Nothing surprises me any more as I watch the political disaster in America continue to unfold.  The latest fiasco has been the PUBLICITY that our veterans have been getting short shrift when it comes to health care and their access to the VA system.  In fact, I believe that today Eric Shinseki stepped down as Secretary of Veteran Affairs in the traditional Washington DC charade that the way to solve problems is to blame someone and hope the “scandal” cures itself.  I can no longer stomach listening to the likes of Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity or Fox “news” or pretty much anyone on the “right” in America, but I have to say that as I listened to Chris Matthews of MSNBC (I have a Satellite radio in my car) ranting about how someone’s “head needs to roll” I just had to shake my head.  We don’t have REPORTERS who report news anymore – what we have are entertainers who pose as reporters –  who attempt to MAKE the news.

Honestly, I don’t see how anyone who’s been paying attention to America’s Veterans and their plight could have possibly been surprised by the news that Vets are waiting up to four months for health care appointments.  And, of course, it’s the republican “scandal hawks” who are right at the front of this “SCANDAL” (that they are largely responsible for creating) probably suggesting President Obama be impeached – I’m sure it’s HIS fault!  And, really, I guess the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly, McConnell, McCain, and the others aren’t enough – for the “shoot from the hip I want a headline” approach to politics – we have to put up with people like Matthews trying to be some kind of “breaking news” reporter pushing out a good man (Shinseki) who should be given the resources to attempt to FIX a problem that has been going on for as long as I can remember.

Here’s what I remember about how republicans address the issue of Veterans.  They send them (MULTIPLE TIMES) into “harms way” and then complain about budget deficits when it’s time to actually FUND the VA and provide the resources for our VETS to get the treatment they deserve.  I seem to remember, just a few months ago being asked to support (through an online petition)  a bill put forth by Bernie Sanders which would have provided significant additional funding for the VA and it was BLOCKED by the FILIBUSTER KING Mitch McConnell and his republican sheep.  If I remember correctly, at that time, the republicans were more concerned with our national debt (largely produced by them) than our Veterans.  I mean VA problems have been MAJOR since the days of Viet Nam.  (I don’t have much money, but I’m regularly donating small amounts [$20 -$25] to Vet groups around the country who are CONSTANTLY making me aware that our veterans are DESPERATE for more public support – this has been going on for years!)

In fact, it’s my understanding that part of the “problem” is that President Obama has found ways to increase the availability of the VA health care system to over a MILLION more Vets than were able to access it before he took office. (Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong – I’m old and operating on memory)  Obviously, the funding has not increased with the additional numbers of Vets seeking services.  It only stands to reason that the system would be breaking at the seems!  They need more doctors, nurses, and support personel – PLUS, I’m sure, MORE FACILITIES and, in general, MORE MONEY.  I still remember seeing articles on Vets sitting in rat infested rooms at Walter Reed when GW Bush/Dick Cheney were sending them into harms way TIME AND TIME again!  And, these wars have been ongoing for more than a decade.  Why would anyone – especially someone like Chris Matthews – express such outrage when the problem becomes public.  And, of course, the knee jerk reaction is to get rid of Shinseki.  I guess, my question then: who’s going to replace him?  It seems to me that you couldn’t get a more committed advocate to the plight of Veterans – and, probably, the REAL issue – that the republicans that sent all these good young Americans into Iraq and Afghanistan have refused to provide the financial resources to provide them with the best of care that they deserve once they’re home – will be swept under the rug – with the help of democrats and people like Matthews who throw out this disingenuous self righteous knee jerk blame game with NO thought to the problem – or, a willingness to ADMIT that they should have been ON THIS for the past several years – certainly, since the plight of the Vets at Walter Reed became public info 10 years ago.  My guess is we’ll get the same “under the rug” solution this time – it’ll just be someone else besides Shinseki at the helm!

In today’s America, it doesn’t matter what the problem is – you’re going to get irrational, unrealistic attacks against our president from the “right” (republicans) – and, in this case – true to form – spineless inaction or complacency from the democrats.  Personally, I’m sick of it!  The other day I read an excerpt from a speech Elizabeth Warren gave in Oregon at a fund raiser for Jeff Merkley and her message was similar to mine – FIGHT BACK!  I’ve been saying this since the day President Obama BLUNDERED by pardoning the Bush/Cheney regime in the name of “preventing the distraction” – this is a WAR for the heart and soul of this nation.  We are NOT a nation (or at least we weren’t until Bush/Cheney arrived) that openly tolerates TORTURE (OK, I know our CIA has been tolerating torture – or regimes that practice it – since the Korean War – in various places around the world.  What we in America don’t know about our own government is disgusting.

I have to believe that there are MANY Americans who are part of the so-called 99% that understand that our Veterans have been getting screwed since (at least) the days of Viet Nam.  For some reason, we can’t get the government (which is us – isn’t it?) to pony up for those who return from our (needless) wars with every possible injury one can think of.  I mean the statistics on homeless veterans is staggering and disgraceful, yet we rarely hear it mentioned in the news – yet people like Matthews seem surprised when a report comes out critical of the VA.  Now, I understand that where people working for the VA were falsifying documents – they should be fired and/or prosecuted.  Evidently, they’ve been watching our Congress and came to the conclusion that, in America, it’s OK to LIE!  I’m OK with holding every person who was “cooking the books” accountable for their actions.

What bothers me is that so many people IMMEDIATELY came to the conclusion that General Shinseki had to “go.”  The vets I’ve listened to think the world of him.  They seemed to be saying the same thing I’m thinking.  Give General Shinseki the resources to fix the problem.  That would require our Congress to quit arguing about the debt when it comes to our Veterans and their after care – mainly health care and mental health care – plus, to me, addressing the homeless problem.  I can tell you that it was clear to me that the Bush/Cheney administration didn’t make one complaint about what the Iraq fiasco and the Afghanistan disaster did to our budget and our national debt.

So, the only conclusion one can make from all of that is that republicans don’t worry about the debt when sending troops to war, only when they come home wounded and need expensive health care.  Isn’t it time that the American public bands together and says “enough already” to the republican party as it exists today.  General Shinseki was given the blame for the breakdown in the system when it was the republicans who refused to give him the necessary resources to expand it in the face of the HUGE influx of veterans created by the Iraq and Afghanistan “wars.”  To me, this is just more of the “Deja Vu all over again” syndrome that I felt the day George W Bush let Osama bin Laden go in Tora Bora shortly after the American invasion of Afghanistan so that he could LIE the American public into supporting his ill-advised invasion of Iraq.  Shinseki was the General who tried to talk sense to Bush/Cheney before the above referenced invasion of Iraq.  If anyone was a supporter of our troops it was Eric Shinseki.  He was unceremoniously “retired” by Bush/Cheney for disagreeing with their prewar assessment (and, he was proved right over time) prior to the Iraq invasion and now he’s the victim of the numerous casualties that made it back home from that war.  (Click here if you want to read more) If you want to place blame – put it where it belongs!