NEWSHOUR SHARES - 73 Years Later

"73 years later, WWII veteran returns a fallen soldier's family keepsake" PBS NewsHour 8/17/2017

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SUMMARY:  In our NewsHour moment of the day, a 93-year-old World War II veteran traveled more than 5,000 miles from his Montana home this month to return a treasured keepsake to a grateful Japanese family.

NEWS HOUR'S IMHO - Veteran's Forever War

"What it's like to be a veteran of a war that never ends" PBS NewsHour 5/26/2017

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SUMMARY:  Sometimes author Brian Castner asks himself, “How many tours would have been enough to know, deep down in my bones, that I had done my part?”  After three tours, Castner got home from Iraq a decade ago.  But the war isn't over, it's just gone on without him.  Castner gives his humble opinion on why being a veteran today feels like having unfinished business.

THE LEADING EDGE - 'Age of Aquarius' Back?

"Why psychedelic drugs are having a medical renaissance" PBS NewsHour 1/25/2017

Age of Aquarius: "The 1967 musical 'Hair,' with its opening song 'Aquarius' and the memorable line 'This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius'" ushered in the Aquarian Age, which included use of psychedelic drugs.  Lets trip-out!

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SUMMARY:  For C.J. Hardin, an Army veteran, dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder is an everyday feat.  After years of pills and therapy failed to help his disorder, Hardin knew he needed an alternative.  So he turned to a surprising substitute that's at the forefront of a revolution in neuroscience and medicine:  psychedelics like MDMA and psilocybin.  Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports.

SGT. C.J. HARDIN (RET.), U.S. Army Veteran:  I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Fort Campbell.

MILES O'BRIEN (NewsHour):  C.j. Hardin is a former Army helicopter mechanic and machine gunner who faced imminent death in Iraq, and also after he got home.

C.J. HARDIN:  The way that my emotions ran, and how it felt uncontrollable, I didn't trust myself having a weapon around me, because I was suicidal, very suicidal at that point.

MILES O'BRIEN:  Years of pills and talk therapy failed to help his post-traumatic stress disorder.  So, he turned to a surprising alternative at the center of a revolution in neuroscience and medicine.

DR. MICHAEL MITHOEFER, Therapist:  So, this is the MDMA that we use for the current study.

MILES O'BRIEN:  Hardin took MDMA, more commonly known as Ecstasy, under the watchful eyes of therapists Michael and Annie Mithoefer, a husband-and-wife team based in Charleston, South Carolina.

DR. MICHAEL MITHOEFER:  This is where we do the MDMA sessions.

We don't know how this works, but we have ideas about it.

MILES O'BRIEN:  In one study of 19 subjects, more than 80 percent reported significant improvement, after carefully guided sessions like this.

SGT.  C.J.  HARDIN:  Which I knew was the PTSD.  I was never feeling comfortable at home.

I was still lucid, but it just felt like I had opened up a new avenue of thinking.

MILES O'BRIEN:  C.J. Hardin says the difference for him was like night and day.

SGT.  C.J. HARDIN:  I had three experiences at full dosage, but the effects after the first treatment were profound.  I would have said a 60 percent reduction in my symptoms immediately.  I felt a mighty change had occurred.

TRUMP NOT FILES - Criticism of Americans

"Will Trump's criticism of regular Americans hurt him with voters?" PBS NewsHour 8/1/2016

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SUMMARY:  How will Donald Trump's recent criticism of Khizr and Ghazala Khan's speech and his comments on Russia and Ukraine affect his campaign?  And as both candidates go after Rust Belt voters, whose strategy will prevail?  Gwen Ifill talks with Tamara Keith of NPR and Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report.

GWEN IFILL (NewsHour):  For more on the fight between Donald Trump and the Khan family, his recent comments on Russia's intervention in Ukraine, and Hillary Clinton's weekend outreach to Rust Belt voters, it's time for Politics Monday with Tamara Keith of NPR and Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report.

You just heard Ghazala Khan say to Judy in response to the questions about Donald Trump's feud, whatever it is, that, “I can take it.”

We have heard in the last few moments Warren Buffett on behalf of Hillary Clinton say, have you no decency, sir?  You have made no sacrifice.

We heard John McCain also scold, but not withdraw his endorsement today of Donald Trump.

I wonder, starting with you, Amy, whether it's ever a good thing to have to defend yourself by tweet?

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report:  No, but at the same time, nothing about this campaign has seemed normal.  Right?

The traditional candidate response to a speech like Mr. Khan gave would be to say, my condolences for your loss.  Here is my differences of opinion on the policy of it, right?  I differed with Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration on the war on terror.  I differed with President Bush on going to Iraq in the very first place, even though he did say he supported it early on, when he invaded Iraq.

But that is the answer that a traditional politician would give.  And, Gwen, I just feel I should just come out here with a tape recorder and just every week say, nothing that he does is like a traditional politician would ever do.

What we are seeing is, his supporters, I think, will continue to rally around him, but every day that this campaign is about Donald Trump and his messaging, which is not — which is about him and not about the bigger, broader issues, I don't think that's a good day for Donald Trump.

GWEN IFILL:  Let's flip the script a little bit.

Hillary Clinton, it seems to me, was asked about Pat Smith, the Benghazi mom, who spoke at the Republican Convention, and what was her reaction?

TAMARA KEITH, NPR:  Her reaction was more the typical politician answer.  It was, thank you for your family's service.  I can't begin to understand your loss, that kind of thing.

And then she did get to the question of whether she remembered it the same way.  But she remained respectful throughout, and you wouldn't call it a feud.

That's the difference is, in the way Hillary Clinton answered, it ended there.  And look at George W.  Bush.  Cindy Sheehan was parked outside his ranch for a very long time protesting him, and George W.  Bush…

GWEN IFILL:  In 2008.

TAMARA KEITH:  Was it — it was earlier.  I think it was even maybe 2004.

GWEN IFILL:  Yes.

AMY WALTER:  Right.  Right.

TAMARA KEITH:  And George W. Bush said, that is her right, that is her right to protest, that is her right to say anything she wants about me, because this is America, actually.

"Khizr Khan: As candidate for the highest office, Trump needs tolerance for criticism" PBS NewsHour 8/1/2016

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SUMMARY:  Khizr and Ghazala Khan, a Muslim-American couple whose 27-year-old son died as a soldier during the Iraq War, stood before the Democratic National Convention last week to share their loss and criticize Donald Trump.  Lisa Desjardins recaps the political feud that ensued, then the Khans sit down with Judy Woodruff to discuss Trump's comments about Muslims, terrorism and immigration.

TRUMP NOT - Unapologetic Sleazebag

"‘SACRIFICE' DEBATE INTENSIFIES" by Sean Sullivan, San Diego Union-Tribune 8/2/2016

NOTE:  This is from the online edition of the newspaper, so no article link.

Republican lawmakers and veterans groups hastened to disavow Donald Trump's repeated criticism of a bereaved military family Monday, but the GOP presidential nominee refused to back down.  He complained anew that he had been “viciously attacked” by the parents of a Muslim U.S. Army captain who was killed in Iraq.  The condemnations by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and dozens of veterans and family members of those killed in the line of duty served as the most forceful rebuke yet of the nominee's comments and his anti-Muslim rhetoric.

The critiques lobbed at Trump on Monday were the latest turns in a bitter exchange that has dominated the presidential race since the close of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday in Philadelphia.  It threatens to hurt Trump's standing among voters he has been aggressively pursuing: those who aren't fans of Democrat Hillary Clinton and who hold doubts about her record on national security.  The standoff has also frayed Trump's already delicate alliance with GOP leaders.

Trump did not address the controversy directly during a campaign stop in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday afternoon.  But he signaled on Twitter earlier in the day that he was not backing down from his criticism of Khizr and Ghazala Khan, whose son Humayun Khan, an Army captain, was killed by a car bomber in Iraq in 2004.  Trump said Khizr Khan had “no right” to assail him as he did in a speech at the Democratic convention Thursday.

McCain, a respected figure on national security issues in the Republican Party, issued a written statement sternly reprimanding Trump.  “In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier's parents,” said McCain, who was taken prisoner during the Vietnam War.  “He has suggested that the likes of their son should not be allowed in the United States — to say nothing of entering its service.  I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump's statement.  I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates.” McCain, who has tangled with Trump before, most notably after Trump said last year that McCain was not a war hero because he had been “captured,” added: “While our Party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us.”

Aside from McCain, a bipartisan coalition of veterans, family members of military personnel killed in the line of duty, a veteran serving in Congress and a former diplomat sent a letter to Trump calling his criticism of the Khans an affront to each of them.  It also called for him to apologize.

“Your statements are unacceptable, especially from someone seeking to serve as Commander in Chief,” the letter said.  “The Khans' sacrifice has earned them the right to ask hard questions of those seeking elected office.”

Brian Duffy, the commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, released a statement saying that the organization “will not tolerate anyone berating a Gold Star family member for exercising his or her right of speech or expression.”

Duffy added that “there are certain sacrosanct subjects that no amount of wordsmithing can repair once crossed.”

Some Trump allies fought back hard Monday against the criticism the nominee has faced over his remarks about the Khans.

Corey Lewandowski, Trump's former campaign manager, argued that the Khans' son would still be alive if Trump had been president.

“Their son is a hero.  And every person who has ever died fighting for our country and their families are heroes,” Lewandowski said on CNN, which employs him as a paid contributor.  “The difference is, we've got 7,000 soldiers who died, $6 trillion wasted in wars overseas, and if Donald Trump was the President, we would never have had, and Captain Khan would be alive today.”

Trump regularly casts himself as an early critic of the Iraq War.  The Washington Post's Fact Checker found that there is “no sign that Trump opposed the invasion or was vocal about it prior to the invasion.”

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani said McCain's response to Trump was probably motivated by the longtime senator's anxiety over his re-election race in Arizona.

“I think you're hearing a guy who's worried about whether he can be re-elected in Arizona,” Giuliani said in an interview with the Post.  “John wouldn't be saying this if he were running two years from now.  He'd just keep his mouth shut.”

On Twitter on Monday morning, Trump lashed out again at Khizr Khan and the media.  He argued that “radical Islamic terrorism,” not Khan, should be the focus of the exchange— just minutes after slamming Khan.

“Mr.  Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over TV doing the same — Nice!”  Trump said in his initial tweet.

James Waters, a former George W. Bush administration White House aide and Navy SEAL, was among the 40 who signed the bipartisan letter to Trump.  He is a Republican, but he is not voting for his party's nominee.

“I think this situation speaks quite well to Trump's blatant lack of fitness for office,” Waters said.

At his campaign stop in Columbus, Trump pledged to take good care of veterans and steered clear of the firestorm over his recent comments.  Attendees had their own opinions on the matter.

Josh Smith, 53, of Keystone Heights, Fla., said that he served in the Navy for 20 years and that he did not find Trump's comments about the Khans to be distasteful.  “It was bad that their son died, but to put that man on stage to say all those things was ridiculous,” he said.

Sullivan writes for The Washington Post.  The Associated Press contributed to this report.

COMMENT:  So Trump just throws free-speech under his campaign bus.  Criticizing Trump is sedition in this bullies book.

VETERANS - Special Courts

"Special courts take on criminal cases of veterans struggling with trauma" PBS NewsHour 2/24/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Around the country, special courts are set up for former military members who have been charged with crimes after returning to civilian life, and who may be struggling with PTSD.  Judges, lawyers, probation officers and others work together to treat or punish each defendant.  Special correspondent Spencer Michels reports on how the new approach can offer troubled veterans a path forward.

GWEN IFILL (NewsHour):  The number of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, continues to grow. And as some get into trouble with the law, special veterans courts are finding different ways to deal with them.

NewsHour special correspondent Spencer Michels reports.

MAN:  Remain seated and come to order.  Deportment 4 is now in session.

SPENCER MICHELS (NewsHour):  Every Friday afternoon, Judge Jeffrey Ross turns his San Francisco courtroom into a veterans court, one of 220 such courts in the country that hear cases of former military members who have been arrested, often for drug offenses, sometimes for violence.

To signal how different his court is, he often brings a basket of fruit and candy for the defendants.

MAN:  Even me being in anger management, what good is that?   Because I snapped.

SPENCER MICHELS:  It’s what’s called a collaborative court, where the judge, the district attorney, the public defender, the probation officer, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs work together to treat, or to punish, each defendant.

NEW GENERATION VETS - Want to Shape Military Policy

"How a new generation of war veterans wants to shape military policy" PBS NewsHour 1/28/2015

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SUMMARY:  The new Congress has the fewest military veterans since World War II, but recent veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are on the rise.  What priorities do they bring to Capitol Hill?  Judy Woodruff talks to Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., a former Air Force colonel and pilot, and Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., a retired Marine captain.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Now to a different look at Capitol Hill.

This new Congress has the fewest military veterans since World War II.  In the years following, through the 1970s, as many as three-quarters of the members of Congress were veterans.  But that started to drop after Vietnam, falling sharply in the ’90s, and bringing us to today, where only 18 percent have served in the military.

One element, however, has gone up, the number of recent veterans.  Nearly half have served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  And for the first time, there are no World War II vets.

Yesterday, I spoke with two newly elected recent veterans.

Republican Representative Martha McSally of Arizona is a retired Air Force colonel and pilot who led fighter squadrons in Iraq and Afghanistan.  And Democratic Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts is a retired Marine captain who served four tours in Iraq, including in a unit that was one of the first to go in, in 2003.

QUESTION:  Will this mean more couched/better decisions, or more gun-ho decisions?

MILITARY - Veterans Would Join Again

As my bio states, I'm a Viet Nam Vet and I was proud to serve (22yr carrier) even though that war was very badly managed from the Whitehouse.  So I know what today's veterans are saying.  This is the world of the Professional Military.

"Majority of veterans say they would join military again, despite scars of war" PBS NewsHour 3/31/2014

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GWEN IFILL (NewsHour):  Many of the 2.5 million veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have served multiple deployments, survived injury that would have killed them in earlier conflicts, and now cope with unprecedented mental and physical challenges.

A new survey commissioned by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation paints a conflicted picture; 51 percent of the veterans surveyed personally know someone who attempted or committed suicide; 55 percent said they sometimes or often feel disconnected from civilian life, yet 89 percent said they would choose to join the military again.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran of The Washington Post joins us with more details.  And we also hear from two veterans, Tom Tarantino, deputy policy director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and Nathan Smith, chief operating officer of Hire Heroes USA.

VETERANS - The 'Honor Flights'

"Honor Flights Serve Those Who Have Served With a Trip to Remember" PBS Newshour 5/27/2013

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JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour):  And now a special effort to honor those who have served in the nation's wars.

World War II veterans from Arizona preparing to take a flight, one filled with anticipation and special meaning.  This is an Honor Flight, part of an eight-year-old nonprofit program for vets who've never had the chance before to go to Washington to see the memorials, particularly the one honoring their service.

Upon landing in Baltimore, they met a large crowd of well-wishers offering a hero's welcome.  This group, 30 men in their 80s and 90s, is one of 370 visiting the nation's capital this year alone.

Eighty-five-year-old Marvin Murphy lives in Apache Junction, Ariz., east of Phoenix.

MARVIN MURPHY, U.S. Military Veteran:  We had tears.  I was speechless.  They didn't promise us this before we came.  It was just, well, we're going to take you here, you know?  And forever, forever, I will be grateful.  It is something, really something.

JEFFREY BROWN:  The next day, at the World War II Memorial, the tour and the welcome, this time by middle schoolers, continued.

More than 800 veterans of that war die every day.  And there's a quiet understanding on these trips that this may well be a first and last visit.

AMERICA - Deadliest Retired Military Sniper Killed

"Chris Kyle, Among Deadliest American Military Snipers, Shot by Fellow Veteran" PBS Newshour 2/4/2013

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JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour):  And to the compelling story of U.S. military veteran Chris Kyle.

Iraqi insurgents once dubbed Navy SEAL Chris Kyle the Devil of Ramadi, a man who served four tours of duty and gained a reputation as one of the deadliest snipers in U.S. military history credited with more than 150 kills.  Insurgents even put a five-figure bounty on his head.  It was never collected.

Last year, Kyle recounted his life as a sharpshooter in a bestselling book, "American Sniper."

And, just two weeks ago, he spoke of the trouble many American troops have coming home and readjusting to civilian life.

RETIRED CHIEF PETTY OFFICER CHRIS KYLE, U.S. Navy:  It's honorable.  And you're doing it for the greater good. Then, all of a sudden, you don't have an identity.

JEFFREY BROWN:  On Saturday, 38-year-old Kyle and a friend, 35-year-old Chad Littlefield, were shot dead at a gun range outside Fort Worth, Texas.

MILITARY - Lost Records = Uphill Fight for Benefits

"Veterans Face Uphill Battle for Benefits When Field Records Are Lost, Destroyed" PBS Newshour 11/12/2012

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SUMMARY: "History is the last thing we care about during war, and the last thing we think about when we get home," says ProPublica's Peter Sleeth, who talks to Jeffrey Brown about the challenges facing veterans who need access to benefits but whose records have been wiped out.

JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour): According to a new report by the nonprofit online news organization ProPublica and The Seattle times, the U.S. government sometimes has no official record that men and women actually served overseas.

It sounds unlikely, but an investigation by the two news organizations revealed that millions of U.S. military field records have been lost or destroyed.

For more on the report and what it means for veterans, I'm joined by ProPublica journalist Peter Sleeth.

Full ProPublica report

MILITARY - Iraq War Changed Veterans

"How the Iraq War Changed a Generation of Veterans" PBS Newshour 12/26/2011

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JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour): More than a million men and women served in Iraq and the armed forces over the past nine years in a war that will have lasting impact on them and on the nation.

We talk about that with four veterans. Army Staff Sgt. Gregg Bumgardner was a psychological operations specialist. He left the military after two tours in Iraq. Maj. P.K. Ewing is in the Marine Corps Reserves and currently on active duty recovering from war-related injuries. He served as a civil affairs team leader in Anbar Province. Sgt. Kelly Dougherty of the Colorado Army National Guard served as a military policewoman helping guard supply convoys in Iraq. After leaving the Army, she helped found Iraq Veterans Against the War. And Marine Corps Lt. Wade Zirkle did two tours in Iraq, including the first battle of Fallujah. He left the Marines in 2005 and founded Vets for Freedom, an advocacy group that promoted the surge.

JOBS - Vets and Stigma in Job-Seeking

"Job-Seeking Vets Confront Stigma of 'Falling Behind' While Deployed" PBS Newshour 11/11/2011

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JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour): And we return to the subject of veterans on this day honoring them - now, the problems many face in finding a job back home.

NewsHour economics correspondent Paul Solman updates a story he filed earlier this year. It's part of his regular reporting on Making Sense of financial news.

EDMOND SHEFFIELD, U.S. military veteran: If I owned a business and somebody took a bullet for me, I could at least give that person a job at my corporation.

PAUL SOLMAN (Newshour): Edmond Sheffield worked as a military policeman while in the service. He got out in 2010.

ERIK VADALMA, U.S. military veteran: I applied to maybe 100 jobs.

PAUL SOLMAN: Erik Vadalma served in Baghdad, left the Air Force in 2008 -- all he could find, a part-time gig at Ikea.

ERIK VADALMA: I didn't have enough money to make ends meet.

PAUL SOLMAN: Debra Bain did a six-year hitch.

DEBRA BAIN, U.S. military veteran: You feel like you have lost who you are as a person, your value.

PAUL SOLMAN: Just three of more than two million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Over 12 percent were jobless last month, compared to 9 percent for the total population. For vets aged 18-34, the rate was 16.6 percent.

The problem took center stage in Washington this week. On Monday, President Obama outlined a plan that offers veterans personalized career counseling and new Web resources to assist them in their job hunt.

Personally I find this hard to believe. As a retired Vietnam Vet my experience in finding a civilian job is just the opposite of what is happening here, the "stigma" context.

The Vietnam era, and prior eras, Vets did not have a problem find jobs, even when jobs were scarce. Employers knew that Vets are well trained and disciplined. Training that included leadership and management skills. Also, we already knew to show up to work on time and put in a full day. In fact, we are trained to show up for work BEFORE the work-day starts (Muster at 07:00 = 07:00 NOT 07:01) that's why you showed up EARLY so you can be ready.

So, why the difference with today's Vets? They should be NEAR the top of preferred-employee lists, even in these hard times.

"President Obama outlined a plan that offers veterans personalized career counseling and new WEB resources to assist them in their job hunt."

WHAT?! NEW plan?

When I retired from the Navy, the last 4mths they offered a free (Navy financed) collage course on finding jobs; which included local resources for upgrading skills, like community collages and local employment agency training. The opening statement was the recognition that we (Vets) have been out of the job-hunting market for quite awhile and we needed to refresh our skills.

Personally, the Navy WAS my first job, so I had no experience in job-hunting.

So, are the services no longer doing that for today's Vets?

MILITARY - Vets Recover One Step at a Time

A good-news story....

"Colo. Program Allows Wounded Vets to Recover One Step at a Time"
PBS Newshour 4/4/2011

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

LifeQuest Transitions (opens in new page)

Please consider donating, our veterans can use all the help they deserve.

AMERICA - Honor and Humility

"Giunta on Medal of Honor: 'I Can't Wear This for Myself'"
PBS Newshour 11/16/2010

REMINDER - Veteran's Day 11/12/2007

"Edwin Starr Was Wrong: War "Good" For Many" by Steve Young, Huffington Post

Singer Edwin Starr once asked and answered, "War, huh, good God, what is it good for? Absolutely nothin'!"

Besides Veteran's Day sales and kids getting the day off, my guess is that Mr. Starrand "War" lyricists, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong never expected the second Bush administration.

This week, as we mark Veteran's Day 2007, this White House continues its six year, hell-bent effort to make Starr's admonition, a disheartening whopper.

There have been the heady war dividends that have fallen to Haliburton, Blackwater, and right wing talk show hosts who use the war to split America and fill their personal war chests.

Politically speaking we need go no further than Karl Rove's caveat to GOP governors that the war would be a winner for the Republicans.

But it is the war veteran groups who have benefited the most and with the WWII members dying out, the surge of eligibles for dues-paying membership couldn't come a better time. And they don't have to look any further than the streets to find the new members.

According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, a new report shows the percentage of homeless veterans, numbered at 495,400, is more than twice that of the general adult population.

After using our young men and women as wedge issues and cannon fodder that this administration and their apologists prop up as treasures to hide behind only to be tossed away like second, third and fourth thoughts when they lose their political value.

Building their huge contracts on the backs of their "support" for the military, how much time do you think non-veterans O'Reilly, Limbaugh, and Beck will use their programs this week to admonish the White House for their utter disregard for the soldier they deploy - for three and four tours - in harm's way, let alone the veteran who's long since been forgotten?

Will they spend as much time berating the difficulty returning reservists have (according to Pentagon survey) in getting their old jobs back and (according to a Harvard Medical School study) the sin that nearly 2 million vets who lack health insurance as they do condemning Cindy Sheehan for attempting to end the war that killed her only child?

Oh, they'll feign tribute and patriotism and lay blame for the past six years at the doorstep of hate-America Americans. They'll slam Sheehan or Rosie O'Donnell or war veterans like Jimmy Carter and John Kerry, distracting their fans from seeing the true victims of the war: Our veterans. Whether they come home in boxes or have to live in them on the streets, once the veteran has been exploited for political purpose, the war-mongers will ignore the life-long harm they have wrought on these heroes they boisterously hurrayed into an unnecessary war.

Whether it be the debacle of an ignored Walter Reed, the attempted cuts in the Veteran's Administration budget, or slighting the veteran's homeless plight, the Lords of Loud blowhards will always take the side of the Bush-made war 'cept for a rare and anemic "mistakes are always madein war." Far more excuse than a condemnation.

The rabid Lords of Loud are famous for slamming the homeless for their unwillingness to pull themselves up by their boot strings, no matter their boots be the only remnants of their glorious service.

Actually, it's really quite brilliant. A kind of Bring the Boys Home-less Program. Follow us here? Any terrorist who takes a look at the bleak outlook for our vets once they get home will think twice about wanting to follow them here.

Starr, Whitfield and Strong's lyrical contribution was meant to send a passionate message in defense of the true victims of wars: the soldier fighting them. The contribution of this White House, and the unholy alliance of those who concede to this war's countless "one more chances," is an appalling legacy of an unrelenting influx of new veterans to be victimized. And if there's anything that dishonors the veteran, it is their victimization.

If we truly want to honor today's veteran, we do it by bringing them home and providing decent post-service care after they get there.

Leaving them homeless? Unforgivable.

The veterans' reward for their sacrifice? Absolutely nothing.

And in that, Starr, Whitfield, and Strong were right.

War! It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker
War! It's got one friend, that's the undertaker
War has shattered many a young mans dreams
Made him disabled bitter and mean
Life is much to precious to spend fighting wars these days
War can't give life, it can only take it away

War! Huh Good God y'all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it again.

And for the sake of the veteran, never stop saying it.

POLITICS - More Bushworld "Supporting the Troops"

"Senators warned away from bigger GI Bill" by Rick Maze, Army Times

Lawmakers pushing for dramatic improvements in veterans’ education benefits can expect no help from the Bush administration.

While defense and veterans’ officials representing the administration acknowledge the value of having GI Bill benefits that help pay for college or vocational education, the administration does not support generous increases that would raise benefits to fully cover the cost of tuition and fees plus provide a $1,000 monthly stipend for living expenses.

Service members trying to attend college “are faced with the daunting task of taking multiple jobs to raise the money, attending a less prestigious institution, taking out student loans and/or living on mama’s couch to cut expenses,” said Patrick Campbell, legislative director for Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans.

But officials who testified July 31 before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee said the possibility of receiving an average of $2,400 a month — which includes the stipend plus average college costs — would be enough to cause serious harm to the military at a time when it is hard to get and keep good people.

“The potential benefits of a higher benefit level to recruiting must be carefully evaluated in light of the difficulties some of the services are experiencing in the recruiting market,” said a joint statement submitted by Tom Bush, the Defense Department’s principal director for manpower and personnel, and Curt Gilroy, its director of accession policy. “Attracting qualified recruits using large, across-the-board basic benefits incurs the risk that many who enter for the benefits will leave as soon as they can to use them,” the statement said.

Several GI Bill initiatives are pending before Congress, but the one getting the most attention is S 22, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007, introduced in January by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.

The bill, which has wide support among Democrats, would provide a monthly payment of the cost of in-state tuition and fees for a four-year public college or university plus the $1,000 stipend, a combination Webb said would restore benefits to the level provided when the original GI Bill was created at the end of World War II.

Payments proposed by Webb would be a significant increase over the $1,075 maximum basic benefit payment now provided to those who have served at least three years on active duty.

However, defense officials said S 22 could hurt the military. Not only would a big education benefit encourage some people to go to college rather than stay in uniform, but payments to people with critical skills would be lower under the proposal than what is available today.

Those enlisting in critically needed skills can get up to $950 more a month in benefits; about 12,000 people a year get the so-called “kickers.” Pentagon officials said the combination of the basic benefit and the kicker, used by the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, is more than S 22 would provide.

So, we have the view of let only enlistees with "critical" skills get extra enlistment incentives and forget other potential enlistees. Now just which category do you think has the higher numbers, critical-skill enlistees or other enlistees?

Actually, this is an excuse by GOP anti-spending ideologues, even if it's for a good cause. Another money over people priority. This from a group who claim they "support the troops."

IRAQ - Deja Vu

"Pace Questions Whether Iran Arming Iraq" by CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press

The top U.S. military officer said Tuesday the discovery that roadside bombs in Iraq contained material made in Iran does not necessarily mean the Iranian government was involved in supplying insurgents.

The comments by Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called into question assertions by three senior U.S. military officials in Baghdad on Sunday who said the highest levels of Iranian government were responsible for arming Shiite militants in Iraq with the bombs, blamed for the deaths of more than 170 troops in the U.S.-led coalition.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Monday he was confident the weaponry was coming with the approval of the Iranian government. On Tuesday, Snow said Pace's comments do not conflict with those of the senior military officials or the White House.

Sound familiar Vietnam Vets? How about the lead-up to this Iraqi War?

Of course "they" live in Bush World.

POLITICS - Bush Administration's Attack on Veterans

The number of veterans coming into the VA health care system has been rising by about 5 percent a year as the number of people returning from Iraq with illnesses or injuries keep rising.

Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans represent almost 5 percent of the VA's patient caseload, and many are returning from battle with grievous injuries requiring costly care, such as traumatic brain injuries.

All told, the VA expects to treat about 5.8 million patients next year, including 263,000 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The VA underestimated the number of veterans, including those from Iraq and Afghanistan, who were seeking care, as well as the cost of treatment and long-term care.

The cuts come even as the number of veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is expected to increase 26 percent next year.

"Veterans face consecutive budget cuts" by ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer

The Bush administration plans to cut funding for veterans' health care two years from now — even as badly wounded troops returning from Iraq' could overwhelm the system.

Bush is using the cuts, critics say, to help fulfill his pledge to balance the budget by 2012.

After an increase sought for next year, the Bush budget would turn current trends on their head. Even though the cost of providing medical care to veterans has been growing rapidly — by more than 10 percent in many years — White House budget documents assume consecutive cutbacks in 2009 and 2010 and a freeze thereafter.

The proposed cuts are unrealistic in light of recent VA budget trends — its medical care budget has risen every year for two decades and 83 percent in the six years since Bush took office — sowing suspicion that the White House is simply making them up to make its long-term deficit figures look better.

"Either the administration is willingly proposing massive cuts in VA health care," said Rep. Chet Edwards (D) of Texas, chairman of the panel overseeing the VA's budget. "Or its promise of a balanced budget by 2012 is based on completely unrealistic assumptions."

My take is the Bush does NOT really care about Veterans. Their concerns do not fit "Bush-World" views.

POLITICS - Report On American Consumer Rip-Off

"Drug Companies Making Billions in Excess Profits Under Medicare Plan" by Lynn Erskine, Center for Economic and Policy Research

This article includes a REPORT by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and goes on....

Thousands of drugs cost more than necessary under the Medicare drug plan because Congress prohibited Medicare from negotiating drug prices directly with the pharmaceutical industry, as is done by the Veterans Administration. In the case of many drugs, the prices paid by insurers participating in the plan are more than twice as high as the prices paid by the Veterans Administration.

Millions of seniors and disabled Americans enrolled in Medicare Part D drug plans are discovering the "doughnut hole" - the $2,850 gap placed into the plan in order to save the government money. The Center for Economic and Policy Research has pointed out that this gap was only necessary because the plan's overall design added significant costs and complexity.

More evidence the the GOP congress who passed this law are in the back pockets of pharmaceutical companies. After all, it would unethical to "steal" their profits in the name of consumer savings. NOT