Remembering Memorial Day

[busterb]

Well here's part of a post from Sundays newspaper about the VETS. I suggest that if you care, send a message to all your so call representatives and ask that this be fixed. Hope blooms eteraily.

What would it look like if we gave our service personnel a love they could see? Well, here is what it would not look like:

It would not look like Veterans Affairs facilities across the country requiring sick and injured veterans to wait months to see the doctor, then falsifying records to make it appear they were actually being seen much more quickly. This, of course, is the scandal that has roiled the White House and put Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki on the defensive.

But look past that. A love they could see would also not look like a backlog of disability claims that peaked last year at over 900,000, forcing some veterans to wait a year or more for their benefits. Nor would it look like the 2007 Washington Post report about wounded men recovering in a military hospital with rotting walls, creeping mold and vermin sauntering about.

Point being, this new scandal is not new. Rather, it is but a variation on a sadly recurrent theme: the neglect of our veterans.

We’ve heard many excuses: computer systems that don’t talk to one another, lack of oversight, unrealistic expectations, yadda yadda yadda.

But here’s the thing: These men and women volunteer to go into harm’s way, putting body and mind on the line in defense of their nation’s interests. They don’t make excuses, don’t justify or rationalize. They simply do.
link here. http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/05/2...-veterans.html

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by busterb

But here’s the thing: These men and women volunteer to go into harm’s way, putting body and mind on the line in defense of their nation’s interests. They don’t make excuses, don’t justify or rationalize. They simply do.

That's been the standard speech since we were kids, buster, and nobody wouldn't disagree out loud, no matter what they thought, without risk of more than a stern look.

But there are a lot of reasons other than flag waving for joining up. Of course it leaves out draftees. And in my day all the guys that volunteered, especially for the Navy and Air Force, to avoid being drafted for a certain trip to Vietnam. Oh and all the judges who offered a choice of Army or jail. Even my Canadian cousin who joined The US Air Force, put in 22 years, and collects his pension at a bank in MI.

From the 60s up an increasing number of people have been unhappy with the way the politicians have used our military. The information age has flooded us with shit most citizens never knew about how the government works... and doesn't. Many are unhappy when they realize how the politicians have abused our service men & women, but others are more concerned with avoiding spoilers for the Game of Thrones.

The point is, rather than flag waving to gather support for fixing the VA, we'd be better off reminding everyone it's the goddamn law. Signed sealed and supposed to be delivered, by the politicians. Every veteran, no matter which of the thousands of reasons drove him/her to signing up, was promised medical treatment... in writing. That's why people, regardless of their feelings about the politicians and military, should demand this be fixed.

[Griff]

What's the bottom line on the last VA funding bill that passed the House? I notice my rep, a known asshole in a safe district, voted against it, but was there a good reason?

[tw]

Obama did what he usually does. When a problem is discovered, he first asks the head man to define this problem and to propose a solution. In GM, Rick Wagoner said there was nothing wrong with GM. He said GM's only problem is due to the economy. So Obama fired an idiot who clearly remained ignorant and in denial.

Apparently Obama let retired General Shinseki do same. For whatever reason, Shinseki's report did not meet the criteria for a realistic solution. So Shinseki offered his resignation. In reality, suspect that Shinseki was asked to submit his resignation due to the report. Resigned so as to not be fired.

Apparently Shinseki and his staff ignored 14 reports that defined outright fraud. Not entirely clear is why that was not obvious. But we do know this. Thanks to Mission Accomplished, we will probably pay something less than $1 trillion due to so much human damage created by a bogus and unjustified Mission Accomplished war. The VA did not have sufficient staff to administer to what Mission Accomplished created. Apparently Shinseki did not have a solution to a massive problem created by Mission Accomplished.