This most recent “revelation” that wounded soldiers are not being properly cared for, after The Washington Post uncovered the tragic status quo at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, should really come as no surprise.
“But Paul, I thought that Republicans and this administration are all about ‘supporting the troops!’ Surely this instance of ‘cutting and running’ from those who fought bravely abroad is one of an isolated nature…”
Well, I’m afraid that when said GOP members are insistent upon supporting the troops, they are simply substituting ‘troops’ with what they really mean; ‘war’. However, when a war is as increasingly unpopular, undefined and unwinable as this current one in Iraq, ‘support the war’ does not sound as idyllic and patriotic as ‘support the troops’.
The fact of the matter is that while the GOP has seemingly always been the Jingoist Of Parties (JOP), the Chicken-Hawks have not given two, or even one damn about those they ship overseas and even less about them when they come home battered and broken.
The New York Times has recently referred to the treatment of returning casualties at Walter Reed as being ‘shabby and slow’ (D.S. Cloud, A1, 3/3/07), yet it does not even begin to illustrate the paltry conditions they are forced to endure (rodents, insects, mold, etc). While the aforementioned could easily be referring to those currently occupying the White House, it is actually the sad and sorry reality of this once mighty country’s military, and we should not be so naïve to think that these are merely the conditions at just this one VA Hospital. Walter Reed is arguably the most prominent of VA Hospitals, so if conditions are as bad as they are there, what are conditions like at other such facilities?
Our fearless, clueless, soulless (appointed) Commander in Chief claims this week in his weekly radio address: “This is unacceptable to me, it is unacceptable to our country, and it’s not going to continue.” Seems to me that a President and his political party who consistently argue so fervently that we all (especially the gutless Democrats) MUST support those who fight our enemies there so we don’t have to fight them here, would have found this travesty unacceptable long ago and done something about it WAY before a major news publication may or may not stumble upon the embarrassing story.
Not at all dissimilar from the horror stories told regarding VAs during the Vietnam conflict, this is just yet another instance where history repeats itself and why shouldn’t it? It’s essentially the same group criminals that got us buried in the muck that was Vietnam. Any reasonable bunch would examine past mistakes, both minor and major, and attempt at all costs to avoid making them again! Perhaps ‘mistake’ is something of a misnomer though, for there is really nothing unintentional about these actions/decisions or very considerable lack thereof. These 'Sons of Tricky Dick', to quote John Lennon, did not succeed in their quest for absolute power the first time around and while they're still trying this time around, they must be stopped. This administration will try and get away with whatever it wants for as long as it can until the truth is uncovered and the Chicken-Hawks are exposed.
This story uncovered by The Post regarding the blatant disregard for our military heroes at home is merely the tip of the injustice iceberg and there are countless more Bush & co. icebergs to be discovered. Our great country has been dodging and weaving these icebergs for the past six years, sinking further and further in the worlds' view of us in the process, but our ship will most assuredly crash and burn if we simply stay the course and keep drifting blindly through the dark waters of our fate.
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