Soldiers Get Political

Soldiers Get Political

Vote Vets, a coalition of soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, have produced three of the best and most powerful tv ads of this political season.

These ads show how profoundly anti-military the Republican Party has become, by cutting veterans’ health care in a time of war, by sending our troops into battle without the body armor they needed and by hyping a non-existent threat in Iraq that has made America less secure and needlessly put our loved ones at risk.

A related group, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), recently released a report card grading how Congress voted on issues important to recent war vets. Eighty six members of Congress received a “D” or an “F.” All of the twelve flunkees were Republicans. In contract, virtually the entire “A Team” is compromised of Democrats.

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Vote Vets, a coalition of soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, have produced three of the best and most powerful tv ads of this political season.

These ads show how profoundly anti-military the Republican Party has become, by cutting veterans’ health care in a time of war, by sending our troops into battle without the body armor they needed and by hyping a non-existent threat in Iraq that has made America less secure and needlessly put our loved ones at risk.

A related group, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), recently released a report card grading how Congress voted on issues important to recent war vets. Eighty six members of Congress received a “D” or an “F.” All of the twelve flunkees were Republicans. In contract, virtually the entire “A Team” is compromised of Democrats.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, or even an A student, to figure out which party really supports the troops. That’s why so many vets, from Patrick Murphy, Joe Sestak and Chris Carney in Pennsylvania, to Tammy Duckworth in Illinois to Charlie Brown in California are in good shape 24 hours before the polls close.

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

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Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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