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Politicians Don't Give a Damn About Our Troops
by James Glaser January 18, 2008 If you ever hear any politician say that he or she is going to do something for our troops, please jump up and yell, LIAR! If you read the internet at all, you are bound to have come across the stories of how badly our wounded troops are treated. Remember last year how bad things were at Walter Reed Army Hospital? Well, this week some of the junior staff have been telling America that things have not gotten better, and when they complain to senior staff, they are threatened with another tour to Iraq. Now you probably didn't get to hear or read this in your local or national media, because they don't really care about our troops either, but OneWorld.net had this headline yesterday.
A CBS News investigation put out last November found that 120 veterans were killing themselves each week, over 6,000 a year. The Veterans Administration has a backlog of over 600,000 claims for disability from Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, and a decision can take up to 12 years to be processed through appeals. Nobody keeps count of how many of those who committed suicide were waiting for treatment or had a disability claim pending. Twelve years is a long time to wait to get help, especially when you need it now. Right here in Tallahassee, VA Doctors who work with returning veterans having mental health problems have a case load of 360 vets. A veteran is lucky to see a doctor once a month. What these new veterans mean to the system, is that WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War Veterans already in the system get their care cut to almost nothing. Why does this happen? Because our politicians in Washington care nothing for our returning veterans. They might say they care, but their actions speak way louder than their words. Politicians know what is going on. Politicians are the people the loved ones of these vets write to out of frustration, so they know all about veterans getting shafted. But have you heard anyone running for President speak out on this? No! Why? They don't care. Veterans don't make the big defense contractors more money, and that is who the politicians care about. They will spend every penny we have on new weapons systems. Heck, when we run out of money, those politicians will either print more, or they will borrow more from China, and then go out and buy more bombs, ships, planes, tanks, anything that will make their backers more money. War equals profit for some. Disabled Veterans, and their care cut into that profit picture.
I missed yesterday's column, as I was trying to get ready for my art show at the LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts, here in Tallahassee. I have 17 pieces showing and this week was a week of delivery, set up, last minute touch up, waxing, and polishing. The last piece (titled, Sentinel) I finished this past week, but I have been working on it for over a month. The main figure in the piece is set in to the base. Everything fit perfect, but tight. After I put the finish on, (WATCO) the wood must have swelled a tad. So a little bit of sanding around the base of the figure and a bit more around the section cut out, and then a bit more of the same every time I tried fitting it, and now it slides right into place. When you are fitting two pieces together, you can get carried away out of frustration, and then you get a gap that doesn't look right. So, woodworking can teach you patience, too. I am supposed to give an "artists talk" tomorrow night at the opening about my art work. That is so hard. I asked other artists how they did theirs at past openings and most said to just "wing it". I guess that is what I'll do. Who knows, it might be fun. |
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