So let's show them some 'light'- from our burning membership cards. Duty, Honor, Country- VFW-PAC cannot abide by it any longer. Last night, Blackfive asked if I was going to put up another post discussing the VFW debacle- I replied that I wanted to do something this morning for it, pondering what an appropriate post would be. I'm glad I waited. I awoke this morning to find that the VFW-PAC, instead of properly acknowledging their mistakes, have taken this to a whole new level and dug in like the Japanese on Iwo. Or, perhaps more appropriately, like an osterich in the sand- leaving their ass exposed. I was fully ready today to acknowledge that the VFW commander had released an appropriate statement on the issue: As determined in the VFW By-Laws, as the national officers, we have specific responsibilities to take definitive action when events can have a detrimental impact on the organization. It is clear to us that the current situation now demands direct action; therefore, we are requesting the chairman and the directors of the Political Action Committee immediately rescind their endorsement actions. This is appropriate- and likely the ONLY appropriate statement in the entire release posted here. Why is this? Because they put in the opening the following statement: The VFW PAC was created by the VFW members and not by VFW national leaders. 2/3 of the delegates of the 80th VFW National Convention (1979) voted to establish PAC as a standing committee. This is entirely misleading. Why? Because, in their own internal documents, they say this: VFW-PAC Board of Directors Director - one year appointment by C-in-C Treasurer – one year appointment by C-in-C Nine Additional Members Two are appointed each year by the C-in-C for four-year terms; One is appointed to serve as Chairman for a one-year term. Ladies Auxiliary member is appointed by the National President to serve a one-year term. This is from a slide presentation from this year, that you can see here: ( Download PAC Workshop Presentation August 2010 National Convention ). It was appears it was removed when the VFW re-did their web site this week. And honestly, when they first did that, I was under the impression it was to 'cover up' all the material regarding the VFW-PAC. I'm not so sure of that now, but, I have my concerns on their timing... As you can see, THE COMMANDER APPOINTS THE BOARD OF THE PAC. To say that this is 'separate' is disingenuous. And the fact that, after what the Commander posted yesterday, for the PAC to say the following: The VFW-PAC stands by the endorsement process used during the 2010 election cycle. You jackwagons just destroyed all of your credibility. To refuse to understand what you've done, and to vehemently go against your own organization, smacks of elitism. Again, I reiterate, I'm CALLING FOR ALL PAC MEMBERS TO STEP DOWN; TO REMOVE THEMSELVES FROM THE PAC ORGANIZATION. How you are able to 'stand by' these horrific endorsements is beyond me. The team over at TAH even shows you how pitiful it is. In fact, I'm calling out that they are NOT doing this for the sole reason that they are attmepting to prop-up failing political candidacies by allowing those 'endorsed' candidates to use the VFW logo in their campaigns. One way to possibly 'fix' this: the Commander of the VFW should declare that NO candidate can use the VFW logo anywhere on their campaign literature; that NO candidate can even MENTION support of the National VFW; if they want to mention local posts, fine. That's up to the locals to deal with as appropriate. I am also asking that if any of you know the 'backgrounds' of these board members- please write me here at Blackfive so we can see exactly what these guys are up to. I'm insinuating that their backgrounds may be such that they fully support these candidates ON THEIR OWN, and have hijacked the PAC and the PAC process to the detriment of veterans. Here are the members: Salvatore J. Capirchio, Director Member of Post 2396 in Cranston, Rhode Island Tyrone N. Benson, Chairman Member of Post 7686 in Alamogordo, New Mexico Michael H. Wysong, Treasurer Member of Post 9503 in Bayville, New Jersey Kenneth R. Burton Jr., Board Member Member of Post 9182 in Katy, Texas Gary J. Goff, Board Member VFW Post 8260 in Nashville, Michigan Albert J. Bucchi, Board Member Member of Post 3020 in Delran, New Jersey Everett Martin, Board Member Member of Post 1732 in South Gate, California Paul A. Spera, Board Member Member Post 144 in Boston, Massachusetts Joe T.Wood, Board Member Member Post 8452 in Gainesville, Georgia James R. Mueller, Board Member Member Post 5077 in O’Fallon, Missouri I am going to go out on a limb here: given where most of these Board members are situtated, and their backgrounds listed on the site, I'm going to say they are definitively backing these candidates due to their political affiliations. Take it for what that means, fellas. I'm also saying to the Commander- these selections DO NOT represent your membership, as you can positively tell from all the calls and emails you are receiving. Your leadership fails to represent Veterans of today. Please, keep up the calls and emails to the headquarters! To remind you- Call the VFW at 1-202-544-5868. Email them at: vfwpac@vfw.org. VFW-PAC OFFICE: 202-544-5868 www.vfwpac.org Wolf
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Blackfive/~3/VYASZCBKu14/vfw-still-cant-see-the-light-.html
Posted
Oct 14 2010, 12:41 AM
by
BLACKFIVE