The holiday season is a time that should be spent in the comfort of home with family and friends. Unfortunately for many of our nation’s heroes, that’s not always the case.
For more than 20 years I served as VA nurse and had the honor of spending thousands of hours with veterans around the holidays. They are memories I will always treasure. Veterans have sacrificed so much for our nation, and it was always sad to see them stuck in a hospital around Christmas. But I was also uplifted by how their family, friends, and the caring VA staff rallied around them during the holidays.
Unfortunately, I’ve recalled these memories in 2016 for a different reason – Newt Gingrich.
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich deserves a truckload of coal for saying VA workers are killers. It is indisputable that the VA offers the highest level of care to veterans in our country. And, often, those who work at the VA are veterans too. He should retract and apologize for his statement, but I can’t imagine that he actually cares.
Perhaps Newt’s scorned by his former ally President-elect Donald Trump, who has yet to name him to any Cabinet-level position. Or maybe he’s still seeking the fame he once felt owed. Then again, it’s possible his pride still is irreparably wounded from when President Clinton made him exit a plane from the rear.
Whatever has Newt all twisted up can’t fully be explained. But, his continued calls for an outlandish overhaul of the VA, disgusting attacks on federal workers, and continued detachment from reality are making it impossible for me to bite my tongue.
Gingrich may look jolly, but he doesn’t have an ounce of holiday cheer. To date, the man who forced our federal government to shut down for 27 days – from December 16, 1995 until January 6, 1996 – figures his best way back to the headlines is to say the most outrageous thing possible. Here are a few examples:
Wage a ‘straight-out war’ on federal bureaucracy, Gingrich urges Trump– Last week Gingrich resurfaced in the news when he called the VA an “archetype of — of disaster,” and urged for an all-out assault on federal civil servants who keep our country running. Washington Post columnist Joe Davidson rightly noted that Gingrich doesn’t know “more about VA care than organizations representing veterans, because he is not one.”
Gingrich suggests Trump pardon advisers who break the law and Gingrich: Trump doesn't want to 'drain the swamp' anymore– As one of the longer-serving creatures of the so-called D.C. lagoon, Gingrich’s ideas of protecting certain insiders falls in line with his career modus operandi. He has never been above using his power to further his goals, and relishes in being far removed from the everyday working man. Both in the scrutiny each should receive, and the trappings his positions have offered him. His so-called ‘reform’ by mass firings shows just how much disdain he has for those who patrol our borders, protect our prisons, keep our air travelers safe, process our Social Security checks, and care for our veterans.
Sometimes, the family and friends of veterans couldn’t visit during the holidays. But those veterans were not alone. Dedicated VA employees were by their side and provided more than just health care. They provided comfort, camaraderie, and compassion. If I were to hope for something for Mr. Gingrich this Christmas, it’s that he is able to find the same.