Does the VFW still lean strongly to the right?

[blondeatlast]

I'm curious that with the increasing numbers of Vietnam vets and the assault on their benefits if this is the case.

Have they shifted at all? How was Kerry received by them?

[jasmeel]

1. I was wondering the same thing--all the nightly news coverage

of Kerry's speech at the VFW said he got a cold reception. Some vets turned their back to him. What a$$holes!! Bush apparently got a great reception! Seems like veterans should be more pissed that * sent us to war for no reason!!!!!

[Democat]

2. That's bullshit, post a link, not talking points

My response to your post: "All of the news said that veterans love Kerry and hate Bush!"

Post links, not NewsMax either, to back up your bashing.

[fknobbit]

3. The V.F.W

And A.L. ORGANIZATIONS (not necessarily Membership) are whores for re pukes and good only for Bush photo ops., bingo and cold beer. The DAV, on the other hand, Tells it like it is. I spend a lot of time on Veterans Boards and We are wising up. I think GW is in for a shock, come Nov, cause the theme on most is "out the door In 04".

[bluedog]

4. the important question!!

were bushs vets screened and only republicans let in to worship their awol... coke snorting..... chicken....... idol?

[lunarboy13]

5. No...they didn't turn their back on Kerry....

Bush turned his back on THEM...You see, supporting our troops doesn't just mean saying nice things about them when they're bleeding all over a foreign country fighting an unnecessary war, it means supporing them when they come back. To date, Bush has cut veteran's benefits and has made no effort to "support" the 320,000 homeless veterans wandering around the land of the free.

The Land of the Free. Many repukes chanted that "Freedom isn't free" during the Iraq War.

Well, neither is ingnorance. It, too, has a cost.

DE-SELECT BUSH!!!

[Bandit]

6. Well this VFW does not lean right

I think many are embarrassed by Bush*. How could any honest intelligent person not be? Even vets have some intelligence.

[blondeatlast]

7. How about your colleagues? What are they saying?

They must be concerned about the loss of their benefits.

My dad ws a WWII vet (not VFW) and his kind are fading fast, I'm afraid. Is the dynamic changing?

[69KV]

8. The national orgs do

The national VFW and AL leaders do lean strongly to the right.

That is not necessarily so about some of the local chapters. I know of some local VFW chapters who let the Democratic party use their halls for victory parties and candidate speeches. Same for some local AL chapters.

The veterans organizations are sort of tricky to sort out their politics. Traditionally the VFW and AL were dominated by WWII vets, who were FDR's children and many of them were staunch lifelong Democrats. However, the Vietnam vets who joined the VFW and AL tended to be conservatives, with the liberal vets joining other orgs like Vietnam Veterans of America. That may or may not have changed in more recent years.

[Ghetto_Boy]

10. VFW member here.... decidedly right leaning organization, cheap beer!

[Sparkly]

9. Here's a letter I drafted to them -- not sure if I'll send it

I was just so bothered by this all day... Sometimes it helps to write a letter, whether or not I send it.

Dear VFW,

I feel compelled to write to you to express my profound disappointment and anguish at the VFW's reception of Senator and VFW member John Kerry today. The heckling and the comments made to the media afterwards, which I read online and heard on the radio, were disgraceful.

My father, father-in-law, and husband are all veterans, and I want our children to have pride in their service. I want them to have pride in all the American soldiers of yesterday and today, as well. But it was difficult to explain to my teenage daughter today why she heard members of the VFW on the car radio yelling that John Kerry is "a liar" and advocating a group that's out to smear his honor.

In 1971, I was 14 years old, and I still remember the anti-war sentiment of the time. My older sisters' friends and classmates were drafted and some were killed, and it seemed to me the war would never end. But even at my age, I knew John Kerry's testimony that year was a criticism of the government, not his fellow soldiers. The protests of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War were protests against the government, not their fellow soldiers. They wanted the war to end to save their fellow soldiers. There were many misunderstandings and disagreements, but by this time your members should know that the government was in fact not entirely honest with America, that Nixon knew there wouldn't be a victory, and that John Kerry's testimony on atrocities was reporting what other soldiers told him at a meeting in Detroit. And if they do not know that, why doesn't the VFW inform them?

Particularly disturbing to me were the remarks in support of John O'Neill's group. Why on earth would members of the VFW support a group that is calling into question the credibility of the U.S. Navy, casting doubt on every medal they've awarded?

I can explain to my teenaged daughter what the disagreements were during the Vietnam war era. What I can't explain to her is why members of the VFW are acting disrespectfully to one of its own members over three decades later. Shame on these men, and shame on the VFW if you don't at least attempt education and reconciliation after all this time. Please condemn the Republican-funded smear of John Kerry and the Navy itself, and help restore sanity to this generation, for the sake of the next one.

Sincerely,

[dogman]

11. I was a member.

I became Junior Vice-Commander in my post. I tried to ster the post away from running a bar and to be more family oriented. Needless to say I wore out my welcome rather quickly.

[Bullshot]

12. According to the AP report I saw today, the VFW gave Bush

a warmer reception than Kerry. Go figure.

Bush was AWOL. Some of the highest-ranking people in his administration were draft dodgers. Kerry was a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War.

Bush cuts veterans' benefits. Kerry plans to improve them.

Bush and his administration lied through their teeth about Iraq and its WMDs, leading us to an unnecessary war in which nearly 1000 Americans have died and thousands more are physically or mentally scarred for life.

Yet, these VFW convention-goers give Bush a warmer reception than Kerry, if you can believe the AP report.

I'm thinking that veterans are a lot like farmers. They bitch and moan about the government and its leaders, yet they continue to vote for the candidates that put the screws to them. Almost every farmer I know espouses this "get the government out of agriculture" rhetoric, yet, they're the first ones to sign up for farm programs at their local Farm Services Agency. Almost all of them belong to the Farm Bureau, which lobbies like hell for more government involvement in agriculture, despite their rhetoric. As a result, farmers' incomes are subsidized, their exports are subsidized, their conservation programs are subsidized and their crop insurance is subsidized. Go figure.

[jonnyblitz]

13. I was a VFW member and quit assuming they were right wing.

I didn't renew my membership this year...I will join Veterans for Peace instead.