Tom Philpott: Vets should be wary of CVA pitchforks and torches
Chief Tango sends us link from Stars & Stripes from some fellow by the name of Tom Philpott entitled “Vets should be wary of CVA pitchforks and torches”. It’s to warn us poor stupit vets that Concerned Veterans for America is *gasp* partisan.
I can’t claim to have covered VA medical appointments and wait times with enough depth or regularity to know if there’s gross mismanagement and deceptive bookkeeping at some or many VA facilities. That will be verified, or not, by independent audits and criminal investigations now underway.
[…]
But in my 37 years covering veterans’ issues, I have never seen veteran issues used more cynically or politicized more thoroughly than during the past several years. At times the intent seems to be to shake trust in government generally rather than to address veterans’ needs.
In the thick of this is Concerned Veterans for America, posing as a vet advocacy group and being rewarded for it. CVA press releases usually are partisan attacks. Its spokesman, Pete Hegseth, an Iraq war vet and Republican who ran for a U.S. Senate in 2012, is quoted often by major news outlets without mention of press reports associating CVA with the Koch brothers, libertarian billionaires who create public interest groups to oppose big government. That’s fine. That’s protected speech. A CVA spokesman told me last year it don’t reveal donor information.
So, basically, Philpot, whoever the Hell he is, says that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about in regards to veterans’ issues, but that we should listen to him anyway. According to his bio he was in the Coast Guard back in the ’70s and then went into journalism and worked at that cesspool at Military Times. And now, he’s sounding the warning about Pete Hegseth, who happens to be one of those evil Republicans who are calling for Shinseki’s resignation.
Mr. Philpot, sir, when the Hell did you ever write a warning to veterans about VoteVets or Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America? They are both partisan organizations run by Democrats and espouse Democrat policies, sometimes in contradiction to the welfare of veterans. VoteVets doesn’t disclose their donors either.
Paul Rieckoff of the IAVA was a Democrat before he founded IAVA, he rubbed elbows with the likes of Jesse Ventura and Code Pink and gave a Democrat address in response to a presidential weekly radio address during the Bush Administration. So where’s your warning about them and their partisan activities, Tom?
Now, I’ll admit right up front that Pete Hegseth and I are friends, we email a couple of times every week. His staff emails me a few times a week. He once gave me a CVA bottle opener. With a magnet.
Pete is a real patriot who cares about veterans, and his political views are much in line with mine and you know that I tear up whoever is wrong, regardless of their political party. Can you say the same about IAVA or VoteVets – one only cares about himself, the other is trying to cram green energy down our throats.
So, Tom Philpot, cram green energy down your throat or words to that effect. You’re just another liberal partisan hack like Soltz and Rieckhoff.
Category: Media, Military issues
C’mon Jonn. It’s not healthy to hold things in. How do you really feel??
You really let him off the hook there Jonn, didn’t you? 😉
Can this clown spell George Soros?
Is that guy a shill for the DNC? Seems he and many of the commentors are hitting on all the DNC talking points on this.
@rb325th
Good comments over at Stars $ Stripes. It appears as if Mr. Philpot’s family has been making a number of positive “thanks for the heads up” comments over there for him.
As usual, the leftists preach tolerance in an exceptionally dogmatic, intolerant manner.
Jonn inspired me, like a muse sitting on my shoulder as I typed.
You could have a helluva lot worse things sitting on your shoulder. 🙂
Happy Memorial Day to all!
Harry Reid must have sent a letter to all liberals that the Koch brothers must be in every story in the media.
Please tell me the Koch brothers paid for the magnet upgrade.
I want a bottle opener, too.
Most often Philpott writes non-detailed articles on benefit. He’s provided misinformation in the past, specifically on education benefits.
I also think he’s partisan, a fawning podcast on a roundtable meeting with the President and Secretary in 09:
http://podcasts.military.com/2009/08/philpott-sits-down-with-obama.html
If you tell me he went to the White House Easter Egg Hunt I will be outraged!
Dude’s a liberal shill. Read his articles on Military.com and elsewhere.
So, Tom Philpott suggests I should “not be swayed” – and tells me to, in essence, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”? To quote the late “Max Max” Thurman: “Noted.”
Sorry, Tommi-boi. I can think for myself, and can make up my own mind based on facts that are coming to light. I think I will.
However, Tom Philpott, I do have suggestion for you. Unfortunately, unless you’re a contortionist my suggestion for you is probably anatomically impossible. But you’re welcome to try anyway.
I’ll spare everyone a detailed description of my suggestion to Tommi-boi. I doubt it’s necessary. (smile)
That would require him to remove his cranium from said orifice first. I doubt that’s possible for him.
A Coastie….Um, No! This ass clown be a real deal puddle pirate prolly rode in the engine room, too. When he wasn’t scraping barnicles and old paint and painting yellow lines in the parking lot at whichever station he served at. BUT, I digress…
I wonder how long it’d take to yank his 214 just for shits n giggles. 😎
I did a quick look at some websites and over the years of campaign contributions, strangely enough Harry Reid keeps popping up as someone who gets contributions from top-10 contributors again and again.
Then at the same time the Koch Brothers aren’t even in the top 50 contributors on these lists.
Next thing they’ll start doing is blaming the Koch brothers for the problems at the VA…
The whole lobbying thing always irritated me. If you say, “Hey, if you vote this way, I’ll give you money” you are bribing a public official.
If you say “Well, my group thinks it would be a good thing if you voted this way and if you do we’d be appreciative enough to contribute to your campaign” you are a lobbyist.
Either way, politicians are too engrossed in how much money they can get for themselves out of something, than they are in what the group actually stands for. But at the same time, no politician survives in DC when they try to change the system that benefits DC so significantly like it needs to.
Phil Pisspot is a scream, whoever he is. In one paragraph he says, “I can’t claim to have covered VA medical appointments and wait times with enough depth or regularity to know if there’s gross mismanagement and deceptive bookkeeping at some or many VA facilities.” So, he only know what he personally covers? That’s a helluva standard for knowing something. I guess there simply are insufficient audits and verified info out there for him to conclude that the DVA is a broken machine. And, yet, in the very next paragraph, he says, “Most veterans’ groups continue to support Shinseki.” And that’s based upon what, his extensive reporting on most Veterans’ organizations? He’s a lamebrain. Next item.
His comment: “That will be verified, or not, by independent audits and criminal investigations now underway.” Bullshit! It is being verified, or not, by INTERNAL audits. Get your facts straight Philpott and while you’re at it if you think there are going to be lots, if any criminal investigations and if there are, charges brought as a result, you better wake up and smell that turd you didn’t flush!
So he shoots his mouth of without doing any backup research. Nothing new here.
We all have opinions, we’re all entitled to say what we think, but most of us do try to back up what we say with research of some kind.
And what he does is simply discredit himself with his opening statement, which shows clearly that he doesn’t pay attention to something unless he wants to.
He’s like my mother was – gets half the information, gets a fourth to half of that right, and goes with half of the part he got right.
Sorry, peeps, there are very few good investigative reporters or journalists of substance left in that business any more.
Another typical liberal spouting its dogma and screeching for “tolerance” while also screeching for dissenting voices to be silenced!
Well, Bella Pelosi didn’t disappoint; she’s stating that the VA problems are Ws fault (of course). I’m sure that Chuckles Philpott here will join in that chorus, soon.
Now, Bush may have had some issues in his administration’s VA, however, the current problems have been known by this administration for over 5 years, and Obama even commented on the problems, yet his administration has done nothing to correct it. So, this falls on Obama’s administration and anyone coming out to blame Bush is a fucking moron.
The situation existed in some form in 2008 during the transition, enough so that the Bush Transition people made a point of discussing the situation at some VA Hospitals where they were gaming the system and fudging numbers to meet productivity goals.
So sure, they can try and blame Bush. That also means they have got to admit that the Administration knew the problem existed and did nothing at all about it. So, whose fault is it really? Is it really the Bush administrations fault that Obamas has done nothing to even try and fix this issue in 6+years?
Finding fault is not a weakness in the current administration i.e. it’s everyone but them. The problem lies in what they do to fix the problems that are everyone elses fault, which is nothing.
I listened to John Stewart last night just because I was curious what he’d say. He did talk the VA, but at the same time he kind of deflected from the Obama responsibility and yes, hit on Bush about it because it was an issue then.
However, he did make a point that all throughout the history of War, the US has not taken care of veterans after returning as much as is deserved.
Regardless, Obama was going to change everything in DC and make it all perfect and wonderful and all the ills of the country would be made better. So, Fuck him. He said what he had to to get elected (which even Pelosi commented on once during a press conference) and that’s that.
Shit, I want one of those bottle openers. Jonn you are dead on about Vote Vets and the IAVA, not to mention the fact that Rieckoff is a military phony. Good work Jonn.
I am actually getting irritated every time I see his smug face on your page. did you really have to use that as the picture for this one? It makes me want to punch my monitor.
Congratulations, Tom Philpott- You’ve established some fine credentials as an intellectually dishonest, hypocrite.
How about directing some outrage where it belongs- to those morally bankrupt, self-serving bureaucrats who are symbolic of this Obama echo chamber populated with sycophantic yes-men?
Quit being part of the problem and do your fucking job, nimrod.
You know you’ve got a Libtard when the Koch Brothers are mentioned.
I was reading the supporting comments on the stars and stripes and it struck me that almost every single one of them sound suspiciously similar in an almost robot like recitation of thanking this turd for making them aware of the dangers of the CVA, small government, Koch Brothers, etc, etc, etc….
I should throw on the caveat, all those comments favorable to Pisspott
Libtards pay people to troll talking points on the internet that’s why.
I remember reading an article about these jackoffs on Ars Technica and it’s the most shady shit ever and apparently a booming business. PJ Media’s Youtube videos are often visited by these types of people in the comments section and boy are they obnoxious as shit.
Yep, no doubt these are paid trolls and they ARE as obnoxious as shit. Shit, they’re not even good at what they do. A cursory glance at the dribble they post and you can read it like the fucking script they’re copying it from.
Speaking of bad trolls, someone there (claiming retired vet status no less) tried telling me that the VA isn’t actually killing vets with the secret wait lists, the IRS isn’t targeting political opponents of Obama, and that the National Park Service didn’t try to deny WWII vets access to the memorial during the shutdown.
Apparently those are all just “Fox News lies”.