Democratic lawmakers want the Department of Veterans Affairs to reintroduce special taxpayer-funded support staff services dedicated to assisting veterans who want to “change” their gender. If they take Congress in November, they might be able to pressure the Trump administration to do just that.
If this happens, conservatives may have the Veterans of Foreign Wars to thank for it — even though veterans tend to be conservative and there is never a need for taxpayers to pay for gender transition treatments and recovery. In fact, it’s horrible for national security. But the VFW doesn’t seem to care.
Veterans need advocates, not another organization trying to earn a medal in the culture wars instead of taking care of our actual warfighters.
Most Americans think of their grandfathers, fathers, or uncles swapping stories with their fellow vets over a beer at the local VFW hall. They think of the organization as apolitical. The reality, however, is that the organization has increasingly become political — especially in support of left-wing causes.
The most prominent one is its advocacy for LGBT issues. This past summer, the VFW backed Pride Month and bragged about supporting Pride Month ever since President Bill Clinton issued the first presidential proclamation about it in 1999.
In 2019, VFW National Commander B.J. Lawrence delivered a congressional statement calling for additional resources specifically for LGBT veterans.
Lawrence sounded more like a woke corporate human resources department than the uniting voice of a veterans' champion when he discussed "health inequities" affecting different identity groups.
These woke health care policies became entrenched within the organization. Instead of expanding access to care for all veterans, VFW supported giving favored groups access to specialized care at taxpayer expense. Thankfully, President Trump has reversed that, axing dedicated LGBT Veteran Care Coordinator roles and reorganizing specialized support networks so they support every veteran, critics be damned.
Now, the Democrats have explicitly called for those dedicated positions to be restored, and the VFW is right on board. In congressional testimony last year, Nancy Springer, acting director of the VFW's National Legislative Service, explicitly supported bringing woke medicine back to the VA through legislation that would establish an equity and reconciliation commission designed to remedy “institutionalized discrimination,” whatever that means.
If the VFW is lobbying for identity-specific federal programs, it opens itself to legitimate questions about its priorities.
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Veterans are not all red or all blue. Some are conservative, some are liberal, and some are independent. They come from all backgrounds and walks of life, and they aren’t a monolithic political bloc. Regardless of their political views, they all deserve equal access to health care.
It doesn't matter where you, as an individual, stand on the question of gender “medicine.” We are all free to think what we want here in America. It does matter when a veteran organization wants taxpayers to fund surgeries and other procedures that don’t improve national security or enhance veteran care.
Veterans need advocates, not another organization trying to earn a medal in the culture wars instead of taking care of our actual warfighters.
The VFW already has a big job to do. It exists to “ensure that veterans are respected for their service, always receive their earned entitlements, and are recognized for the sacrifices they and their loved ones have made on behalf of this great country.”
That doesn't encompass partisan LGBT policy or advocating for dubious “gender-affirming” care.
Veterans are struggling to obtain mental health support, access medical treatment, navigate disability claims, and secure the benefits they earned through their service. The VFW should spend less time fighting over gender ideology and more time fighting for the veterans it was founded to serve.
An unidentified minor wounded a Serbian policeman guarding the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade with a knife before being shot dead during the early morning hours of Wednesday in what Interior Minister Ivica Dacic described to international outlets as a suspected terrorist attack.
The post Serbia: Minor Yelling ‘Allahu Akbar’ Attacks Israeli Embassy Officer Before Being Shot Dead appeared first on Breitbart.
Atlanta police investigating the tragic death of a 4-year-old boy have arrested a friend of the boy's mother.
Police said they were called to a townhome in a gated community in southwest Atlanta on Monday evening at about 7:15 p.m. for a welfare check.
'He was 4. He was just the sweetest little boy ever, always smiling, and he loved his mommy.'
After forcing their way into the home, police found the child deceased inside. They tried to resuscitate the child, but he was declared dead at the scene.
Police determined that 32-year-old Jasmaine Smoak had allegedly fled from the scene with three children.
Smoak's vehicle was tracked by license plate reader technology to Washington, Georgia, in Wilkes County. She was arrested without incident, and the three children were recovered.
One of the children had visible injuries and was hospitalized for treatment at a local hospital in Wilkes County.
Smoak was charged with one count of second-degree cruelty to children and one count of concealing the death of another.
Atlanta police said that Smoak was a friend of the mother of the deceased boy.
"He was 4. He was just the sweetest little boy ever, always smiling, and he loved his mommy," said the boy's aunt to WXIA-TV.
She said the injured boy was his brother and that he was in critical condition.
Police said the investigation was active and ongoing.
"My hat is off to our deputies and the Atlanta Homicide Detectives for their dedication, professionalism, and determination in bringing this matter to a swift resolution," said Wilkes County Sheriff Darrell Powers.
"While most people were sleeping, these men and women were hard at work making sure this individual was located and taken into custody," he added.
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Men before a British court charged under the National Security act over an alleged, attempted Iranian state-backed guerrilla attack.
The post First Alleged RAF Fairford American Base Plotters Appear Before Court appeared first on Breitbart.
The mainstream media initially claimed that the unrest sweeping France was simply about schools — but staying true to the mainstream media’s tendency to lie, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
And Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck knew it all along.
“The French are coming out and they’re saying, ‘Oh, I guess this really wasn’t all about schools.' This is about a Marxist takeover, and only the mainstream media is being dishonest about this,’” Glenn explains.
“Thank God most people do not pay attention to the mainstream media at this point,” he adds.
The masked rioters began their tirade a couple of weeks ago in the middle of France, breaking into a city hall and setting it on fire.
“That building opened in 1883 and it survived two world wars, but it didn’t survive the Marxists in the street,” Glenn says.
“Roof caves in, the bell tower comes down, the paintings on the wall go with it. And across France that weekend, about 2,400 people were arrested. That has continued, and it is getting worse and worse, and they are becoming more and more die-hard about it,” he continues.
“The French press spent a week explaining it. ‘Oh, this is just about school,’” he says. “The French didn’t need that explanation. They didn’t. They saw it with their own eyes.”
But the Marxists appear to have overplayed their hand.
“And the latest in polling, if the hard-left candidate makes a runoff for president next spring, he loses by more than two to one,” Glenn says.
“What is happening?” he asks. “Well, you can argue with a newspaper column. You can, but you cannot argue with your city burning down. And it’s happening everywhere. It’s not just in France. It’s the Italians, the Danes, the Dutch, the British, the Americans, the Spanish.”
“Different languages, different histories, all looking at the same thing happening on their own streets and arriving at exactly the same answer at the same time,” he continues.
“And the answer is no … I don’t want any of this,” he adds.
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