SENATOR MC CAIN AND VETERANS

The Rev. Dana Prom Smith, S.T.D., Ph.D. (5/7/08)

Politicians talk a lot about supporting the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, but when it comes to delivering on their promises, they often as not fail. Senator John McCain is one of the failures. Following the lead of President Bush and the Bush administration that a new G.I. Bill would be too generous, he opposes a bill in Congress that would pay for the college education of veterans.

In 1944 President Roosevelt signed the original G.I. Bill of Rights that allowed all the veterans of World War II to get educations and training that otherwise they could not have afforded. I was one of them. The bill changed the face of America for the better and was an act of gratitude on the part of the government and the American people.

Senator McCain is continuing the Bush administration’s poverty of gratitude and charity toward the current generation of veterans. For a political candidate who had his education paid for by the Unites States government at the Naval Academy, he is personally no stranger to the government subsidizing education for the benefits it brings to the nation. Also, for a political candidate whose military service is part of his mystique, one wonders why he wants to deprive veterans of the opportunity for an education.

The answer is that he’s a Republican in the Bush mold of “use ‘em up and throw ‘em away.” In contrast to Bush, McCain touts his honor. His opposition to a new G.I. Bill is not honorable.