"VA Considering Change to Lincoln Motto" Topic

…VA officials have been consulting with veterans to get their feedback and proposals to make the motto more inclusive, according to VA Secretary Denis McDonough. The current motto, taken from Lincoln's second inaugural address and was adopted in 1959, pledges the department will "care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan."…

Military: link

In English Law it has long been the case that any reference to he, him &c., is assumed to include the female.
I'm sure the VA does not actually discriminate against females, people of colour &c. If it did, that should be the issue, not the words used by Lincoln at a time when women did not serve in armed forces.
Since the quotation makes no reference to colour – and there were coloured troops in the Union Army – or sexual orientation, why do those matters have to be mentioned at all?
Or is it the contention that not specifically mentioning such people in any official/public statement automatically implies discrimination against them?
IMHO, the million dollars suggested as the cost of altering the wording would be better spent helping veterans and their families, rather than pandering to the posturing of those determined to find prejudice or claim offence when none was intended.

Years ago, I taught a class which included a boy who was obsessed with astronomy, had taught himself and passed several examinations in the subject aimed at older students.
When I once said, "Boys and girls, please take out your books," he put up his hand and asked, "Did that include astronomers?"
I replied, "Hugh, to the best of my knowledge, you are a boy – but feel free to correct me if I am mistaken – and so were included in my request. I didn't need to mention your talent for astronomy and nor did you. You're just attention seeking."

A judge in a Dutch higher court ("Gerechtshof" and "Hoge Raad") is called "Raadsheer". "Heer" (gentleman) is clearly male, but female judges are also still called "Raadsheer" and nobody is shocked by that. We also know "Secretaris" who would for instance be member of the administration of an organization. The female noun "Secretaresse" means the (often female) assistent of a manager. Be assured that the "Secretaris" often is female. Last but not least: also in Dutch penal law there is only spoken of "he". But everyone knows that females do not go free ;-)).
So I feel the actions described is in fact much ado about nothing ;-)).

much ado about nothing

A very good summation.

I saw VA, thought Virginia and wondered which department in the Virginia government would actually use a quote from Lincoln as their motto.

The VA is becoming "woke"! A darn shame.

I am glad the level of care at the VA is so consistently high that the administrators have time for such matters.

In English Law it has long been the case that any reference to he, him &c., is assumed to include the female.

Anyone with common sense and no agenda knows that. But the woke lunatics are running the asylum.

I'm sure the VA does not actually discriminate against females, people of colour &c. If it did, that should be the issue

Very true, the VA sees only a Vet, not race, sex, gender identity, etc. That has been my experience.

The VA is becoming "woke"!

I hope not …

VA is so consistently high that the administrators have time for such matters.

I agree … the VA has always taken good care on me.

When I was in the USAF, female officers were to be addressed as "sir," just like the rest of us.

The VA (which has given me pretty good care), has not seen fit to ask me about this, but I see no need to make a change. And I certainly am not in favor of putting words or thoughts in Lincoln's mouth! Had women been serving at the time (officially -- I know some did unofficially), I imagine he would have included them.

"I am glad the level of care at the VA is so consistently high that the administrators have time for such matters."

People think VA care is very bad because the VA isn't allowed to hide it. They have to answer Congress, respond to FoIA requests from the press, etc.

Private hospitals just force Non-Disclosure Agreements on people that they harm and settle with. They don't have to tell the press anything, and Congressional subpoenas are few and far between.

The VA had the best electronic medical records system in the world for decades, allowing them to treat patients literally around the world with up-to-date information. Other systems have only caught up in the last few years, and data interchange only happens because Congress forced it on the medical field. And it's still spotty.

"I am glad the level of care at the VA is so consistently high that the administrators have time for such matters."

If I was in charge, I'd nicely ask the administrators involved what pronouns they'd like to be addressed as on their imminent pink slips…

Let me get this straight, they plan to change old Abes' quote.
Orwell was right, it all will go down the memory hole.

For the record, Legion 4, emckinney, I was being sarcastic. My last VA physical was telephonic, by a temp doctor in another state and prior to my blood work--evidently so the health care team could claim one more physical for that quarter. And you don't want the saga of my most recent colonoscopy.

Mind you, those were both unusually bad. Normally, the actual medics are good solid professionals. But the administration is straight out of the court of Henry VIII.

Speaking professionally but with only 2 hospitals to go on, the clinical.folks are good but the system is horrible and morale is low. They are under funded and underpaid.
This is a smoke screen. Easier to change the motto than to fix the system.
Cheers
Joe

Mind you, those were both unusually bad. Normally, the actual medics are good solid professionals. But the administration is straight out of the court of Henry VIII.

That is about right in my case. I.e. Every time the VA sends me to a local hospital for e.g. an ultrasound for my arms or legs. I was not pregnant; unlike some in the media, education, etc. I know I can't get pregnant. I only ever have identified as a man, and always will. My DNA from 23 And Me confirms it.

Regardless, it takes 6 months + to get the hospital to stop trying to bill me instead of the VA. I spend a lot of time making phone calls. The Veterans' Choice program has never worked for me without getting the VA to pay the hospital, with me burning up me minutes on my cell phone.

Compared to my one stay in a civilian hospital, the VA is a model of efficiency and caring!

They are currently discussing making my local VA hospital more efficient by having a local hospital perform all surgeries. I went to that particular local hospital for cataracts surgery a few years ago, and they started prepping me for a colonoscopy. Not the sort of thing to instill confidence in either system.

Wow 180 degrees from where they should have been !

Robert,
That is a scary story.
Joe

Our local hospital now belongs to a group of doctors. So, is it run for the benefit of the community? or the patients? or those doctors?

The VA hospital nearest me is run by the 7th-Day Adventists, who have a thing about healthy living -- mucho mas better!

So nearly as I can determine, all hospitals everywhere are run by the nurses for the benefit of the doctors, while the administrators collect salaries for interfering with the work. But some collections of nurses, doctors and administrators are a lot more professional than others.

Oh. It was the VA that had me on "no food" then had someone come by every morning for a week to ask me what I wanted for breakfast. It was the other major hospital chain in town which decided not to operate--but also forgot to reverse the "no food" order. As I was saying about administration…

So change the motto, but do not attribute it to Lincoln. "care for those who shall have borne the battle and for their dependents."

By they way, I understand the Declaration of Independence is being re-written, to read, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal,"

However PETA is petitioning Congress for the text to read
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all living things are created equal."

The fetus destroyers worry about the text " unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, " No right to life they argue.

Also the god-is-dead lobby does not like the "creator" reference. The open borders folks worry about the use of "unalienable." Makes people think about the term "illegal alien" instead of "undocumented noncitizen."

So we get,

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all living things are created equal, that they are endowed with certain non-negotiable Rights, that among these are Life, but only after Birth, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Yeah, the lunatics are running the asylum …