"US military veterans heed Occupy rallying cry"

HMQ

HMQ

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(I copied this over from the other "Occupy Wall Street" thread, which had morphed into a discussion about colleges/student loans.)

Much as some would like to boil this down to protests by a group of people they don't like, it's just not that simple. This is not just about "kids" strapped by student loans, or those who feel a sense of entitlement. Here's an interesting article which looks at it from another perspective, from the Associated Press today: (link to full article: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/a...sieJournal.com)


"NEW YORK — Thousands of U.S. military veterans are heeding the rallying cry of Occupy Wall Street, saying corporate contractors in Iraq made big money while the troops defending them came home — and can't make a living now.

"For too long, our voices have been silenced, suppressed and ignored in favor of the voices of Wall Street and the banks and the corporations," said Joseph Carter, a 27-year-old Iraq war veteran who marched Wednesday to Zuccotti Park, the epicenter of the movement that has spread worldwide.


The former Army sergeant from Seattle spoke to fellow Occupy protesters and passersby on Broadway after joining about 100 veterans marching in uniform from the Vietnam Veterans Plaza through Manhattan's financial district nearby.


Their unemployment rate outstrips the national average and is expected to worsen. They worry about preservation of First Amendment rights. And they're angry.


A week before Veterans Day, generations of former U.S. military men and women threw their considerable weight behind the Occupy movement born in mid-September when about 100 protesters also marched in the Wall Street area."
Click to expand...
 
Our reliance on contracts has been pretty egregious. One of my buddies from the SFG just got out and got a contractor gig in Kandahar. He was an 18E, and does the same thing now for more than double his E-6 pay. The contract rates we pay people WE trained is ridiculous. The bidding system is broken.
 
If the company doesn't have work for them to do they are not going to hire them or anybody. The fact that a company made money or is sitting on a bunch of cash is irrelevant.
 
Interesting how they are trying to paint this as massive support by veterans...

It's an interesting effect, probably due in no small part by the general respect the public has for the military. Attach veterans to your cause, and hope to gain more respect. Is that how this is going?
 
This is not related to the veterans but I was listening to a interview on the radio this morning and they were interviewing OWS protestors in NY. Now this was conservative media so they are picking and choosing what to actually report so take it with a grain of salt.

Question 1: What is the Dodd Frank Act? Most of the answers were "I don't know".

Question 2: Who is the Chairman ofthe Federal Reserve? "I don't know", "Somebody Greene" and "Ben something Bernanke"

I arrived at work and didn't here anymore of the interviews.
 
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I sorry but I started to write something else but my profanity was obscuring my thoughts. But can ad hominem attacks be ignored? Shall we consider the sources lack of understanding? Or just kick him in the ba**s?
 
Haven't seen a lot of uniforms in the OWS movement? I am sure that every national or local news would pick up on that.
 
I think it is funny that for a certain situation military veterans supporting something matters (i.e. this case) whereas in a different situation military veterans supporting something does not matter.

Double Standard.
 
I think it is more that some are using the uniform to do so.
If you want to support OWS, go right ahead. It's your right to voice your opinion on proper policy. Just don't use the uniform or your position as a service member as some misplaced appeal to authority or to create the impression that the DoD has a position on this.
 
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