Say Anything Blog

Veterans Demand Apology from GOP and FOX for Lies About VA

August 27, 2009 - The claim that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a manual encouraging veterans to “commit suicide,” made by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, is an asinine assertion with no basis in fact.

Steele made the charge two days ago (August 25th) on FOX News. Steele’s egregious comments are an outrageous slander against VA designed to create an atmosphere of mistrust and fear among the millions of our veterans who rely on the VA for medical care. Veterans demand an apology from Steele and FOX News.

“Let me be absolutely clear, Steele lied. There is no VA manual encouraging veterans to commit suicide,” said Paul Sullivan, the executive director of VCS, a non-profit based in Washington, DC providing advocacy for veterans, especially veterans with mental health conditions.

Here is the full text of Steele’s comments:

“If you want an example of bad public policy, let’s look at this situation with our veterans where you have a manual out there, telling our veterans stuff like, ‘Are you really a value to your community?’ and, you know, encouraging them to commit suicide. This is crazy coming from the government, and this is exactly what concerns people, what puts them in fear of what government controlled health care, of health care, will look like.”

SAB Nutters, do you believe there is “a manual out there, telling our veterans stuff like, ‘Are you really a value to your community?’ and, you know, encouraging them to commit suicide.”?