I come from the “let’s all get along” school, figuring if people of good will are willing to sit down for a few hours to hash out whatever the issue is, there’s usually a way to figure things out.
But it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes people are too entrenched in their positions. They’d rather fight and get nothing – as opposed to compromising and getting half a loaf.
But occasionally those who are more confrontational bring about real progress. And even though they can make the rest of us uncomfortable along the way, we need to give credit where credit is due.
One person in particular comes to mind right now, and that’s Robert Rosebrock. Rosebrock can be a royal pain, I speak from much personal experience when I say this.
If you don’t know who he is, he’s the guy who has been pushing for the VA to do more for homeless veterans at the West LA campus – literally for decades.
Maybe you’ve seen him leading protests on Sunday afternoons at the corner of Wilshire and San Vicente. As part of his quest, he has been arrested, he got the ACLU to file a lawsuit and the lawsuit recently got settled in a way that should bring relief to homeless veterans. He never quit. He still isn’t about to give up.
Veteran activists like Robert Rosebrock like to say it’s the rich people of Brentwood who somehow convinced the VA to keep the homeless veterans out of their backyard, but in the main, I don’t think that’s correct.
It’s true, I heard a tiny bit of this “NIMBY”-type talk on rare occasions over the years, but I think most Brentwoodians really want to see the VA do more to help homeless veterans.
Now that this is starting to happen, most of the people I know are cheering on the VA.
I saw Robert Rosebrock at the opening of Building 209 the other day. I asked him if he was happy to see how things are now finally unfolding.
I told him he should be proud of what he did, for his efforts could pay off for countless veterans for many years to come.
But he was not happy, he assured me. There is a state of emergency out there on the streets, he said. Far more can and must be done – and much more quickly, he added.
He actually seemed pretty disgusted with what’s happening – or not happening – at the VA.
Though he doesn’t see it today, I hope Rosebrock eventually comes to realize he has done something with real meaning. He has helped make history, really, returning the VA to its original intent – providing an Old Soldiers Home for disabled veterans.
It’s pretty clear this wasn’t going to just happen on its own. It wouldn’t have happened without Robert Rosebrock’s agitating. In helping some homeless veterans, he has helped all of us, really. He made something happen that we all should want.
I am reminded of that great quote by George Bernard Shaw: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
In this case, Rosebrock was the unreasonable man. He bent history in the direction of his cause.
I think Rosebrock should now be reasonable and give the new team over at the VA a fair chance, but Rosebrock will likely continue to agitate. He obviously thinks the current VA administrators are being unreasonable by not moving faster.
Maybe Rosebrock’s continued pressure could result in the VA doing more at a quicker pace. Then again, maybe it’s time for us all to join arm in arm and work together on this.
But there I go again.
For a moment, let’s stop and recognize those who irritate. Though they can be a pain, they can also do the rest of us a favor by making the world a more just place.
