VoteVets testifies before Congress left and…left. Or, do they?

Several weeks ago I did this post on VoteVets grand master Marionette Jon Soltz. In it I noted that:

I would now take several hours dismantling all of your expert testimony before the House and Senate as the Military and Veterans expert you are, but alas, THAT SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY TESTIMONY YOU’VE SUBMITTED. If I happen to be wrong, I look forward to reading your cogent analysis on other issues.

Now, I know VoteVets doesn’t read This Ain’t Hell at all. How do I know that? Well, if they did, they would have noted this post of mine about an Onion article about a change in the DADT policy. I posted mine on July 9 at around 2pm. And then the next day I saw this:

Military Institutes New “Don’t Ask, Let Me Guess Policy” (the Onion) by – CarissaPicard
Posted on: Fri Jul 10, 2009 at 03:27:50 AM CDT

Now, I didn’t even get a h/t so I know she didn’t get it from me. Also, it was inexplicably removed right after that and sent down the memory hole, where all the bad stories go.

Need more proof? Last week Claymore did what I thought was an outstanding post about our losses in Afghanistan and Iraq, and comparing coverage of those to the “truly important” things, like “Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush calling it quits (I really had high hopes for those kids), iPhone prices drop to a ‘mere’ $250, we got a new Harry Potter movie which apparently a few people went to go see….” Claymore posted his on July 29, and lo! Jim Staro did the exact same post on August 2. And again, no H/t or any other suggestion that the genesis for the post was from TAH. Now, since they are all unimpeachable individuals of the highest quality over there, we can take this as ipso facto proof that they never read us.

Thus, we also know that VV was not aware of my criticism regarding their lack of testimony.

So, I thought it was wonderful a few weeks ago when I went over there for my daily dumpster dive and saw this post: VetVoice Front-Pager Kayla Williams Testifies before Senate VA Committee. Dicksmith was even kind enough to identify it with the subtitle of “VoteVets representing.” Here’s the pic:

Now, I am not going to criticize Ms Kayla’s testimony. Frankly, I thought it was very well written, and it was a subject that I don’t feel I am qualified to discuss, namely the plight of women veterans in the VA. I read through it, found it both readable and intelligent, but also found her story to be difficult to justify on any level. Read it here if you would like to do so (and you really should).

So, her testimony makes two. Striking while the iron is hot, Jon Powers of VoteVets:

testified to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works with retired Senator John Warner and retired Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn on the national security implications of climate change.

Now, Powers seems a good enough chap, enough so I was actually rooting for him in the Congressional Race after the GOP decided to completely shit on Bellavia up there, but this quote here struck me as absurd:

As a former US Army Captain and Iraq veteran, I understand first hand the challenges our national security apparatus will face when dealing with this growing threat [ed. From climate change].

Um. M’kay. Does anyone else think this statement might be just a tad bit absurd? What if I were to say: “I’ve been on a boat deep sea fishing, and I understand first hand the challenges facing the valiant porpoises from the threat of a Merman invasion”? I don’t know, I suppose in a grand extenuated way you could work out how climate change causes food shortages which creates a Mad Max environment and an insurgency or something, but that’s kinda weak. More from Powers:

Climate change is a threat to international security due to the impact of changing temperatures on Earth’s physical environment. The changes to the environment that we are likely to see include increased storms, droughts, and decrease in drinking water around the globe.

So how does this changing physical environment affect our national security?

He answers that by first discussing the Tsunami in Indonesia and the relief efforts. Not sure how being an Iraq Vet helps with that. Then he talks about how Lake Chad is 5% of what it once was. (An interesting side note perhaps is that I follow issues like this in my spare time, and I happened to read an interesting quote regarding this issue: “The Lake is one of Africa’s largest freshwater lakes, but has shrunk dramatically over the last 40 years. In the absence of longer term data (i.e. 80-100 years), however, the present shrinkage can only be regarded as temporary, rather than permanent change.” D’oh! Don’t say that Mr. Scientist!)

Anyway, my point was more that I fail to see how an Army Captain in Iraq is qualified to discuss this issue exclusively based on that experience (since that is what he cited as his expertise). In fact, his experience is listed in the testimony thusly:

Over the course of my time in the military I learned incredibly valuable lessons in situations that ranged from running training exercises in garrison to patrolling the streets of Baghdad and Najaf while engaging with the Iraqi community.

OK, you got me, I now agree you are uniquely qualified to discuss this issue by virtue of your military experience. Reacting to a lack of natural resources brought on by fluctuations in the level of Lake Chad is almost perfectly analogous to patrolling the streets of Najaf.

I applaud VoteVets for getting their people up there to testify on VoteVets behalf…..

Oh wait, they didn’t.

Initially the Committee had Kayla representing someone else I believe, from an email I received from Secretary Akaka prior to the hearing. I am possibly wrong on that, but what I am sure of is that Kayla was not representing VoteVets as far as the Committee was concerned, note what they have on their website regarding the hearing:

Panel II
• Kayla Williams, U.S. Army Vet
• Tia Christopher, Women Veteran Coordinator – Iraq Veteran Project, Swords to Plowshares
• JENNIFER OLDS, U.S. Army Vet on behalf VFW
• Genevieve Chase, Veteran, Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan, Founder and Executive Director, American Women Veterans
• JOY J. ILEM, DEPUTY NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR, DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS

I see Swords to Ploughshares, I see American Women Veterans, I see DAV & VFW, I see no “VoteVets.”

But what about Powers? At least he made clear in his post that he wasn’t testifying for VoteVets: “The Truman National Security Project is currently working to raise awareness of this issue so the American public understands the threat and ensures our leaders both address the challenge and use our international leadership to set the standards for others to follow.”

So there you have it, VoteVets testifying on Capitol Hill masquerading as someone else. Makes it easy when you just take credit for someone else’s work.

Category: Politics