Gov. Ivey’s treatment of Bama veterans is a scandal

Republican Gov. Kay Ivey last month invoked “supreme executive power,” mentioned nowhere in the state Constitution or laws but in contradiction of specific provisions of state law, to fire the state commissioner of Veterans Affairs, who has earned rave reviews from the veterans community. In doing so, Ivey has enraged, among many others, a state veterans board member who happens to have national clout as the former senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff. That high-ranking retired Marine, Bryan Battaglia, wrote a guest newspaper column whose headline accuses Ivey of waging a “war on veterans.”

Oh, and the fired commissioner had just filed an ethics complaint against state Mental Health Department officials and others for allegedly colluding to divert $7 million of federal funds away from the veterans groups for whom the money had been intended. In essence, Ivey looks to be engaged in a form of whistleblower retaliation.

Almost the entirety of the state’s media, whether right, center-right, or left, is justly pillorying Ivey. The reasons she cites for the firing are flat-out factually inaccurate, while the byzantine state mental health system she (in essence) is protecting consistently ranks among the five or so worst in the nation in quality and quantity of services.

If this sounds like a mess, it is, and it will probably get worse as the fired commissioner, retired Rear Adm. W. Kent Davis, considers legal action on what most people see as at least two possible fronts. Legal “discovery” alone should make both the whole Ivey administration and the state mental health oligopoly profoundly nervous….. [This column doesn’t come close to covering all the layers of this truly awful scandal, but for the rest of the column, follow this link.]