Osborne Ink ::

Today was my day. Veterans Day.

I celebrated by going to my $9/hour job where I sat for eight hours, aggravating my crumbling lumbar spine. I didn’t have enough money for lunch; a co-worker offered to buy me some tacos, but I despise charity, so they offered to “pay me back” for something I didn’t remember doing for them.

Worse, at break time I had to endure the witless intonations of a supervisor who never bothered to serve in uniform, but had a lot to say about which political party “really” supports veterans. Jobs being few and far between these days, I bit my tongue rather than put him to silent shame with certain uncomfortable facts.

But enough about me.

Word today has it that Tammy Duckworth may replace Obama in his Senate seat, but the blogosphere is talking up the possibility that she will be his new VA Secretary. There she is in the picture, visiting the Soldier Field memorial today with America’s president-elect. Now, allow me to exorcise a few demons by channeling Jimmie Dimmick:

Do you see her legs?

Look.

I said:


DO YOU SEE HER LEGS?!

Of course you don’t see her fucking legs, because she hasn’t got any legs!

They were blown off while she was flying a helicopter in Iraq. Her arm was left pretty mangled, too. Imagine that: the federal agency that takes care of disabled vets might get run by, well, a disabled vet. Whodathunkit? Except that the VA was already once run by a triple-amputee named Max Cleland, who did a great job and later became a senator. But Cleland was later upended by this lovely ad:

Yessiree, the guy who gave his country three limbs is really secretly pallin’ around with Osama bin Laden, yup. Those missing legs and arm are just a trick to disguise the suicide-bomb in his wheelchair.

Which brings me back to Duckworth. She’s been Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs. She has helped develop state programs to give tax credits to companies that hire vets. She has done her best to get adequate funding for vets homes. She is, in short, an ideal person to head an agency that still hasn’t fixed Walter Reed. She once observed that “there are veterans who, after having served this country, have to go without the basic care they were promised they would get” — and I couldn’t agree more.

For a lifetime of pain, limited endurance and mobility, and probable early-onset arthritis, my compensation is a whopping $230 a month. Woo hoo. But enough about me. Yes, there’s a donation button on my website, but that’s really to recoup the annual costs of keeping this website up.

Today, I have something else in mind: getting the bastard who ran that ad against Max Cleland.

Saxby Chabliss has voted against increased funding for vets health care SIXTEEN TIMES. he repeatedly filibusters bills to increase funding for PTSD and other mental health services. He’s voted against housing vouchers for veterans. In fact, he’s consistently voted against vets at every turn. His voting record reads like a wish-list for someone who hates American soldiers. Someone like…I don’t know…a certain guy hiding in a cave, somewhere.

Now Chambliss faces a runoff against a strong Democratic challenger in Jim Martin. Obama is sending staff to help him organize the state and get out the vote, but what Martin really needs is a cash infusion. I know times are tight (boy, do I ever know!), but if you have a few bucks to spare, please click on over to his ActBlue page right now and make a deposit.

I don’t want charity for Veteran’s Day. I want Duckworth for Senate or VA Secretary, and I want Saxby Chambliss out on his chickenhawk, chickenshit, Vietnam deferment-ass.