An absolutely livid Montel Williams, who served 22 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy, savaged the government, the Obama administration and the American people over the unfolding Veterans Administration scandal, accusing us all of violating our promise to care for those who swore to protect us.
The well-known talk show host and (less well-known) veterans’ advocate appeared on Fox News with Neil Cavuto on Wednesday to vent his anger over recent revelations surrounding the treatment of America’s sick veterans by the VA.
An inspector general report released Wednesday confirmed that at a Phoenix-area VA office, thousands of veterans waited months for much-needed appointments with specialists.
More egregiously (and criminally), 1,700 veterans were kept off the appointment wait-list in order to meet federal criteria for referrals. And many VA whistleblowers are alleging the problems are not confined to Phoenix alone.
Williams was incensed. “I am angry, my friend,” he told Cavuto. “I’m angry because, you know, we made a promise. When I stood with my hand up proudly, I said, ‘I do solemnly swear and affirm to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic and I will bear true faith –.’ I went through my oath.”
“I told the world I’m willing to put my life on the line and die for you,” he continued. “Now, our guys went over. They left body parts. Some of them never made it back. Some of them are here now and their souls are still there. And we have the audacity to turn our back on them right this second?”
“I’m going to tell you something,” Williams said. “All societies are judged by what they do for the least of us. The least of us, the ones that protected this democracy. We owe this debt, more than anything else.”
Williams then took aim at the White House. “The president just promised $5 billion for terrorists around the world?!” he asked angrily. “At West Point?! Where he could have used today to say, ‘I’m sorry! For the pain that I’ve caused you, the families! And I’m going to fix it today!'”
But the American people didn’t get a pass either. “I see, talk to on a regular basis people who left more of their bodies and more parts of them overseas,” an emotional Williams explained. “Their souls are still here, but they just wonder why. Why?”
“You know, four years ago people bought them lunch in the airport,” he noted. “Now they just kind of look at them as they kind of pass by and kind of wave. And I’m not telling you to go buy them something, they just want to know that you appreciate the fact that the reason why we and you didn’t have to send your children to go do this is because they did it for you.”
Finally, Williams noted the lack of interest in the scandal by most of the mainstream media. “I have people tweeting me saying, ‘How dare you even talk to Glenn Beck about this?” he explained. “‘Why would you talk to Glenn Beck about this?'”
“Well guess what, I put out my op-ed piece, Glenn Beck was the only person who picked it up,” Williams said angrily. “I couldn’t get traction in The New York Times, Washington Post. They don’t want to hear me, I guess.”