Vets, Traumatized

For John, BLUF:  How many do we marginalize, rather than absorb back into society.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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To understand this story you have to understand that The Duffel Blog is a satirical site poking fun at things related to national defense.  It is also good to keep in mind that US Representative Jim Moran (D-Va.) is actually supportive of Veterans.

The problem is, between the Fort Hood Shootings (all Vets have PTSD) and the Kansas City Shootings (all Vets are racist right wing terrorists♠), those associated with the military, active or retired tend to look askance as some of the reporting being done.

Here is the report in The Hill, on the posting at The Duffel Blog.♥  The Duffel Blog has Rep Moran introducing a fictitious bill that would require Veterans to notify their neighbors of their status and to do other things, marking them as just below pedophiles.

Regarding the Kansas City Shooting, the OpEd in Wednesday's edition of The New York Times leaves a lot to be desired.  By Post Doc Kathleen Belew, it is titled "Veterans and White Supremacy".  The lede is:

WHEN Frazier Glenn Miller shot and killed three people in Overland Park, Kan., on Sunday, he did so as a soldier of the white power movement:  a groundswell that united Klansmen, neo-Nazis and other fringe elements after the Vietnam War, crested with the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995,♦ and remains a diminished but potent threat today.

She then goes on to link Viet-nam vets and the Klan and neo-Nazis.  And to defend the Department of Homeland Securities 2009 broad brush report about Veterans and domestic terrorism.  And, showing a lack of in-depth research, she relies on Southern Poverty Law Center statistics to back up her ideas.  People I know who are connected with the military and paying attention are outraged.

Here is a piece by Military Times Staff Writer Jeff Schogol, "Veterans slam New York Times piece linking vets to hate groups".  Here is a sample.

Marine veteran Paul Szoldra, who writes for Business Insider, said he feels veterans are the last group in the U.S. that can be stereotyped.

Well, not just Vets.  Also old male Caucasians.♣

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Even if they are Democrats who have run for office as Democrats.
♥  Its The Duffleblog so if you have sharp kids who read, show some discretion before sharing this.  I guess I would just say potential acronym warning.
♦  Actually, Oklahoma City was about Waco, which was about the Federal Government and its inability to handle this particular crisis situation.
♣  AKA, Old White Guys.