Regardless of their advisability, legality, or ultimate utility in the long sordid history of Middle East conflict, the American military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend gave Donald Trump an opportunity to compliment someone other than himself.

“Congratulations to our great American Warriors,” the president posted. “There is not another military in the World that could have done this.” And “I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight, and all of the United States military.”

“Operation Midnight Hammer” was apparently the mission’s codename, which sounds a lot better than what Trump’s initial comments will eventually become: “Operation Hollow Praise.”

Theatrical disrespect

Here’s hoping the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines don’t become reliant on Trump’s Department of Veteran Affairs, on which his ex-wife Elon Musk unleashed the Department of Government Efficiency, the damage from which is still being calculated.

For fans of historical irony, this just happens to be the week in 1944 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act or what became known as “The GI Bill of Rights,” which provided tuition coverage, low-interest home loans, and unemployment services to returning vets. None of those benefits, alas, would accrue to anyone named Trump, a family that for generations assiduously avoided military service on two continents.

Trump’s congenital allergies to the military and his theatrical disrespect to generations of men and women who’ve served needn’t be detailed any further, but now that’s he gotten a second swing at demonstrating exactly how much he loves the warriors, the people who are potentially most affected by actual administration policies need to be aware of what’s been going on at the VA.

Last week, The Guardian ran a story that changes in policy language could result in the VA denying services to political opponents, which drew a vitriolic response so rapid many thought it couldn’t have come from the VA.

Macaulay Porter, the VA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs, a job the DOGE ax somehow missed, almost immediately asserted as false any idea that VA hospitals could refuse to treat unmarried veterans and Democrats, because “federal law prohibits that, and VA will always follow federal law. All eligible Veterans will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they’ve earned under the law.”

Seriously. The Trump administration is citing the law as the reason it will meet its legal obligations. I’m guessing veterans are somehow not relieved.

According to Factcheck.org, the VA updated its bylaws in order to comply with some of Trump’s recent executive orders, and the changes are evident in an April copy of the bylaws for the VA’s Palo Alto Health Care System.

Malevolent psychosis

Whereas an older copy said staff should not discriminate “on the basis of race, age, color, sex, religion, national origin, politics, marital status, or disability in any employment matter or in providing benefits under any law administered by VA,” the new language shows national origin, politics, and marital status removed, as well as age and disability.

To be fair, this isn’t exactly an administration historians will decorate for its precision with language.

The main press spokeswoman recently quoted the president as saying “based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place,” when the chance that anything may or may not take place was and remains exactly 100%. Trump himself said on Monday that the Iran-Israel ceasefire was still in effect despite violations, meaning, I guess, it was still in effect except for the “cease” part.

But if you think the U.S. Government in its malevolent psychosis would not refuse veterans health care and/or other benefits on the basis of politics, you’re just not paying attention.

Hundreds of programs have landed in DOGE’s dumpster already, including those for critical nursing care, programs that assist in cancer treatments, help desk services, health and safety inspections, and more according to the Project on Government Oversight.

Suicide prevention hotlines services were cancelled in March and then “un-terminated,” perhaps because someone pointed out that the suicide rate for veterans is about 50% higher than for all adult Americans; it’s about 100% higher for female veterans.

Of course, that would presume that someone cares.

DOGE cares so much about what it’s doing that it turned to a software engineer with no health care experience to eliminate programs that were called “munchable,” as an investigation by Pro Publica would show. They quoted a programmer used by DOGE they say used artificial intelligence to ferret out “waste, fraud, and abuse.”

DOGE becomes DOGG

“I think that mistakes were made,” said the programmer. “I’m sure mistakes were made. Mistakes are always made. I would never recommend someone run my code and do what it says. It’s like that ‘Office’ episode where Steve Carell drives into the lake because Google Maps says drive into the lake. Do not drive into the lake.”

Too late. DOGE eagerly became DOGG, Department of Glub Glub.

Perhaps you noted that in his White House remarks on the bombing Saturday night, the president made sure to thank God.

“And in particular, God, I want to just say, we love you God, and we love our great military,” Trump said. “Protect them.”

Because he won’t.

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