EDITORIAL: VFW's election betrayal--Veterans' PAC gives aid and comfort to enemy politicians

The Washington Times ^ | October 19, 2010 | Editorial

[jazusamo]

The names Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer don't immediately convey the message "Support our troops." Yet somehow these leftist Democrats and other questionable characters made it onto the Veterans of Foreign Wars Political Action Committee's (VFW-PAC) 2010 list of election endorsements. In response to the scandal, VFW national Commander Richard L. Eubank sacked the entire PAC board.

In a letter to VFW members issued Monday, Mr. Eubank, a former Marine and decorated Vietnam veteran, said, "It is now evident to most of the VFW leadership, both National and especially the departments, that the VFW has been subjected to extreme negative publicity throughout the nation, and the recent endorsement decisions have, in fact, harmed the VFW's reputation and future ability to fulfill our mission." He asked for the PAC to be dissolved and for the VFW's national council to vote "no confidence" in the PAC's actions.

Jim Hanson, a Special Forces veteran whose Blackfive blog has been following the issue closely, says the problem was a "lack of oversight." The PAC is a quasi-independent entity nominally separate from the VFW but nevertheless purportedly bound to act in the interests of the membership. When the controversial endorsement list came to the attention of the leadership, "They did what they were supposed to do, they shut it down." The VFW-PAC board stood by its recommendations as somehow being in the best interests of veterans, but "that was just farcical," Mr. Hanson told The Washington Times.

[jazusamo]

Thank You Commander Eubank, it has to be done!

[J Edgar]

We need more leaders like Commander Eubank, particularly in the NRA.

[pissant]

The dirty bastards chose Filner over Gunny Pop in CA 51. Incredible. Filner is Nancy Pelosi’s and Baghdad Jim McDermott’s ugly, red headed step child.

[grumpygresh]

I see a trend here:
AMA betrays doctors
AARP betrays seniors
NRA betrays conservative gun owners
and now
VFW PAC betrays veterans
These lobbyist groups are betraying the people. These groups are not conservative and don’t support the Constitution. They all deserve scorn. And if we don’t get the House, we will know who to blame!

[hsalaw]

They endorsed dem Ron Kline over Col. Alan West. That’s just plain nuts. Throw the bums out, indeed!

[NonValueAdded]

It had to be done but there is more to be done, and quickly:
1) Appoint a replacement board ASAP to withdraw the endorsements
2) Take down the PAC web site or update it to reflect that the endorsements are no longer valid
3) Recover any money given to the likes of Boxer and Grayson
4) Endorse and fund the true friends of the military and yes, there are a FEW democrats in that list.

[JennysCool]

Old hippies have infested all of those groups, and they will not go to their rest without a final stab at making America a socialist country.

[jazusamo]

The PAC supported so many turkeys there have to be leftists in the majority. They may have had a death and they’re getting their wish.

[jazusamo]

I agree but doubt it can be done before the election, I hope I’m wrong.

[jazusamo]

Please bump the Freepathon and donate or become a monthly donor!

[SC_Pete]

This was reprehensible. The Commander did all he could do after the fact. HOWEVER, FOR THINGS TO BE THIS OUT OF CONTROL, IT HAD TO HAVE TAKEN YEARS. The VFW for goodness sake. To support candidates that wanted our fighting men and women to lose the battle against Islamofascism dishonored every man or woman to ever wear the uniform of the US military. And these are the same RATS who want to deny miltary personnel from even VOTING!!!

[goodnesswins]

some Chambers of Commerce also do the same

[O6ret]

Before offering a thank you I’d first want to know why the oversight was lacking.

[jazusamo]

It’s my understanding the PAC is independent of the Commander and the Board. They’ve had some problems for years but it seams this year the PAC was so outrageous in many picks for endorsements and the complaints so many that it’s forced them to take action.

It was pointed out to me yesterday that the VFW PAC endorsed Murtha for years. Many said he was a great supporter of the military but that can definitely be debated, especially in later years.

[centurion316]

I suspect that some, if not all, of the PAC Board were bought by the DNC or by Soros. Look at the bios of the board members, they were regular joes for the most part, not high rolling fat cats. It probably did not take much money waved in front of their faces to buy their vote.

[lentulusgracchus]

[Art.] The PAC is a quasi-independent entity .....When the controversial endorsement list came to the attention of the leadership, "They did what they were supposed to do, they shut it down." The VFW-PAC board stood by its recommendations as somehow being in the best interests of veterans, but "that was just farcical,....

Opportunistic 'Rats got to the baby.

Good man Eubanks fumigated the room.

'Rats will always do that. They did it with PBS.

[jazusamo]

You could well be right. I don’t know how far back this goes but the PAC has been controversial for at least five years and I believe more. Of course Soros has been on the scene much longer than that.

[grumpygresh]

True. And what we must do is assess these groups and subsections on an individual basis. Some groups and chapters are worse than others.
Overall AARP is worse than AMA which is worse than NRA which is worse than the COC etc. Sometimes, on certain issues we can work with some of these some of the time and other groups but we have to remember that they can never be our “home” group that supports our core constitutional values. Right now, the decentralized, newly formed grass roots TP/Patriot groups seem to be our most reliable advocates.

[ballplayer]

I want my membership dues back

[gogogodzilla]

Geez, and I was about to join on Friday...

I don’t think I’ll be doing that now.