Their demonstration was intended to be low key and apolitical. The event turned ugly when Tea Party hardliners, led by Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin, (who were not invited to the event), tore down barricades at the WWII memorial and carried them to the White House where the demonstrators waved a Confederate flag and chanted anti-Obama slogans. One demonstrator went so far as to say that the President should put down his Koran and come out with his hands up.
The original veterans group had, by that time, abandoned what was no longer the peaceful, apolitical demonstration they had planned. The next day, the group posted this message on their website: "The political agenda put forth by a local organizer in Washington DC was not in alignment with our message. We feel disheartened that some would seek to hijack the narrative for political gain."
Their Facebook page had this message regarding the Tea Party hijacking of their demonstration: "We made the mistake of trying to partner with some Washington insiders that thwarted many of our genuine concerns for keeping this apolitical. We do not support the manner in which they go about it...Our hearts were heavy by the disheartening acts of a few powerful Washington elite and political extremists jumping on the opportunity to make money."
what eye think: I believe, that, if the government is shutdown, government offices closed, government workers furloughed and national monuments and parks closed, veterans' memorials should not be exempted from the shutdown. They are a government entity like any other, guarded and run by furloughed government employees. I do, however, believe that veterans have the right to protest their closing, especially in the peaceful manner they had planned.
What I cannot abide is the Tea Party's seeming belief that their anti-Obama hatred would be welcomed as one and the same with the veterans' message. The Tea Party's insular focus resulted in their inability to see that the veteran group's disagreement with one government policy did not mean disagreement with all policies nor did it equate with hatred of the man who stands at the forefront of those policies.
As Jason Easley wrote for Politicus USA:
"Tea partiers are proud of themselves for taking an event about veterans and turning it into another platform to showcase their hatred of this president, but they should be ashamed of themselves. The people who turned the march into an anti-Obama rally shamed and humiliated our veterans. Every vet knows that it doesn't matter what political party a president is from, (he is) still the Commander in Chief. The organizers of this event may or may not be conservatives, but it is clear that they didn't want the Tea Party mob, or Palin and Cruz's grandstanding at their event.
Veterans are about honor and sacrifice. The Republicans who politicized the event brought dishonor to the very values that our veterans embody. To self-promoters like Palin and Cruz, veterans are nothing more than props to be used for political and financial gain, and they are proud to have tarnished our nation's veterans with their selfish extremism."Tea Party hardliners like Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin are incapable of showing respect for any opinion that is not in lockstep with their own; and they have listened to no one but themselves for so long that they have reached the point where their egos allow them to believe they are speaking for everyone and are welcome everywhere. They have become totally unaware that their focus on bringing down the duly elected President of the United States at all costs is shameful and antithetical to the principles of our democracy...the same democracy that these veterans fought to preserve.
The veterans' demonstration was an example of our constitutional right to free speech. The Tea Party preemption was nothing more than "me speech"--prime examples of their selective deafness to all but their own hate-filled bombast and their belief that no one is as important as themselves...even our nation's veterans.
To my limited knowledge, neither Cruz nor Palin are military veterans. Neither took up arms and walked in harm's way to defend this great country of ours. America has a long tradition of military heroes and, as citizens, we owe these veterans our ability to live free from fear of tyranny. Every last one of them.
ReplyDeleteI, however, am a veteran and I find their 'high jacking" of any event held by, or in the name of, veterans to be criminal in both nature and intent.
These two jerks (Cruz & Palin) are doing every thing they can to bring down the government of the United States of America. Their acts are treasonous. Unfortunately it is our Constitution that allows these Bozo's (sorry for the insult Mr Bozo) to continue.
Hatred knows only one end. This could eventually get really ugly if allowed to continue.
Lenne, you have outdone yourself. This is perhaps one of the best commentaries that I have ever read. I too agree that even though the government is out of the office, people still have the right to protest. People like palin and cruz have no concept of what military service is like, nor what it means to those who have been there. They are a couple of clowns who get some perverse pleasure in spewing their hate filled diatribe directed at Obama. To try to associate themselves with those involved in a peaceful protest shows their weakness and their contempt for decency.
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