While the Presidential election was in full swing in 2000, the GAO found "substantial problems" with the VA's handling of research trials involving human subjects. Was anything said by Montel or Hannity? Where was the outrage of using those who have sacrificed by putting a hold on their normal lives to defend and protect the sheeple of America? BUT like that “Sunday go to meeting suit” the Vets were used by politicians to show how much they cared and promises were made. However, when the election was over, the victors celebrated, the losers wept and once again, the Vets were forgotten and like that “Sunday go to meeting suit” hung back in the closet to be forgotten until September, 11, 2001.
2001 not only brought home to America that there were those inside and outside America that wanted to destroy our way of life, BUT also brought out the hypocrisy of the American sheeple as once again, the “Sunday go to meeting suit” was taken out of the closet, dusted off and worn. How many Vets were suddenly thanked for their service by neighbors of many years of living next door to them? How many Vets were suddenly thanked in stores they frequented for many years, despite that for those many years wearing a symbol of their service? While America was going to war in Afghanistan, The GAO once AGAIN releases YET another report that found despite a 1995 goal to reduce waiting times for primary care and specialty appointments to less than 30 days, the GAO found that veterans still often waited more than two months for appointments. Where were Glenn, Montel (considering he had won a Day Time Emmy in 1996 and his show had been nominated for Outstanding Talk Show in 2001) and Hannity expressing their outrage over this report? Where was the American sheeple?
President George W. Bush’s commission reported that as of January 2003, some 236,000 veterans had been waiting six months or more for initial or follow-up visits. The commission said that it was "a clear indication of lack of sufficient capacity or, at a minimum, a lack of adequate resources to provide the required care." Yet, as the Presidential campaign rolled on, the “Sunday go to meeting suits” that are the Vets are dusted off and put on display by candidates on both sides and once again promises are made. Promises as empty as all the other promises made through out the last century.
In 2005, anonymous tips lead to congressional testimony that revealed that surgical patients at the VA's Salisbury, North Carolina hospital had "significant problems with the quality of care". In fact, one veteran who sought treatment for a toenail injury died of heart failure when doctors failed to take account of his enlarged heart. Where was the outrage from Beck, Williams and Hannity and other “talking heads” speaking out against the quality of care at the VA? Where were the American sheeple, considering they had reelected the same critters?
2006 brought about a change in Congress as the Socialists took over while at the VA sensitive records containing the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of 26.5 million veterans were stolen from the home of a VA employee who did not have authority to take the materials. VA officials thought the incident was a random burglary and not a targeted theft.
Once again “outrage” erupts in 2007, after documents are released that showed some senior VA officials received bonuses of up to $33,000 despite a backlog of hundreds of thousands of benefits cases. This was followed by an internal review that found numerous problems, some of them critical, at VA facilities across the nation. Again where was the outrage?
As 2008 Presidential campaign began, once again the “Sunday go to meeting suits” were taken out of the closet and used as the background for those seeking office. During this campaign season, then Senator Obama said while speaking at a campaign rally in Charleston, W. Va., then Senator Obama promised veterans he would fixthe problems plaguing Veterans Affairs hospitals: “At a time when we’re facing the largest homecoming since the Second World War, the true test of our patriotism is whether we will serve our returning heroes as well as they've served us,” Obama continued, “We know that over the last eight years, we’ve already fallen short of meeting this test (Isn’t it amazing that he ONLY blamed Bush, when there were problems at the VA under Clinton…OM). We all learned about the deplorable conditions that were discovered at places like Fort Bragg and Walter Reed. We’ve all walked by a veteran whose home is now a cardboard box on a street corner in the richest nation on Earth. We’ve all heard about what it’s like to navigate the broken bureaucracy of the VA - the impossibly long lines, or the repeated calls for help that get you nothing more than an answering machine. Just a few weeks ago, an 89-year-old World War II veteran from South Carolina told his family, “No matter what I apply for at the VA, they turn me down.” The next day, he walked outside of an Outpatient Clinic in Greenville and took his own life. “How can we let this happen? How is that acceptable in the United States of America? The answer is, it’s not. It’s an outrage. And it’s a betrayal—a betrayal—of the ideals that we ask our troops to risk their lives for. “But it doesn’t have to be this way. Not in this country. Not if we decide that this time will be different.” [1] As we all know, Obama won the election and what did he do to reform the VA, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! And where were Williams, Beck and Hannity doing what they could to hold Obama and the Critter’s feet to the fire when it came to the veterans, busy making money? They have the microphone and the audience. Where were the American sheeple? Were they too busy electing those politicians who promised freebies from the government while Vets continued to suffer from the broken promises from America?
In 2009, America was under a new administration, but to paraphrase Sonny & Cher “The problems with the VA go on” when it is disclosed that more than 10,000 veterans who underwent colonoscopies in Tennessee, Georgia and Florida were exposed to potential viral infections due to poorly disinfected equipment. Thirty-seven veterans tested positive for two forms of hepatitis and six tested positive for HIV. Irony of ironies is that these Veterans faced the possibility of injury and death by an enemy of freedom, just to be given a possible death sentence, thanks to the very government that made a promise to “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.” VA Director Eric Shinseki initiated disciplinary actions and requires hospital directors to provide written verification of compliance with VA operating procedures. The Miami Herald reported that the head of the Miami VA hospital was removed as a result. The questions that should have been asked by the “talking heads”, celebrities and the American sheeple is “What about the heads of the other VA hospitals involved?” “Does providing “written” verification REALLY mean compliance?”
With a new year, 2010 came a new set of Critters as the TEA Party conservatives gained control of the House and once again the “Sunday go to meeting suits” were hung back in the closet and forgotten as the newly elected Critters jockeyed for POWER.
As 2011 dawned, another scandal comes to light at the VA when nine Ohio veterans tested positive for hepatitis after ROUTINE dental work performed at a VA clinic in Dayton, Ohio. A dentist at the VA medical center there acknowledged not washing his hands or even changing gloves between patients for 18 years. While next door in Oakland, Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports on an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at the VA hospital. It will be later learned that at least five veterans die of the disease over the next two years (2013) as the newspaper discloses VA records showed evidence of widespread contamination of the facility dating back to 2007. WHERE’S THE OUTRAGE from the American sheeple, the “talking heads” and the celebrities? Is it like the old “Sunday go to meeting suits” that have began to show wear and tear, discarded and forgotten about? After all its only five people who volunteered the defend FREEDOM.
Its 2012 and once again the Presidential campaign kicks off in earnest and once again the “Sunday go to meeting suits” are taken out of the closet, dusted off and once again USED as a backdrop for politicians. And once again the VA is involved in another scandal. This time VA finds that the graves of at least 120 veterans in VA-run cemeteries are misidentified. This audit comes in the wake of a scandal at the Army's Arlington National Cemetery involving unmarked graves and incorrectly placed burials.
The following year, 2013, the former director of Veteran Affairs facilities in Ohio, William Montague, is indicted on charges he took bribes and kickbacks to steer VA contracts to a company that does business with the agency nationwide. Montague plead guilty and “He agreed to pay more than $390,000 to satisfy restitution and forfeiture requirements.” (Editor’s note: Research could not find any indication that Montague served any time in prison, much like those responsible for past and the current scandals, NO ONE goes to jail.)
We have seen that the various scandals and veteran’s deaths ARE NOT new to the VA, so when in January 2014, CNN and other news outlets reported that at least 19 veterans died at VA hospitals in 2010 and 2011 because of delays in diagnosis and treatment, the “outrage” began.
Now while, it may seem that I am targeting Montel Williams, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity, I’m not. They just happened to be three of the many “talking heads”, T.V. and Radio hosts and celebrities that are hand wringing and complaining about the deplorable treatment and America’s broken oath to those who have sacrificed, admittedly some more than others and as Vets, we don’t ask for or expect special treatment. BUT just as we lived up to our pledge to the country, we fully believed that America would live up to its promise and pledge to us.
I can hear some saying, “I’ve always respected and supported the Vets.” To those people I ask, then why did you keep re-electing the same Critters who knew about the scandals, BUT did absolutely NOTHING to at least attempt to fix the VA?
To Montel Williams, who claimed in 2009 that he didn't support Obama said “But I wasn't as aware of the genius in the man we have as our president. Across the board, hands down. And supported by a genius wife! That's the reason he's getting such rebuke from the right. There are a bunch of stupid people that are jealous of the intelligence the man has.” If you considered him such a genius, why didn't YOU use your time or at least part of your radio time to “hold Obama’s feet to the fire” when it came to the VA? WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG? WHY NOW? After all as Jon Voight said on Huckabee (paraphrased) “I have a big microphone and its my duty to use it.” Why didn't you?
To the American sheeple, why do you keep electing critters who would rather spend money for social programs then straighten out the insult to the Vets that is the Veterans Administration. After all, HOW MANY ILLEGALS HAVE DIED WAITING TO SEE A DOCTOR IN AN EMERGENCY ROOMS? HOW MANY ON MEDICAID HAVE DIED WAITING FOR A DOCTORS APPOINTMENT? I bet that if just one of any of the two groups mentioned the LSM wouldn't let the world forget it. YET it seems that FOX News and FOX Business are the only news sources STILL keeping the VA scandal in the public eye.
To the Critters why do you constantly insist on having reports that FAIL to mention the DEATHS and Scandals of the past under Presidents of BOTH parties and are determined to throw good money after bad. Veterans ARE dying and for almost a century Congress has done NOTHING except use the veterans and throw money at the problem. NOW you want to replace the head of a private company with five years as an Army office to run this Chinese Cluster ****, that is the VA. Why not look to retired military officers to reform the VA. Why not hire VETS instead of equal opportunity hires who don't care about nothing more then getting a paycheck?
I wonder when Vets will finally get fed up and say enough is enough and just march on Washington, no permits, no real warning, just go after all World War 1 veterans did it in 1932, when thousands of World War I veterans and their families marched on Washington to demand payment of promised war bonuses (Shouldn't the Vets of all wars that are able do the same...OM). In an embarrassing spectacle, federal troops forcibly remove veterans who refuse to end their protest.
Maybe Glenn Beck would stop being so worried about the ILLEGAL ALIENS invading America and QUIETLY donate funds for support IF Vets do decide to march on the District of Corruption.
We lived up to our oath, shouldn't America? Shouldn't Veterans and those claiming to support the Military and Vets be demanding to know WHAT TOOK SO LONG? And “WHY NOW?”
To hear what others think check out Carolyn Elkins' post at http://politichicks.tv/column/va-lessons-learned-old/
"The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten."...Calvin Coolidge. Will America be forgotten and remembered as a nation that sent its citizens to protect and fight for FREEDOM and then forgot about them. OR will America survive and become a model for the world for the treatment of the VETERANS who live up to their oath to "defend and protect". Its up to you!
Let me know what you think.
Semper Fi!
2001 not only brought home to America that there were those inside and outside America that wanted to destroy our way of life, BUT also brought out the hypocrisy of the American sheeple as once again, the “Sunday go to meeting suit” was taken out of the closet, dusted off and worn. How many Vets were suddenly thanked for their service by neighbors of many years of living next door to them? How many Vets were suddenly thanked in stores they frequented for many years, despite that for those many years wearing a symbol of their service? While America was going to war in Afghanistan, The GAO once AGAIN releases YET another report that found despite a 1995 goal to reduce waiting times for primary care and specialty appointments to less than 30 days, the GAO found that veterans still often waited more than two months for appointments. Where were Glenn, Montel (considering he had won a Day Time Emmy in 1996 and his show had been nominated for Outstanding Talk Show in 2001) and Hannity expressing their outrage over this report? Where was the American sheeple?
President George W. Bush’s commission reported that as of January 2003, some 236,000 veterans had been waiting six months or more for initial or follow-up visits. The commission said that it was "a clear indication of lack of sufficient capacity or, at a minimum, a lack of adequate resources to provide the required care." Yet, as the Presidential campaign rolled on, the “Sunday go to meeting suits” that are the Vets are dusted off and put on display by candidates on both sides and once again promises are made. Promises as empty as all the other promises made through out the last century.
In 2005, anonymous tips lead to congressional testimony that revealed that surgical patients at the VA's Salisbury, North Carolina hospital had "significant problems with the quality of care". In fact, one veteran who sought treatment for a toenail injury died of heart failure when doctors failed to take account of his enlarged heart. Where was the outrage from Beck, Williams and Hannity and other “talking heads” speaking out against the quality of care at the VA? Where were the American sheeple, considering they had reelected the same critters?
2006 brought about a change in Congress as the Socialists took over while at the VA sensitive records containing the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of 26.5 million veterans were stolen from the home of a VA employee who did not have authority to take the materials. VA officials thought the incident was a random burglary and not a targeted theft.
Once again “outrage” erupts in 2007, after documents are released that showed some senior VA officials received bonuses of up to $33,000 despite a backlog of hundreds of thousands of benefits cases. This was followed by an internal review that found numerous problems, some of them critical, at VA facilities across the nation. Again where was the outrage?
As 2008 Presidential campaign began, once again the “Sunday go to meeting suits” were taken out of the closet and used as the background for those seeking office. During this campaign season, then Senator Obama said while speaking at a campaign rally in Charleston, W. Va., then Senator Obama promised veterans he would fixthe problems plaguing Veterans Affairs hospitals: “At a time when we’re facing the largest homecoming since the Second World War, the true test of our patriotism is whether we will serve our returning heroes as well as they've served us,” Obama continued, “We know that over the last eight years, we’ve already fallen short of meeting this test (Isn’t it amazing that he ONLY blamed Bush, when there were problems at the VA under Clinton…OM). We all learned about the deplorable conditions that were discovered at places like Fort Bragg and Walter Reed. We’ve all walked by a veteran whose home is now a cardboard box on a street corner in the richest nation on Earth. We’ve all heard about what it’s like to navigate the broken bureaucracy of the VA - the impossibly long lines, or the repeated calls for help that get you nothing more than an answering machine. Just a few weeks ago, an 89-year-old World War II veteran from South Carolina told his family, “No matter what I apply for at the VA, they turn me down.” The next day, he walked outside of an Outpatient Clinic in Greenville and took his own life. “How can we let this happen? How is that acceptable in the United States of America? The answer is, it’s not. It’s an outrage. And it’s a betrayal—a betrayal—of the ideals that we ask our troops to risk their lives for. “But it doesn’t have to be this way. Not in this country. Not if we decide that this time will be different.” [1] As we all know, Obama won the election and what did he do to reform the VA, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! And where were Williams, Beck and Hannity doing what they could to hold Obama and the Critter’s feet to the fire when it came to the veterans, busy making money? They have the microphone and the audience. Where were the American sheeple? Were they too busy electing those politicians who promised freebies from the government while Vets continued to suffer from the broken promises from America?
In 2009, America was under a new administration, but to paraphrase Sonny & Cher “The problems with the VA go on” when it is disclosed that more than 10,000 veterans who underwent colonoscopies in Tennessee, Georgia and Florida were exposed to potential viral infections due to poorly disinfected equipment. Thirty-seven veterans tested positive for two forms of hepatitis and six tested positive for HIV. Irony of ironies is that these Veterans faced the possibility of injury and death by an enemy of freedom, just to be given a possible death sentence, thanks to the very government that made a promise to “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.” VA Director Eric Shinseki initiated disciplinary actions and requires hospital directors to provide written verification of compliance with VA operating procedures. The Miami Herald reported that the head of the Miami VA hospital was removed as a result. The questions that should have been asked by the “talking heads”, celebrities and the American sheeple is “What about the heads of the other VA hospitals involved?” “Does providing “written” verification REALLY mean compliance?”
With a new year, 2010 came a new set of Critters as the TEA Party conservatives gained control of the House and once again the “Sunday go to meeting suits” were hung back in the closet and forgotten as the newly elected Critters jockeyed for POWER.
As 2011 dawned, another scandal comes to light at the VA when nine Ohio veterans tested positive for hepatitis after ROUTINE dental work performed at a VA clinic in Dayton, Ohio. A dentist at the VA medical center there acknowledged not washing his hands or even changing gloves between patients for 18 years. While next door in Oakland, Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports on an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at the VA hospital. It will be later learned that at least five veterans die of the disease over the next two years (2013) as the newspaper discloses VA records showed evidence of widespread contamination of the facility dating back to 2007. WHERE’S THE OUTRAGE from the American sheeple, the “talking heads” and the celebrities? Is it like the old “Sunday go to meeting suits” that have began to show wear and tear, discarded and forgotten about? After all its only five people who volunteered the defend FREEDOM.
Its 2012 and once again the Presidential campaign kicks off in earnest and once again the “Sunday go to meeting suits” are taken out of the closet, dusted off and once again USED as a backdrop for politicians. And once again the VA is involved in another scandal. This time VA finds that the graves of at least 120 veterans in VA-run cemeteries are misidentified. This audit comes in the wake of a scandal at the Army's Arlington National Cemetery involving unmarked graves and incorrectly placed burials.
The following year, 2013, the former director of Veteran Affairs facilities in Ohio, William Montague, is indicted on charges he took bribes and kickbacks to steer VA contracts to a company that does business with the agency nationwide. Montague plead guilty and “He agreed to pay more than $390,000 to satisfy restitution and forfeiture requirements.” (Editor’s note: Research could not find any indication that Montague served any time in prison, much like those responsible for past and the current scandals, NO ONE goes to jail.)
We have seen that the various scandals and veteran’s deaths ARE NOT new to the VA, so when in January 2014, CNN and other news outlets reported that at least 19 veterans died at VA hospitals in 2010 and 2011 because of delays in diagnosis and treatment, the “outrage” began.
Now while, it may seem that I am targeting Montel Williams, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity, I’m not. They just happened to be three of the many “talking heads”, T.V. and Radio hosts and celebrities that are hand wringing and complaining about the deplorable treatment and America’s broken oath to those who have sacrificed, admittedly some more than others and as Vets, we don’t ask for or expect special treatment. BUT just as we lived up to our pledge to the country, we fully believed that America would live up to its promise and pledge to us.
I can hear some saying, “I’ve always respected and supported the Vets.” To those people I ask, then why did you keep re-electing the same Critters who knew about the scandals, BUT did absolutely NOTHING to at least attempt to fix the VA?
To Montel Williams, who claimed in 2009 that he didn't support Obama said “But I wasn't as aware of the genius in the man we have as our president. Across the board, hands down. And supported by a genius wife! That's the reason he's getting such rebuke from the right. There are a bunch of stupid people that are jealous of the intelligence the man has.” If you considered him such a genius, why didn't YOU use your time or at least part of your radio time to “hold Obama’s feet to the fire” when it came to the VA? WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG? WHY NOW? After all as Jon Voight said on Huckabee (paraphrased) “I have a big microphone and its my duty to use it.” Why didn't you?
To the American sheeple, why do you keep electing critters who would rather spend money for social programs then straighten out the insult to the Vets that is the Veterans Administration. After all, HOW MANY ILLEGALS HAVE DIED WAITING TO SEE A DOCTOR IN AN EMERGENCY ROOMS? HOW MANY ON MEDICAID HAVE DIED WAITING FOR A DOCTORS APPOINTMENT? I bet that if just one of any of the two groups mentioned the LSM wouldn't let the world forget it. YET it seems that FOX News and FOX Business are the only news sources STILL keeping the VA scandal in the public eye.
To the Critters why do you constantly insist on having reports that FAIL to mention the DEATHS and Scandals of the past under Presidents of BOTH parties and are determined to throw good money after bad. Veterans ARE dying and for almost a century Congress has done NOTHING except use the veterans and throw money at the problem. NOW you want to replace the head of a private company with five years as an Army office to run this Chinese Cluster ****, that is the VA. Why not look to retired military officers to reform the VA. Why not hire VETS instead of equal opportunity hires who don't care about nothing more then getting a paycheck?
I wonder when Vets will finally get fed up and say enough is enough and just march on Washington, no permits, no real warning, just go after all World War 1 veterans did it in 1932, when thousands of World War I veterans and their families marched on Washington to demand payment of promised war bonuses (Shouldn't the Vets of all wars that are able do the same...OM). In an embarrassing spectacle, federal troops forcibly remove veterans who refuse to end their protest.
Maybe Glenn Beck would stop being so worried about the ILLEGAL ALIENS invading America and QUIETLY donate funds for support IF Vets do decide to march on the District of Corruption.
We lived up to our oath, shouldn't America? Shouldn't Veterans and those claiming to support the Military and Vets be demanding to know WHAT TOOK SO LONG? And “WHY NOW?”
To hear what others think check out Carolyn Elkins' post at http://politichicks.tv/column/va-lessons-learned-old/
"The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten."...Calvin Coolidge. Will America be forgotten and remembered as a nation that sent its citizens to protect and fight for FREEDOM and then forgot about them. OR will America survive and become a model for the world for the treatment of the VETERANS who live up to their oath to "defend and protect". Its up to you!
Let me know what you think.
Semper Fi!
Source of basic information http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/23/politics/va-scandals-timeline/
Great thorough job Gunny! Part of the reason I started my blog is not only the on going problems at the VA, but issues like Veteran homelessness & PTSD (another issue Veterans have long been fighting for -akin to the struggle to have Agent Orange recognized). And I fear nothing will be done about the VA as a whole unless we get someone in as VA secretary who can reshape & overhaul the VA. I think Ken Fisher could do it. I hope McDonald will do it.
ReplyDeleteI feel the only way to straighten this mess out is to fire the whole bunch of "managers" and I use that term loosely and bring in Retired Military senior officers and senior staff NCO's E-7 and above for management, hire honorably discharge vets as needed. NO MILITARY, NO HIRE
ReplyDeleteCrying as I write this Gunny. If this doesn't wake anyone up, I don't know what will. Government has had 100 freaking years to get this right and have failed. Many people have had good ideas, but no one's listening- and no one's listening to the Veterans. I can only keep praying someone will finally listen. I agree with John's comment above and many others that Ken Fisher would have been a better pick, but hopefully maybe McDonald will listen and impliment other Vets' ideas, mainly having other Veterans oversee each facility.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing about all of this Gunny.
Thank you and you're very welcome. All we can do is keep Screaming in the Wilderness praying that they will hear us and wake up, but frankly I feel that once again we'll be hung back up in the closet like the "Sunday go to meeting suit" until the next time.
ReplyDelete