Veterans Affairs

Veterans Affairs

 

What I’d like to know is how come nobody in our defense and/or veterans affairs department is actually even a veteran. I mean, how do they square that with the job at hand? You don’t get to run a neurology department in a major hospital with a diesel mechanic’s certificate now do ya? So how is it you can understand the needs of veterans when you’re not one yourself? Bein’ a former police chief don’t cut no ice for the job an’ that’s a fact. Well at least not if you’re “J(ack) S.” Fantino. Hell, he couldn’t even take on Rob Ford, let alone run a government department. Then there’s Peter MacKay – ‘nuff said.

Of course I don’t really understand the other side neither, the armed forces that is. They recruit these people to go over to some foreign country to get their arms an’ legs blown off, get scorched an’ burned in their vehicles, get their brains addled by all the violence they’re forced to commit, an’ then muster them outa the army before they can collect a pension, handin’ them over to the Veterans Affairs department. They deal with that a little like gettin’ rid o’ obsolete equipment, replacin’ them with new recruits as needed.

So Fantino then decides there’s too many o’ them veterans chewin’ up too much o’ his budget an he’s gonna cut costs one way or another. In fact he’s payin’ bonuses to people in his department who come up with cost savin’ schemes. They got a whole bunch o’ closed offices, turnin’ the means o’ access to computer websites with no particular change in wait times and turnin’ payments to veterans into one time payouts in about fifty years time. He’s fixed his department an’ put it’s budget in line. He must be pretty proud of hisself, struttin’ around like a peacock. Bully for him. There’s only one little detail he left out. That’s the very veterans he’s supposed to serve. Aw, shoot! Well, ya can’t have everything I suppose.

Of course, yesterday they fired him (reinforcin’ my argument) an’ made him deputy minister of the defense department. Ha! Him an’ Peter McKay – the dynamic duo! Well they created that new job for him ‘cause they need his votes in the upcomin’ election, an’ they hired a veteran pilot to take his place. I don’t know how that’s gonna fly. In my mind they shoulda hired Romeo Delaire. At least he’d know what it’s about. In the meantime I hope them Afghan vets get their day in court, leavin’ the Veterans Affairs department an’ the rest of them government dufusses bloodied an’ broken.

Actually, they got a pretty good system in Egypt where the army throws everybody in government in the slammer an’ then takes over to clean up the mess an’ then hands it all back to the people. Not bad. At least that’s how it seems to me from up here on the top shelf.

Just sayin’.