MOBILE, Alabama — On this Veterans Day, Alabama is roiled by a doozy of a veterans-related controversy.
Republican Gov. Kay Ivey last month invoked “supreme e xecutive 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.