SOME DELEGATES MAY JOIN PATRIOTS' PROTEST.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
From Mars Society demonstrators to angry bus riders, nothing will make delegates squirm more than the sight of a couple of thousand old war veterans gathered behind a 10-foot fence yelling at them as they walk into Staples Center This article has multiple issues: * Its neutrality is disputed. * It may contain original research or unverifiable claims. * It does not cite any references or sources. next week. It will be an uncomfortable scene that cuts right to the heart of what's wrong with the way the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Affairs is a term of the business that deals with the relation between a government and its veteran communities, usually administered by the designated government agency. treats vets in this country - like second-class citizens. Some delegates, like Ray Cordova Cordova, Spain: see Córdoba. of Montebello, are planning to drop whatever they're doing at the convention at 10:30 next Tuesday morning, walk across the street to the designated protest area and join the veterans protesting the VA's cutbacks and broken promises. Cordova, regional director of the state Democratic Party in Orange County and district director for Rep. Grace Napolitano Grace Flores Napolitano (born December 4 1936), an American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999, representing California's At-large congressional district. from Montebello, says he won't be alone. ``I've already talked to a number of other delegates, many of them war veterans, and we all want to show solidarity with the protesting vets,'' said Cordova, a Vietnam veteran This article is about veterans of the Vietnam War. For the French psychedelic musical group, see Vietnam Veterans. Vietnam veteran is a phrase used to describe someone who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War. . ``It's not a walkout or anything against Al Gore Noun 1. Al Gore - Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton (born in 1948) Albert Gore Jr., Gore or the party. It's against the VA, which is downsizing (1) Converting mainframe and mini-based systems to client/server LANs. (2) To reduce equipment and associated costs by switching to a less-expensive system. (jargon) downsizing services and facilities for these vets at a time when they need them the most. ``Hopefully, we'll have more than 50 delegates there with the guys Tuesday morning for moral support and a show of strength,'' Cordova said. More than 2,000 U.S. military veterans concerned about Sepulveda, Long Beach and West Los Angeles
But the issues have grown much deeper and wider since then, and protesting veterans from all over Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, will be coming to tell their own stories of VA cutbacks and broken promises. ``It's difficult for a lot of us to air our grievances against our own country when we feel so strongly about it,'' said vet Harry Coleman. ``But this protest isn't about the country, it's about the VA.'' Coleman was in a group of four who reconnoitered the convention protest area earlier this week. With him were his wife, former Rep. Bobbi Fiedler Bobbi Fiedler (April 22, 1937–) was a Congresswoman from California who made a name for herself as a strong opponent of forced busing. Biography Born Roberta Frances Horowitz in Santa Monica, California on April 22, 1937, Fiedler attended area public schools. , who is also active in trying to reopen the Sepulveda gym, and vets Steve Palmer Stephen L Palmer (born Brighton Suffolk 31 March 1968) was a footballer who played in England in the 1980s and 1990s with Ipswich Town, Watford FC and QPR. Steve signed for QPR from Watford in July 2001 and made his debut in August of that year in the 1-0 win against Stoke and Darion Dubois. Fittingly, they found the area is in the shadow of portraits of two of this country's leading protesters - Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez Noun 1. Cesar Chavez - United States labor leader who organized farm workers (born 1927) Cesar Estrada Chavez, Chavez - painted on a hotel building. What the vets and Fiedler found gave them pause: no water, no shade and no toilet facilities for the men, many of whom are in their 70s and in wheelchairs. On Thursday, LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. spokesmen said water and toilet facilities would be made available next week at the protest site for all the 40 groups with permits, but there will be no shade canopies because police fear the poles could be used as weapons. A stage with a sound system will also be erected, but it will be in the middle of the protest area, facing away from the front of Staples Center. But at least the vets will be close enough to the delegates entering the convention floor to be seen and heard - maybe even make them squirm a little. ``We've got over 1,500 protest signs already made, and each vet has been asked to bring a flag with him,'' said Palmer. In Washington, VA spokesman John Hansen said his boss, Hershel Gober, veterans secretary, was well aware of the vets' protest. ``Mr. Gober has written letters to members of all the delegations reiterating our position on the Sepulveda gym situation,'' Hansen said. ``We still feel health-care dollars should not go for reopening a gym, that they should go for health care,'' he said. ``There has been no change in our position.'' Talk like this rankles Fiedler, no stranger to politics and political pressure. ``I have never seen an agency so arrogant,'' she said. Even with a handful of local U.S. senators and representatives leaning hard on the VA to use about $3 million it still has left from the $100 million it was given to fix the Sepulveda facility after the 1994 earthquake, it will not budge. Even with a bill with strong bipartisan support making its way through Congress right now, directing the department to use that money to fix the gym, the VA will not budge. Even with the strong potential that the Democratic Party and its presidential nominee will be embarrassed by a demonstration by veterans, the Clinton-appointed VA leadership will not budge. So a bunch of old vets in their 60s and 70s have to go back to war. Have to catch a bus or drive downtown in 100-degree heat and stage a protest at the Democratic National Convention. Not against their country, which they deeply love. Against a VA that treats them like second-class citizens. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Checking out where veterans will picket are, from left, Steve Palmer, Darion Dubois, Bobbi Fiedler and Harry Coleman. John McCoy/Staff Photographer |
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