re: VA of two minds when it comes to voting help for veterans

Pat Smith — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:00:03 GMT

There is already a small fire burning at the VA and you want to add fuel/politics to it?

Please do not refer to this as partisan politics. Veterans are of different race, color, creed, religions and political parties.

If the veteran is not already registered he or she can do so upon their release, if they are registered they can use the absentee ballot.

Can anyone see how the VA is actually protecting the rights of these injured veterans while they are hospitalized in their care? After an out-patient operation or just a mild sedation to have teeth extracted the patient beforehand has to sign a paper which tells them not to sign their name to any documentation, make any financial decision or even drive a vehicle for the next twenty-four hours.

These injured patients at the VA are more than likely on many various medications, which in turn would allow them to be more easily persuaded to sign their name to something they would normally not agree with. So in essence the VA is protecting the rights of the disabled and medicated veterans staying at the VA under their care and protection.

Look at how heated an argument on politics can get just on-line. Face to face in person I have watched actual fights break out, and right or wrong the security police at the VA has better things to do than stop an actual fight over someone's political opinion. At times there is enough bickering going on at the VA, why would anyone want to add politics to the fire?

I just wish that over medicated outpatient veterans had the same protection when it comes to signing loans from predatory lenders and car salesmen/politicians.

Why is it that at election time many are suddenly worried about the veterans in the nursing home not being able to vote? When I was able to volunteer there I was worried by some of the conditions there and said how many deserved to die with much more dignity. The same applies to the 200 thousand or more homeless veterans, let’s get them a real address (home) first then register them to vote.

Also think of the somewhat already tense working environment of the VA employees – nurses, doctors, management etc watching over the patients – and many individuals do have an inclination to express their political beliefs especially during an election – politics does not belong in a working environment, especially one as diverse as the VA and one where many are on various medications. All the employees especially in a MEDICAL facility need to focus on their job which is the patients care and well-being not politics.

After the Gulf war as a political science major I participated in a few voter registration drives and it was never the students doing the registering that caused the problems. The stress of a very heated over-heard or worst yet witnessed argument over politics can contribute to a life altering mistake by an otherwise good employee.

Something easier to consistently be worked for (even after this election) would be for something more simple and bi partisan like a voter registration card to always be placed in the patients room like the bible use to be and can then be made a part of the normal cleaning ritual after each patient is released and the room is then readied for the next new patient. Simple, consistent and bi partisan.

As a disabled female veteran I used my VA benefits to obtain a BA in the BS of political science. I am compelled to help our new veterans receive a comfortable, productive future they so rightly deserve.