This column appears in today’s New York Times: “Veterans Aren’t Campaign Props.”

The writer takes to task, in this case a presidential campaigner. We’d like to add that other “elected public servants” regularly like to have photo ops with those “camera hungry” veterans, too.

The author of the column, a former infantry officer, reminds:

“But when the next military intervention is announced, or when the next cut to veterans’ benefits emerges, you’ll see it packaged as some way of helping our veterans and our military. There might even be some veterans standing behind the speaker, forever symbolic, in whose name any vulgarity can be sold.”

We would like to see a lot fewer folks representing veterans’ organizations being “used” by those in office and those seeking office and those in office who are regularly seeking to stay in office … or at the trough.