wut?
Posted on 07/19/2010 8:04:57 AM PDT by pabianice
It was inauguration day for the nation’s most modern facility for the treatment of active-duty soldiers and veterans suffering from brain injuries and psychological disorders—5,000 of them with families on hand. At the podium in Bethesda, Maryland, stood Arnold Fisher, the chief fundraiser for this precious center that may need to care for hundreds of thousands of victims, searching in vain for one White House official, one Cabinet officer, one member of the Joint Chiefs, one senator. He found none. And he asked again and again, “Where are they?”
“You are injured,” Fisher said. “We are all here. Where are they?”
Where were they? President Obama was in meetings and having a hamburger lunch with Russian President Medvedev. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also at these meetings, though not at the hamburger shop in Virginia. Michelle Obama, who has made caring for military families one of her top priorities, couldn’t make it; she was said to have given her final "no" at the last minute. She was accompanying Mrs. Medvedev on a visit to the Duke Ellington School for the Arts in D.C., where they watched a dance performance. Vice President Joe Biden also met with Russians and with Israelis. Defense Secretary Robert Gates sent his deputy William Lynn III. All four Joint Chiefs sent their deputies. General Eric Shinseki, secretary of Veterans Affairs, couldn’t make it. Not one among the legions of pro- and antiwar hooting senators could find the time. Only two members of the House of Representatives found their way to the ceremony.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
Re-elect nobody.
wut?
“Where are they?”
You mean he thinks someone in this administration gives a shit?
How bad has it got to be if even a former New York Times reporter notices and writes about it? Shameful. Wish he would have said who the two congressmen were. Again, Obama’s deaf ear, his disconnect from our country, is evident.
I don’t know who is at fault. Short notice or bad scheduling or just disinterest by our representatives.
It just makes me very sad!
I would have gone if I had known that the event was open to the public...
The Administration in engaged only in political posturing for profit. When it comes to actual leadership or deeds, they are AWOL.
They don’t want the private sector to upstage the government system.
So, who were the two Congressmen?
Well what the heck were they to do? The Russian President was here. Do you think they can just say, “Sorry President I can’t see you.” They cannot do this. It is against protocol. You guys are so clueless on protocol. Sometimes I wonder what kinds of education you received. There are all kinds of rules that the President must follow. These guys are once and for all more bitched about then the bush’s....actually 10 fold. Even President Bush didn’t get made fun of by the liberals for eating an ice cream and if he was there would have be war on this site!
Posted Comment
steve1705
I am a Marine infantry (0311) vet, I served in Iraq and actually saw some combat. I am calling a bullshit flag on these numbers of PTSD and traumatic brain injury. 300k and 360k? You have got to be shitting me.
Considering only a little over 1 million people have cycled through the war zones, you are looking at 1/3 of them getting traumatic brain injury and/or ptsd? Most people aren’t even infantry and yes, they may face IEDs on the rare occasions they leave the fobs but most people in Iraq and Afghanistan weren’t/won’t be engaged by the enemy.
I was in 2/1 and another unit in my regiment (1/4) did 2 tours in Iraq without recieving a combat action ribbon. This means they were never under fire from the enemy. They went twice and got no CARs. Thats 14 months without enemy contact. During this time my unit went over and took 13 kias and many more wounded, this was in 2006 before Iraq really calmed down. My point is even in 2006 when you had men fighting you had an entire Marine infantry battalion, men who were out on patrol looking for the enemy not being engaged. This was not an isolated incident I am sure. I had friends in other battalions who went over to Iraq and while their battalion took some contact, they themselves never fired a shot or even saw the enemy.
It varies even by company in a battalion. My company had 1 man killed and around 8 wounded, another company had 0 casulties, and the other had 12 or so killed and several more wounded. This was in the same AO in the same city even. I don’t believe that PTSD is a problem. I knew 1 dude with legitimate PTSD, he was wounded severley and while in the hospital in Germany his house burned down in the US and killed his entire family. That guy had issues, lots of them. However that is understandable and uncommon.
I knew people who got diagnosed with PTSD. Most of them admitted they lied their ass off just to get the benefits. They were EASing and tried to inflate VA benefits. The doctors are so scared of missing PTSD they give it to anyone. If you want PTSD here is what you say, I have trouble forming relationships with family/friends/girl/boyfriend. I can’t sleep, I need to drink to go to sleep, I have bouts of uncontrollable rage, I don’t trust anyone, I can’t stop thinking about Iraq, I am always checking the area for enemy, I can’t concentrate on schoolwork/work, I am nervous all the time, I have anxiety attacks, I get mad at people for no reason and can’t control my anger, I snap over little things. If you tell the doc you have some combination of not being able to sleep, drinking too much, anger issues, and not being able to form relationships you stand a very good chance of being diagnosed with PTSD. You tell the doc what he wants to hear and you got it.
My son has done three tours in Iraq, on those roads, every single day. He doesn't have PTSD or even a headaches. He's grateful every single day. Where are the success stories re Iraq?
Thought you might find this interesting given your post. Found it on facebook on the WSJ fan page:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704913304575371130876271708.html?mod=E2fb
I’d heard the VA was going to make it easier to claim PTSD. However, I didn’t realize it was going to extend to people who were non-combatants.
I think there’s a push to stop wars and shut down the industrial-military complex. Over evaluating PTSD injuries will only be one arm in the fight.
If I’m right be prepared for us to support UN troops, (read as “US troops wearing blue helmets”) when actual field combat is considered necessary.
You and your children won’t mind living under a One World Government will you?
The Ft. Hood terrorist, Hassan, would have seen all of these cases.
&&&&
The dereliction of duty of every one of Hassan’s superiors in totally disregarding his interactions with the minds of many military troops is what made me the most furious about him. He should never have been in contact with soldiers.
The media and the military have totally ignored this fact, as if concern for the minds, (lack of care of), of military troops can only be used to berate the DOD, but not to protect the actual servicemen.
Why is it that you always have an excuse for this pathetic administration? Ignorant? You don't know the meaning of the word. Read the article, DIMWIT. There were PLENTY of high ranking officials available. PLENTY.
"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also at these meetings, though not at the hamburger shop in Virginia. Michelle Obama, who has made caring for military families one of her top priorities, couldn’t make it; she was said to have given her final "no" at the last minute. She was accompanying Mrs. Medvedev on a visit to the Duke Ellington School for the Arts in D.C., where they watched a dance performance. Vice President Joe Biden also met with Russians and with Israelis. Defense Secretary Robert Gates sent his deputy William Lynn III. All four Joint Chiefs sent their deputies. General Eric Shinseki, secretary of Veterans Affairs, couldn’t make it. Not one among the legions of pro- and antiwar hooting senators could find the time.
Read the articles at least before you shoot off your ignorant Dem defenses. You do this constantly.
If it takes every member of the “Administration” to pander to the Russian President, the United States has more problems than we think. Protocol also extends to those who have sacrificed for their Nation.
The VP could have been there, however he is only trotted out to say something stupid to distract from the Administrations idiocy when “Bo” the dog cannot be spared from his duties.
You nailed it.
Ummm....yes, I will have a huge problem with it! I understand what you mean....overdiagnosis sets us up for not having the manpower for waging war and leaves us without an adequate fighting force. The thing that really bugs me about this loosening of the standard for PTSD is that legal standard for claiming emotional distress under common tort law requires you to be, at the very least a witness to the event! I know a VA claim is not the same as a civil tort claim, but it is in a way (it’s analogous I guess you could say) as there is a burden of proof that has to be met legally. Now the burden is lowered, so anyone and everyone is going to start claiming it.
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