Jim,
For the last week or so I have been following another website that is said to provide information to veterans. I've compared answers to your website and found your information far more factual. I made a comment on the other one about the hearings with Hickey and the moderator pulled my comment.
I am always professional with my comments and was no way out of line. The website is a "chat" style and I started to notice most sounded like whiners. Maybe I took it the wrong way, but they have some people on that site that are not giving out good information at all. I was a VSR for a short 8 month period and when I witnessed the bad things on the treating of veterans and their claims, I returned to a career in Law Enforcement and retired from it. I will stay with you and the VAWatchdog.
Reply,
I'm familiar with the many web sites that purport to provide information to veterans about their benefits. I don't visit them, I don't read them. It's my perception that they exist to entertain people who are looking for a way to "chat" with others rather than do any serious homework about their benefits issues.
I think that they serve a purpose for veterans who want to be entertained. Many of the "experts" who are listed as moderators or advisors don't allow their real names to be exposed. They use silly pseudonyms that seemingly make them sound like rough, tough drill sergeants. They claim that they fear retribution from the VA and that to expose their names would jeopardize their own benefits. Of course, I don't believe that VA practices any sort of retribution. If the VA wanted to target anyone, I'd be an obvious choice and I rarely hear anything but respect from the VA employees who read my work.
Oddly enough, many of these self claimed experts on other web sites aren't veterans. I don't think that a person must be a veteran to understand veterans issues but you have to question why non-veterans would get so involved on these free-for-all types of web sites?
I've also been kicked off of a couple of these sites. In the past, I've been notified by others that I had been quoted as saying something that wasn't factual on one of these chat sites. When I investigated and found the misquote, I registered (using my real name), and politely and courteously corrected the flawed quote that was attributed to me. That brought about an immediate flurry of responses from moderators telling me what a fool I was for invading their territory and how wrong I was to challenge their authority and knowledge. All that by people who wouldn't tell me their real name.
I didn't bother following up on any of it. Arguing with others on the Internet may be the biggest waste of time since the invention of the infomercial. I know for a fact that you can't argue with stupid.
My web site rarely tries to entertain. I introduce veterans to the fact that they must do some work to prevail in their claim. To win your well grounded claim today requires that the veteran understand how the VA works and that there are no shortcuts. I also explain to veterans that they have some reading to do and that the required reading isn't always easy. I post a lot of material that is complex and requires a bit of effort to understand.
Those who follow my recommendations closely win their well grounded claims. It's just that simple. Those who choose to spin their wheels looking for a shortcut to a more instant gratification usually end up in lengthy appeals with claims that are so fouled up they can't ever prevail.
That you turned to law enforcement because you didn't like what you saw as a VSR is pretty telling. Law enforcement isn't exactly easy work and you aren't always working with the best our society can offer. I suppose that it would be a step up over working in a VARO.