James N Slater

Ms. Padilla Stout, ​Consider this the final time this boundary is drawn. When I previously told you to stop 'white knighting' for veterans, it was not a suggestion—it was a definitive rejection of your attempt to use our community as a political prop. ​You are publicly insisting that the men and women of this district are too fragile to handle life or process trauma without your intervention. We do not need, nor do we want, you to speak for us. You do not represent the veteran community, and your continued insistence that you know better than the people actually living with PTSD is an insult to every person who has put on the uniform. ​Knowing your own father is a veteran makes watching this play out even worse. One can only imagine his disappointment in seeing you weaponize his proximity to service just to lecture us on coping mechanisms you do not understand. You are wearing his legacy as a costume to score cheap points on a timeline. ​This is the last time we will tell you: stop using veterans as pawns for engagement. We don't need a savior, and we will not tolerate being your political collateral. As for @TheAKGuy—his 'honorary veteran' status might have started as an inside joke, but the community made it official. Why? Because unlike you, he doesn’t parade around pretending to understand our plights. He actually supports us through charity, sweat equity, and real advocacy... which is infinitely more than I can say for you.