The Silence After the Salute
The same government that orders troops to patrol U.S. streets now cuts their healthcare, mental health support, and food assistance. Gratitude has become exploitation.
Guest article by Michael Cohen.
Veterans Day used to mean something. It used to be a solemn, sacred moment to pause and reflect on the extraordinary courage of the men and women who have worn our nation’s uniform—the people who’ve carried the weight of our wars, our mistakes, and our freedoms on their backs. Today, it feels like a hollow ritual; a flag waved in one hand while the other signs away the very benefits that help those same heroes survive once the parades are over.
This administration loves to wrap itself in the flag but spits on the people who’ve defended it. It talks about “law and order,” but tramples the very ideals that veterans swore an oath to protect: democracy, decency, and the Constitution. On this Veterans Day, as we’re urged to thank our service members, President Trump and his cronies are busy slashing the programs that help veterans live with dignity—cutting food assistance through SNAP, restricting healthcare access, and gutting mental health resources for those who already sacrificed enough.
Let me say it plainly: this administration doesn’t support our troops; it exploits them.
Take what’s happening right now across the country. Trump has been deploying the National Guard to Democratic-led cities under the guise of “protecting federal property.” But listen to what the troops themselves are saying. In an encrypted group chat, members of the Ohio National Guard are expressing something you won’t hear on Fox News: fear, disgust, and disillusionment. These are not left-wing activists; they’re soldiers who took an oath to defend the Constitution, not serve as Trump’s personal police force.
https://www.meidasplus.com/p/the-silence-after-the-salute
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