I’ve read with horror for the past few days about the 13 soldiers killed and the 38 wounded at Fort Hood in Texas, presumably the Army’s last bastion before sending our troops off to Afganistan or Iraq for the umpteenth tour of duty while the rest of America argues about health care. There is much to learn about the shooter, but some of the comentary since the shooting is UNFORTUNATELY predictable. Of course, Joe Lieberman couldn’t stay out of the fray – he’s trying to really prove that he’s a neo-con Republican who’s pulled off the coup of coups by holding down a committee chairmanship in the “good ole boys Senate” which has a near 60 vote Democratic caucus. When he was not held to account for his backstabbing of President Obama during the campaign and his support of the Republican duo of McCain/Palin – I mean, can you even imagine where we’d be with John McCain at the helm (he would have thought the economy was on sound footing as he took the oath of office) – I knew RIGHT THEN we were in trouble and that President Obama wasn’t what a lot of us thought him to be. Just on general principles the Democrats should have run Lieberman out of the party – but, of course, no one in Washington (with the exception of Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kuchinich and maybe Alan Grayson) has “general principles.” The shooter in Texas was still in a coma with authorities trying to piece together a motive, and yet, it didn’t take Lieberman more than a day or two to start crowing that “the second worst terrorist attack” on American soil had happened (which was absurd for more than one reason) and to begin the Muslim extremist rhetoric designed to rile up all the right wing neo-facists in our country who hate the President (and hate Muslims).

And, of course, the first one in line – AS ALWAYS – was the liar of liars, Rush Limbaugh who blamed the attacks on President Obama. Limbaugh is so obsessed with blaming every possible thing he can come up with on Obama that he tied the shooter into the Reverend Wright controversy of the Presidencial campaign. This guy is worst than a blowhard because he actually has managed to get a bunch of “ditto heads” out there to believe what he says is true. He’s part of the propoganda campaign that’s been part of the Republican mantra since the late seventies or early eighties where they’ve been playing against vulnerable people’s fears to scare them into thinking Republicans actually are the party which would “keep us safe.” All the while these people are trampling on personal freedoms as if the Constitution is just a worthless piece of paper. Obama deserves fair criticism, but how can you give it to him in the present atmosphere in Washington? In fact, just last week, I watched in amazement as John Boehner, the minority (Republican) leader of the House of Representatives, stood on the Capital steps in front of a bussed in crowd of racist Obama haters (about 4000 strong that the right wing of the Republican party pulled out of the backwoods somewhere), held up what he called his pocket version of the Constitution as if to read from it, and then quoted the Declaration of Independence. I immediately thought, this confirms my suspicions, THESE RIGHT WING REPUBLICANS ARE IDIOTS!

These people can’t even give a little space to the relatives of all the victims of this horrible shooting while the Army “Brass” sorts out the details and deals with the perpetrator. They are going to take every opportunity to create division in America so that they won’t be looking at a generation of being in the minority of American politics. It’s clear they’ve decided that the only way for themselves to have a chance is by playing the fear card. I’m sure they’re frothing at the mouth to try to place a terrorist attack on “Obama’s watch.” What you won’t get from these thugs as they try to convince you that they support our troops is any kind of compassionate look into what our troops are enduring. They would like everyone to think that life is hunky dory in America’s military. Well, if you believe that I’ve got the perverbial bridge to sell you. You don’t have to look very hard to see past their nonsense.

First of all, most of our regular Army (and reserves) has had multiple tours of duty in Iraq and/or Afganistan. This isn’t like a year in Hawaii. Combat duty in Iraq or Afganistan has to be like Hell on earth. Every moment of every day you must have to wonder if your time is coming. And, it’s unimaginable to me what these troops are being asked to endure as far as the killing of Iraqi’s and of their own comrades. Something like one in four is coming home with PTSD – and that’s only because the military is, JUST AS THEY DID AFTER TROOPS RETURNED HOME FROM VIET NAM, doing everything in their power to discourage soldiers from seeking medical assistance. The stories of medical treatment for our troops if and when they return home is deplorable. For a time, the conditions at Walter Reed were made public, but the outcry was no more than a whimper because the Bush administration, at the time, had a stranglehold on the media’s coverage. I’m still hearing stories of soldiers waiting nearly a year to get medical treatment when they return, and by the time they get the treatment, they’re soon to be redeployed. I’ve personally heard of soldiers serving five or six tours of duty in either Iraq or Afganistan. THAT’S IN SEVEN (PLUS) YEARS! Aside from how inhumane that is, there’s barely time for some of them to get any downtime.

Is it any wonder that the suicide rate among Iraq/Afganistan vets is skyrocketing – DO WE HEAR NEWS STORIES ABOUT THAT? And, what about the divorce rate? Or the violence committed by returning vets? Or the homeless vets? I’ve heard of reserves going for 15 month tours and coming home to a job that doesn’t exist anymore and they’re then facing unemployment. There’s no way I’m going to justify in ANY WAY what the shooter did at Fort Hood, but the more information that comes out should alert people that we have a HUGE problem with our military. We’ve been warned by EXPERTS for years now that our troops are STRETCHED THIN, but – between our politicians (who have no guts) and our Generals (who expect every soldier to fight to the death, even if the civilian leaders have blundered us into a mess – like Iraq via Bush/Cheney) – we seem to be willing to keep pushing until something breaks. And, if these wars were worth it you would have the general population WILLINGLY supporting every effort these brave troops are making.

But, it’s obvious that the population is not supporting these wars – except for their double speak – ESPECIALLY THE REPUBLICANS. I mean, when do you cut taxes and then send America’s finest to battle with less than what they need? The answer to that question SHOULD BE NEVER, but as we all know, that is the scenario of the Iraq fiasco. President Bush was once asked how the American people could sacrifice for the troops (I saw this interview with my own unbelieving eyes) and he answered, “KEEP SHOPPING.” I almost fell off my chair when I heard him do this. And, the worse thing was that there was hardly a whimper from the media. I honestly don’t know to this day how many Americans actually know he said that. It was well known that our troops were hitting IED’s (Improvised Explosive devices) with their vehicles and getting killed because the vehicles were not properly armored! This was part of the news, but the people still voted Bush/Cheney back into office (well, that is according to the rigged voting machines in Ohio).

I just finished reading “American Fascists” by Chris Hedges which documents the “Christian Right’s” attempt to take over the Republican party and create a totalitarian “Theocracy” in America. As a member of what I guess I’ll have to call the Christian Left, I’ll have a lot more to say about that book and that movement later – it’s a real eye-opener if you’re looking for an interesting read. Essentially these people, and the present Republican party is filled with them – people who think tolerance is intolerable. Some of the most famous of the national Christian leaders, unbeknownst to most people I know, have ties to the Ku Klux Klan, the John Birch Society and other radical racist right wing movements. Of course, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who’s been researching the recent past of our leaders associated with the Bush/Cheney White House. These people were/are planning on a “permanent Republican ‘majority,'” which would remain in power ad infinitum through a stranglehold of the media, the Congress, the Courts, and the White House (which is why they are so desperate to “help” President Obama fail – his success would totally ruin any chance of them fulfilling this plan). They are a combination of Corporate heads, Right Wing fundamentalist Mega Church leaders, and politicians with ABSOLUTELY no scruples – and they have a long line of groups of people they hate (Blacks, homosexuals, and Muslims are at the top of the hate list – oh yes, Democrats!) Their goal is power at all costs, and when they tell you something, usually the opposite is true (I could go on and on about that, but – again – a story for another night). What you need to understand tonight is when they tell you they’re supporting our troops – well, you know what I’m going to say about that.

While those at the head of the line in the Republican party are profiting off of our troops instead of supporting them, unfortunately the Democratic party is pretty much living up to the definition given them by these Republicans: WEAK! They are living up to this “slam” by writing a health care bill that will provide a huge influx of new customers to the health insurance companies who are gleaning BILLIONS from the system and who are the problem by making excuses that their 80 vote majority in the House isn’t enough to pass a bill that would be what the people actually want – while at the same time continuing “Bush’s” wars. The voters voted in the Democrats in 2006 to actually “do what’s best for our troops” then – and they’re still in Iraq, at almost the levels “pre-surge.” Total withdrawal will leave somewhere between 50,000 and 75,000 “non-combat” troops in Iraq while we ramp up Afganistan so that we can keep deploying our brave soldiers endlessly. We really don’t have politicians in Washington who have the guts to “do what’s best for our troops.” Everyone knows that Iraq was a TOTAL FIASCO, but – just as in Viet Nam – we MUST continue losing soldiers and ruining the lives of the ones who survive SO THAT OUR POLITICIANS CAN SAVE “FACE.” Well, I’ve got news for anyone who reads this post, it’s too late to save face. Through our invasion of a soveriegn nation which had nothing to do with 9/11, torture, and alliances with the worst regimes in the Middle East and Central Asia, we have demonstrated to the rest of the world that we’ve become a rogue nation. At some point our leaders need to decide if Iraq and Afganistan are more important than our own military (not to mention our economy – bin Laden couldn’t have planned this any better himself). Fort Hood should cause us to ask: Are we supporting our troops or destroying our troops?