is how a grateful nation behaves with its warriors.

And all the while our elected leaders will gut veteran and military retiree programs in darkened rooms behind locked doors. There is a national debt after all they’ll say – they’re right it’s a debt of conscience, not money.

So before we go to the big parade and spend a couple of hours standing, clapping, and saluting the flag, let’s spend about a half an hour – just a half an hour and drop your congressional delegation an email and remind them that the bogeyman they need to worry about isn’t the debt, but rather the scary prospect that quality men and women will no longer sign up for military service if parades are all we do to show how a grateful nation behaves.

I guess that’s it I need to get my float ready.

Bill