Daniel, I remember you as an interesting character with character from our long ago days chatting in the seats at Spotsylvania BOS meetings.
Arguments centered in those days around such heated issues as whether black stories should be told pictorially on the mural on the wall behind the supervisors’ seats, and about whether and how to make developers pay their fair share of the cost of residential sprawl. National politics was about spin, and not yet about rampant lies. Folks complained about the federal government but they believed strongly in our foundations of freedom (Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights) and the importance of the principle known as the separation of powers.
Times have changed and the gloves are off. Trump and MAGA have led that change, and you’ve many times previously made clear your alliance with that truth-challenged duo. So, please forgive me if your use of the “officer and a gentleman” facade doesn’t pass the sniff test; especially when you claim it applies to the fervent Trump supporting candidate running against Rep. Vindman; especially when he flew that MAGA flag and donned that silly red hat so fervently during the Republican primary, yet now downplays that allegiance as the general election nears.
Steve Watkins has the guts to go toe to toe with threatening forces on big issues. He also has the integrity to publish the responses of those calling him out. I’ve read all those articles and I’m satisfied that Phil Huber and Steve occupy the moral and journalistic high ground. That’s hallowed territory, a place never yet visited by the likes of folks named Trump, or RFK jr, or Hegseth, or Vance, or so many other unqualified amateur political operatives and appointees. And if Rep. Vindman blows his top in frustration while talking about these fools, it is with purposeful intent. Good men stand up to evil. And they stand up for the truth, and for the voiceless and victims of discrimination.
Meanwhile, you’re standing up for liars and haters and the too many billionaires who think politicians are there for their bidding and purchase.
I am a 76 year old US citizen & have always had faith & trust in my government, even if I did not always agree with the policies of the party in office. That belief & trust has been crushed by our current administration, that is destroying this country. As I recall in the first months of his current term & with the influence of DOGE, a freeze was put on the hiring for employees of a brand new veterans’ facility preparing to open in our area. What a waste was all I could think at the time. Is that the actions of a President giving consideration to the needs of veterans? You ask people to trust the statistics of a government headed by a man who constantly lies. And he heads his agencies with individuals who will bend to his narcissistic will. I can no longer trust “research” and policies of CDC, FDA, or about any government agency. So whose “numbers” am I going to believe, a government official or Mr. Huber, whose articles have been top notch and very professional. You accuse the Advance of being partisan, yet your response reeks of partisanship.
As a veteran, I am disappointed that Daniel P. Cortez would exploit the issue of VA health care to endorse his favored candidate and trash his opponent. On the one hand, Mr. Cortez condemns those “willing to cash out the public trust to make a temporary political point” and engage in “the shallow politics of political theater.” He then proceeds to bash Rep. Eugene Vindman, who has advocated full staffing at VA health care clinics, for his “volcanic temper” and for being “self-serving” Then he lauds his opponent, Doug Ollivant, for being “an officer and gentleman.” These comments belong on a bumper sticker, not in a column purporting to address the issue of veterans’ health care.
"His Republican challenger—Doug Ollivant—has campaigned both as an officer and gentleman. Some of us still value these qualities as the core of one’s character, not a stepping stone to something else."
I would love to hear who you voted for as President in 2024.
Funny how you take issue with information provided by Democrats, but have no doubt that the Republicans are working in the best interests of vets. It's almost like you're getting... political.
Noted below where much more informed and qualified people have addressed this letter exceptionally well.
Thanks folks, well done.
And thank you Mr Watkins (no known relation closer than Adam), and Col Huber for your original raising of this issue, a willingness to objectively look at a challenge to the concerns and data presented regarding an area of major concern to the community, and where necessary, not only defend your reporting, but willingness to adjust it or clarify it where that is found to be what was needed to present the data.
All while also still defending what appear to be legitimate concerns, rather than buckling to threat or challenge.
Again, thanks to all concerned.
As for Mr Cortez's letter, again - looks to me like that has been covered well.
Though I would note that his response seems much longer on political commentary, and much shorter on data than Col Huber's original letter that evoked such a pointed and partisan response.
Is the federal executive branch not in charge of the VA system? Who else are we supposed to ask about it?
Putin? Musk? Murdoch?
His letters appears to be more of an effort to kill the messenger for daring to ask questions and demanding accountability rather than a substantive repudiation of the issues raised.
I didn't know we now lived in a dictatorship, where dissent is not tolerated.
Must not have gotten the memo.
Guess that's what happens when a partisan SCOTUS informs us that when their party's leader is in power, he is to be obeyed as a king. As an equally complacent, compliant, and complicit Congressional majority of the most minimal amount abdicates any form of oversight.
Including Rob Wittman, btw.
Whether it be regarding civil liberties, war, taxes, treaties, attacks on citizens, open and continual corruption, destruction of public properties and protections.
It's no wonder they insist no one question them. It's a house of cards with the flimsiest of relation to reality.
Went back and reread the original columns.
All the good Colonel said was that those who have been most effective in withstanding these unprecedented Project 2025 attacks on our nation and its people - have been those with the guts to fight back.
His was a much more respectful and reserved commentary than I could write, as I see this political party/cult take continual and unprecedented attacks on us, it's fellow citizens.
For some of us, no kings would be a core part of our philosophy even if that king were as thoughtful as Obama, decent as Bush Jr, honorable as Bush Sr, intelligent as Clinton (Mr or Mrs), or kind as Biden.
Even then, we would say no kings.
Much less whatever this bankrupt, hot mess of entitlement, incompetence, and greed is supposed to be. Is the Donald dreaming/posting of Jesus bowing to him in his glory, or dumping shit on the rest of us with jet fighters?
Who cares? Either way, we get the point.
Then again, one of those decent people I mentioned would never expect to be kings. Thats the difference.
They understood they were servants, not lords.
This is a party who commits daily outrages that in another time, would have evoked demands for change from all of our citizens if only one of them occurred. Much less, all of them.
Any of you know of another leader who openly called for his party to cheat to stay in power, all at the same time ignoring law, Constitution, and precedent to actively do so?
Happened last week, barely made a headline.
So Mr Cortez doesn't like it when people challenge their outrages?
Daniel, I remember you as an interesting character with character from our long ago days chatting in the seats at Spotsylvania BOS meetings.
Arguments centered in those days around such heated issues as whether black stories should be told pictorially on the mural on the wall behind the supervisors’ seats, and about whether and how to make developers pay their fair share of the cost of residential sprawl. National politics was about spin, and not yet about rampant lies. Folks complained about the federal government but they believed strongly in our foundations of freedom (Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights) and the importance of the principle known as the separation of powers.
Times have changed and the gloves are off. Trump and MAGA have led that change, and you’ve many times previously made clear your alliance with that truth-challenged duo. So, please forgive me if your use of the “officer and a gentleman” facade doesn’t pass the sniff test; especially when you claim it applies to the fervent Trump supporting candidate running against Rep. Vindman; especially when he flew that MAGA flag and donned that silly red hat so fervently during the Republican primary, yet now downplays that allegiance as the general election nears.
Steve Watkins has the guts to go toe to toe with threatening forces on big issues. He also has the integrity to publish the responses of those calling him out. I’ve read all those articles and I’m satisfied that Phil Huber and Steve occupy the moral and journalistic high ground. That’s hallowed territory, a place never yet visited by the likes of folks named Trump, or RFK jr, or Hegseth, or Vance, or so many other unqualified amateur political operatives and appointees. And if Rep. Vindman blows his top in frustration while talking about these fools, it is with purposeful intent. Good men stand up to evil. And they stand up for the truth, and for the voiceless and victims of discrimination.
Meanwhile, you’re standing up for liars and haters and the too many billionaires who think politicians are there for their bidding and purchase.
I am a 76 year old US citizen & have always had faith & trust in my government, even if I did not always agree with the policies of the party in office. That belief & trust has been crushed by our current administration, that is destroying this country. As I recall in the first months of his current term & with the influence of DOGE, a freeze was put on the hiring for employees of a brand new veterans’ facility preparing to open in our area. What a waste was all I could think at the time. Is that the actions of a President giving consideration to the needs of veterans? You ask people to trust the statistics of a government headed by a man who constantly lies. And he heads his agencies with individuals who will bend to his narcissistic will. I can no longer trust “research” and policies of CDC, FDA, or about any government agency. So whose “numbers” am I going to believe, a government official or Mr. Huber, whose articles have been top notch and very professional. You accuse the Advance of being partisan, yet your response reeks of partisanship.
Amen. Can't trust an administration whose own people coined the term "alternative facts" to try to sugarcoat their lies.
As a veteran, I am disappointed that Daniel P. Cortez would exploit the issue of VA health care to endorse his favored candidate and trash his opponent. On the one hand, Mr. Cortez condemns those “willing to cash out the public trust to make a temporary political point” and engage in “the shallow politics of political theater.” He then proceeds to bash Rep. Eugene Vindman, who has advocated full staffing at VA health care clinics, for his “volcanic temper” and for being “self-serving” Then he lauds his opponent, Doug Ollivant, for being “an officer and gentleman.” These comments belong on a bumper sticker, not in a column purporting to address the issue of veterans’ health care.
I expect well researched and written articles from the Fredericksburg Advance and have not been disappointed. Carry on and thank you.
"His Republican challenger—Doug Ollivant—has campaigned both as an officer and gentleman. Some of us still value these qualities as the core of one’s character, not a stepping stone to something else."
I would love to hear who you voted for as President in 2024.
Funny how you take issue with information provided by Democrats, but have no doubt that the Republicans are working in the best interests of vets. It's almost like you're getting... political.
Noted below where much more informed and qualified people have addressed this letter exceptionally well.
Thanks folks, well done.
And thank you Mr Watkins (no known relation closer than Adam), and Col Huber for your original raising of this issue, a willingness to objectively look at a challenge to the concerns and data presented regarding an area of major concern to the community, and where necessary, not only defend your reporting, but willingness to adjust it or clarify it where that is found to be what was needed to present the data.
All while also still defending what appear to be legitimate concerns, rather than buckling to threat or challenge.
Again, thanks to all concerned.
As for Mr Cortez's letter, again - looks to me like that has been covered well.
Though I would note that his response seems much longer on political commentary, and much shorter on data than Col Huber's original letter that evoked such a pointed and partisan response.
Is the federal executive branch not in charge of the VA system? Who else are we supposed to ask about it?
Putin? Musk? Murdoch?
His letters appears to be more of an effort to kill the messenger for daring to ask questions and demanding accountability rather than a substantive repudiation of the issues raised.
I didn't know we now lived in a dictatorship, where dissent is not tolerated.
Must not have gotten the memo.
Guess that's what happens when a partisan SCOTUS informs us that when their party's leader is in power, he is to be obeyed as a king. As an equally complacent, compliant, and complicit Congressional majority of the most minimal amount abdicates any form of oversight.
Including Rob Wittman, btw.
Whether it be regarding civil liberties, war, taxes, treaties, attacks on citizens, open and continual corruption, destruction of public properties and protections.
It's no wonder they insist no one question them. It's a house of cards with the flimsiest of relation to reality.
Went back and reread the original columns.
All the good Colonel said was that those who have been most effective in withstanding these unprecedented Project 2025 attacks on our nation and its people - have been those with the guts to fight back.
His was a much more respectful and reserved commentary than I could write, as I see this political party/cult take continual and unprecedented attacks on us, it's fellow citizens.
For some of us, no kings would be a core part of our philosophy even if that king were as thoughtful as Obama, decent as Bush Jr, honorable as Bush Sr, intelligent as Clinton (Mr or Mrs), or kind as Biden.
Even then, we would say no kings.
Much less whatever this bankrupt, hot mess of entitlement, incompetence, and greed is supposed to be. Is the Donald dreaming/posting of Jesus bowing to him in his glory, or dumping shit on the rest of us with jet fighters?
Who cares? Either way, we get the point.
Then again, one of those decent people I mentioned would never expect to be kings. Thats the difference.
They understood they were servants, not lords.
This is a party who commits daily outrages that in another time, would have evoked demands for change from all of our citizens if only one of them occurred. Much less, all of them.
Any of you know of another leader who openly called for his party to cheat to stay in power, all at the same time ignoring law, Constitution, and precedent to actively do so?
Happened last week, barely made a headline.
So Mr Cortez doesn't like it when people challenge their outrages?
Ain't that a shame......
Keep it up Colonel.
Thank you for your service.