A cartoon showing a firing squad of bureaucrats and media with rifles aimed at US veterans has sparked a call for an investigation into one of America’s oldest veterans advocacy groups, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). The VFW, which has about 1.3 million members, says it has used the cartoon in different variations since the 1930s to protest efforts to cut veterans benefits.
Background
The most recent version of the cartoon features a pair of men in business suits, labeled “bureaucrats” and “media,” pointing rifles at two veterans in military fatigues, with the phrase “Honor the Contract” printed below. The phrases “Punishing Service,” “Removing Benefits” and “Waste and Fraud” are included in the image.
Rep. Mike Bost, the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, has asked VA Secretary Doug Collins to investigate the VFW after the satirical cartoon appeared on T-shirts being sold on behalf of the group. Bost and Rep. Jack Bergman, a Michigan Republican, wrote: “VFW has repeatedly authorized the use of its name, trademarks, and likeness on commercial merchandise depicting graphic, inflammatory, politically charged imagery surrounding pending veterans’ legislation.”
Response
The VFW says the cartoon “is not a depiction of violence. It is a symbolic representation of the consequences veterans face when Congress targets the benefits they earned through their service. It is also protected First Amendment speech.” Democrats in Congress and other veterans advocacy groups have come out in support of the VFW.
Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
