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Speaker 1: I'm I gotta say something about this that nobody ever

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brings up, but this is well documented. I don't know why.

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This is one of those things that nobody ever brings up,

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and I don't know why, but I like to say

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this whenever the subject comes up for people who don't know.

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There is a large percentage. I mean, estimates vary, but

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there is a large percentage of homeless people in this country.

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And wherever you're watching or listening to this, in your

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city or here in Manchester where we are, there's a

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percentage of homeless people who are veterans. Why do I

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mention that because the Veterans Administration, while it does very

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well for some people, a lot of people fall through

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the cracks. A lot of people end up homeless because

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they have to take pain medication that they get through

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the VA because of what happened to them during their

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military service serving our country. And then one day they

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get cut off and after resort to street drugs and

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it becomes you know, and they just fall down the

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whole and then they wind up homeless.

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Speaker 2: And add to that the fact that they've also recently

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cut veteran services on mental health and they've literally taken

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mental health clinicians and put them in a telemarketing like

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room right where they're all talking to clients openly in

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this room.

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Speaker 1: Right. But I'm bringing this up for a very specific

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reason because there's a particular look people who like to

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bash homeless people, who like to make fun of them,

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who like to talk about them as though they're trash

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that just needs to be swept away somewhere.

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Speaker 2: Uh.

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Speaker 1: They tend to be of a certain political ideology, right.

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You know, you don't hear liberals talk in that way.

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But the same people who are the cruelest in their

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condemnation of people who are homeless are typically the same

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people who like to wrap themselves in the flag, who

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like to act like they're more patriotic than the rest

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of us, and who love to talk about how important

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it is to honor and support and take care of veterans.

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So I want the people who do that. I want

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the people who think it's cool to kick, hopefully not

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literally but figuratively, or perhaps they fantasize about kicking them

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literally homeless people when they're down. Just understand something you

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might be talking about a veteran when you do that.

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So anyone who thinks it's cool to be assholes to

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homeless people, just understand you might be assholes to people

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who served their country. And then, because we have a

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long history of discarding people when they leave the military

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and not giving them the help and support that they need,

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and that is well documented. You can trace out all

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the way back to World War One when our veterans

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were not given things and support help that they were promised.

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So just understand if you're a conservative who loves to

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wrap yourself in the flag and talk about how veterans

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are so important because the military is so important and

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we need honor our veterans, and you would also just

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as soon spit on a homeless person as even acknowledge

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their existence or give them any sort of dignity. Understand

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that you've got a conflict happening there, because that might

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be that might very well be a veteran that you're

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doing that too. And I will say this every single

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time this subject comes up, because nobody ever says it,

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and I don't know why, but a lot of homeless

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people are veterans who fell through the cracks. So you know,

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people who just mistreat them, you know, I understand if

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you don't want to give them money. I don't give

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them money, Okay, I don't have a lot of extra

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money to just be given out to people. But I

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would never I would never disrespect a homeless person. I

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would never talk down to them. I would never be

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mean to them and nothing like that, you know, I mean,

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unless they came at me. Be right, They're a human beings,

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child number one. They're a human beings and you don't

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know their story. You don't know how they got there,

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you don't know what happened to them. But part of

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that too is also just so you know, conservatives who

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think it's cool to go around shitting on homeless people.

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That homeless person that you think is a piece of shit,

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they might be a veteran who fell through the cracks.

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And we all know veterans who fell through the cracks,

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so just something to consider. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And then when I was an EMT, I can tell

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you I responded to a number of veterans who needed

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help and who fell through the cracks, and the VA

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didn't take care of And they should have never ended

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up with me because they weren't being taken care of

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right by the VA.