Veterans Continue To Voice Concerns On The Obama Presidency
By Thomas D. Segel (11/27/08)
Harlingen, Texas, November 26, 2008: When it comes to forming beliefs among those in the veteran community it is a very hard sell. It matters not if they are retired from a career in uniform or just served under the flag for a single tour of duty, most have a very strong “show me” mentality.
This attitude has, over the passage of time, proven to them that little to nothing can be believed if uttered by politicians, printed in the main stream press, or flashed across their television screens by the major networks. Because of this, they have also migrated to talk radio and the Internet, feeling these are the sources where they can find answers to many of their questions. The answers have been there, but so have misinformation, half-truths and a collection of unproven myths. When it is pointed out that the information they collect may be wrong, their usual response is to say all the other side needs to do is provide them with proof their facts are in error.
George Jurjans is a retired Marine who shows his anger at the upcoming presidency and the remarks of more moderate military retirees saying, “…it appalls me to read these comments that echo nothing but complacency, rationalization and the immature – childish ‘wait and see, things might actually not be all that bad’ attitude. I read no passion of commitment, no expressed concern. I don’t know what else to say except George W. Bush spent more on veterans care and the military in general during his first term, than the previous two administrations put together. Anyone who believes BHO will do even one tenth of that, or keep any other constructive promise he made might as well admit he also believes in the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny and that ‘check is in the mail’ statement.”
Bill Hemmingway, a veteran in North Carolina says, “I didn’t vote for Obama, but he needs to be given an opportunity to show us what he believes he can accomplish.”
Ray Madonna is a Marine veteran who would like to hear retired General Tony Zinni weigh in on the mixed feelings veterans have about the next president. “The way I look at it”, he says, “Obama will be our Commander in Chief and he deserves a chance to do the job well.”
Dough Berry, another former Marine doesn’t even want Barack Obama to take office. He claims Obama, “has no legitimate birth certificate and that means he is a non citizen, means he does not meet the requirements established by law, which equals no job. His failure to present required documents means I do not have any trust or confidence. He carries too much baggage from too many groups to be effective.”
Nihil Smith is another non-supporter. He writes “I took an oath many years ago to Protect, Preserve and Defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, Foreign or Domestic. I repeated that oath several times and was proud to serve my country in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service for the next 23 years. I later took a (similar) Oath of Allegiance to the State of California. I then pinned on a Deputy Sheriff’s badge.” With that information as a background he says, “I did not vote for Obama and I personally do not believe he has the experience required for the office of president, based upon his performance as a senator. He failed to make any commitment on any bill except one related to live birth abortion. His associations with Rev. Wright, who if he were a white man talking about black people the same way, would have been a card carrying member of the KKK and investigated by the government… That association is a big unanswered question.”
Mathew Ford is an infantry veteran and seems to accept the words in his Pennsylvania newspaper, The Morning Call. He writes, “In the Morning Call, November 12, 2008 President Elect Barack Obama stated ‘As your next commander in chief I promise every single day to keep that sacred trust with all who have served.’
Not so accepting, but not totally negative is one veteran who signs off as “Gramps”. He writes, “I pray that God provides him the wisdom to govern responsibly and that as a Christian he seeks divine guidance. Having said that it should come as no surprise he is reaching backward to the failed Clinton administration to fill key posts – not exactly “change” as he said he would make. Still, I hope he is able to turn around the economy, keep American safe, and bring us together as a Nation. While I am skeptical he can do it, I will pray that he can. Only time will tell.”
Retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant Bill Buss say of Obama, “With all the garbage circulating on the Internet about him – outright lies, deliberate misrepresentations, and things taken out of context, it is hard to know what to believe. I do believe that he can’t possibly pull off a lot of the things attributed to him, true or not. At least not without the full cooperation of Congress and even with his party in control that is not likely to happen. So, any problems we are going to have will be instigated by Congress. It is my impression Democrats spend money like there is no tomorrow and everything they touch turns to s… But, then Republicans aren’t much better.”
Rick Redmon spent a career in Special Operations. His thoughts…”The incoming administration, given the manner in which things took place, I have to say we are indeed facing some scary times ahead. There is something seriously wrong with those who fail to see a problem with the lack of full disclosure on all aspects of Mr. Obama’s life. There are many things that came to light that should have been seriously challenged and were not.
“Obama preached bringing about change, but didn’t say what kind of change. His lineage is in question. He has no legitimate experience to speak of in many areas. To be quite brutal, he doesn’t know the Constitution as well as he professes to. No sir, I don’t trust the guy. Too many unanswered questions.”
Mike Bailey is a disabled Army veteran who has been fighting for needed VA benefits for many years. He sees good possibilities in the new Obama Administration. “President Elect Obama has an 80% positive voting average on veterans issues. He has shown through his actions that he cares about the veterans’ medical care and compensation. I have watched him when he was Chair of the Senate VA Committee. Obama is on the side of the veterans. I may be wrong but I think in President Elect Obama we may have a real Commander in Chief who will surprise the military community.”
Ron Whaley is a 100% disabled Navy retiree. He reflects, “All I can do from here is try my best to support our new president and hope he is wise enough to NOT lean to the left as the Democrats want him to. I will give him the benefit of the doubt until he proves otherwise. We will see what happens in the first 100 days. After that…all is fair in politics.”
Another Marine, John W. Collick, Jr. closes out the veteran comments with these words,
“There is nobody more furious about Obama’s election than I. That being said, I am very concerned but am holding fire and praying he does a good job…I will never treat Obama the way the Left treated President Bush. I will only attack on the issues when I disagree – and will explain why I disagree. I expect Obama supporters will call us “hateful” whenever we disagree, so there must be substance to our disagreements.”
Collick ends with a thought that seems to reflect the mood of most retired military and veterans. “I don’t believe Obama loves our nation and more or any less than I do. I believe he wants to take us down a much different road than I want for our nation. I think he is going to take us down the wrong road, but he will be our President and we need to show him proper respect.”
Semper Fidelis,
Thomas D. Segel
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