The Veterans' Bill of Rights

By John

Military.com, in their unending quest to connect servicemembers to their military benefits, has come up with a long overdue concept: the Veterans' Bill of Rights.

THROUGHOUT AMERICAN HISTORY our military has provided for the national defense and preserved our way of life. The American military is not a faceless body but a collection of individuals — patriots united by a legacy of selfless service and sacrifice. America's veterans know the cost of freedom and have never looked to others to pay that price.
THAT SPIRIT POWERS this rallying cry to veterans. Now is the time to find your brothers and sisters, those who also once bore the nation's burden. Look not solely to government agencies but to each other, as well. As ten percent of the American population, you have the ability to inform, to employ, to mentor, to heal — to change the lives of other veterans.

Now is the time.

Details here, as well as signing information for those who would like to support this worthy petition.

November 11, 2006 02:39 PM Supporting the Troops

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://op-for.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/605

Comments

It's a bill of entitlements, not a bill of rights. The distinction is important, especially considering the fact that unlike most people clamoring for entitlements we earned these. Respect, for example.

It's also an important distinction because unlike rights, someone else pays for your entitlements. It doesn't cost anything for me to exercise the right to free speech. An entitlement to education or health care, on the other hand, is a hefty burden on taxpayers.

And some of these are silly. Don't tell people they have the right to a good job because, frankly, there are a lot of opportunities for soldiers to make themselves more marketable that they ignore. And of course the right to a community is just an excuse for military.com to pat themselves on the back.

These problems make this "bill of rights" sound like so much self-promotion for military.com, so I'm not signing it.

scooby · November 11, 2006 08:09 PM

Scooby, with due respect, you have no idea what Military.com's intentions are. And that's not all you got wrong.

These benefits are already available to veterans. The problem is connecting the benefits to the people, it's not as easy as simply calling up the American Legion and asking.

Military.com's sole purpose is to faciliate that connection. I'm not sure what exactly set you off here?

John · November 11, 2006 09:15 PM

I'm not sure what exactly set you off here?

Two things: conflating rights and entitlements, and the self-aggrandizing and pretentious "bill of rights."

you have no idea what Military.com's intentions are.

Ultimately they have a bottom line, as evidenced by the offer of a free membership when you sign the petition, and the sending of this hook to 10 other people. There's nothing wrong with running a business, but the fact remains that lobbying for others is generally not good business.

Taking it more at face value, if it's a real petition, who is it going to? Why can't I see a list of who has signed it? Couldn't they have linked to an essay discussing how all these "rights" would be implemented? Or a discussion group along those lines?

But, hey, prove me wrong. Show me what is actually being proposed. I'm not even demanding actual legislation, just a thoughtful piece that shows some solid thinking. I don't see any evidence of that on the petition page.

scooby · November 12, 2006 01:48 PM

Membership at military.com is free anyway, regardless of whether you sign the petition or not.

Joel · November 13, 2006 08:30 AM