3 Comments

This substack is great. The topic of veterans is such a minefield. It requires a veteran to discuss fully.

I've had several friends come back from the military and struggle to adjust to 'normal' life. The whole time they're struggling, they're being called a hero by the right and a psycho by the left when the truth is much messier and guys like Crenshaw don't help.

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There is probably no organization better than the U.S. military at taking individuals from all walks of life, from all philosophical points of view and ethnicities, and forcing them to work together, problem solve, for the common good.

The problem is that a lot of calm, rational, non-battle-scarred veterans are shunted aside because they aren’t exotic or newsworthy enough. Instead, you end up with a plethora of secret squirrel, special ops guys with whom the media engages in sort of a live-hate relationship.

We would do well to elect a few more ordinary, non-newsworthy veterans. With what’s going on in DC these days, boring, dull problem solvers appear to be an unattainable luxury.

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I'm fully skeptical of any veterans using their military experience to advocate for anything other than accountability in the pentagon, services for active duty/veterans, or a more diplomatic foreign policy.

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