When veterans show up at the Capitol, politicians can be counted on to fold like origami.

The latest example in local circles was in a paneled Senate hearing room in St. Paul last week when several DFL senators questioned the wisdom of using money from the Support Our Troops license plates to partially fund the salary of a political appointee of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Sensing that a political uproar would hinder the revenue-generating plate program, vets stacked the hearing room to voice their support. In the end, two pieces of legislation that would address the issue were quietly tabled. Sen. Steve Murphy, who often brings up his Marine Corps. bona fides, apologized for an earlier outburst about the program, not once but twice during the hearing. Score another one for the Politics of the Hat, or POTH. When the Legislature was debating imposing a statewide smoking ban on bars and restaurants, it showed itself. Vets' groups sought exemptions for VFWs and American Legion Halls. Ultimately, the ban included them but not without much hand wringing over what the vets were owed for their service and fawning acknowledgment of the value of facilities to our communities. Any legislation dealing with charitable gambling will find a packed hearing room of vets. There is often a sense of guilt about how this country has treated its vets; and veterans are understandably proud of their service, particularly as a baby boomer post-Vietnam generation has emerged where few have served in the military. As a general rule, vets are a bloc that shows up to vote on election day as well. The politics of the hat played out a little differently yesterday in Washington, D.C. As part of a maneuver to protest the vote on health care reform, Senate Republicans are invoking a process known as the unanimous consent rule to block committee hearings. That included a hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee on North Korea and a hearing on ending veteran homelessness. Here's the release from U.S. Sen. Daniel Akala on the development. Sen. Akala knows how to play the POTH. Whether it will have a long term impact is anyone's guess: