VETS VOICE-For months now I have been writing about the relentless assault by the Obama administration on our military and veterans. However, I now must modify my observations since it is no longer just an assault. It is now an all-out war.
In previous articles on this blog I have discussed the Veterans Administration and its attempts to use phony mental illness claims to deny veterans their rights under the Fifth and Second Amendments to the Constitution. I have reported on the violations of a Federal law requiring that members of the active military be sent their absentee ballots for upcoming elections at least 45 days prior to an election.
Some states are ignoring the law because Eric Holder had a member of the DOJ inform secretaries of state around the country that his department would not enforce the law. As a result, hundreds of thousands of votes cast by members of the military were not counted in the 2010 and 2012 elections. We expect the same thing to happen during the upcoming electric cycle.
In the meantime, we at the United States Justice Foundation continue our investigation into the activities of both the VA and the FBI and the horror stories continue to mount. We have received numerous reports for some time that at many VA hospitals and clinics veterans were not getting the medical treatment they required in a timely matter. Now, we have the recent revelations that veterans are dying while waiting for appointments and treatment because bureaucrats in the VA are separating the files of the more seriously ill patients who need expensive treatments and putting them on the back burner.
This is clearly the VA’s version of death panels and helpless wounded or ill warriors are dying. We have also received numerous reports of veterans being pressured by VA officials to accept a diagnosis of PTSD in order to keep their benefits or have them increased.
They are also being told they have to take medications even if they don’t believe they need them. The penalty for refusing is being threatened with losing their benefits. According to some experts I have talked to these medications may well be responsible for the increase in suicides among both veterans and active duty military personnel.
We have also confirmed that some veterans are being punished for exercising the limited appeal rights they are given by the VA when the veterans are notified that the VA is considering a declaration that they are incompetent to handle their own finances and will lose their Second Amendment rights. The penalty is the same, the loss of their benefits during the appeal process which can last as much as two years. Veterans are being told that if they want to fight the VA they may not be able to feed their families.
Unfortunately, the hits just keep on coming. I have recently talked to a veteran who is one of the rare cases of success in getting his declaration of incompetency reversed. However, when he tried to purchase a firearm he found out that he was still on the NICS list maintained by the FBI and cannot legally purchased a firearm.
When he called the FBI to try and get the situation rectified he was transferred to a recorded message that told him he had to hire a lawyer or the FBI would not talk to him. In other words, the FBI appears to have their own agenda when it comes to denying veterans their Constitutional rights.
We have also been made aware that once they are declared incompetent some veterans are being put on the list of people that aren’t allowed to fly and family members of the veterans are being told they can’t own firearms if they live with an “incompetent” veteran.
In addition, I have received two other disturbing reports from veterans in the past week. A 93 year old WW II veteran and a second younger veteran have both told me that the VA declared them incompetent and appointed a fiduciary to handle their finances. The next thing they knew their checks were being sent to someone else’s bank accounts in other states, and the VA seems unable or unwilling to do anything about it. I had heard of this happening before, but it appears be accelerating.
At the USJF we have long been aware that veterans who go to the VA for any reason are being questioned about firearms ownership. I have had this confirmed by veterans I have talked to in the Dallas, Texas area. According to one source in the VA this is the result of a directive from the White House. Yet, as with other things happening to veterans, it just keeps getting worse.
A Marine veteran has told me that he was notified to appear at the VA Pensions office for an appointment. He was told when he got there that some unknown party had suggested an increase in benefits for him. This was a red flag for him and then the VA employee asked him if he owned any firearms and he was further questioned about what he thought of the government.
In my view the conclusion is obvious. There is a systematic effort being made by agencies in the Federal government, up to and possibly including the White House, to disarm, disenfranchise, demoralize, and even eliminate the very heroes who have laid their lives on the line in defense of our nation and our Constitution.
As a veteran I am appalled by what I am seeing and hearing and at the USJF we are dedicated to make every effort to defend our veterans and their families at no charge to them. If any of you are veterans who have been impacted by any of this or have friends or family members who have been impacted, please contact us. This is a war we must win!
(Michael Connelly is a US Army veteran, a retired attorney, published author, freelance writer, and instructor of Constitutional law. He is an occasional contributor to CityWatch. Reach him at: [email protected]
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 42
Pub: May 23, 2014
