Veterans will be counted out if McCain has his way

Aug 21, VA Update: Senator McCain's Plan to Privatize Veterans' Healthcare
Aaron Glantz


Inter Press Service News Agency

Aug 21, 2008
August 21, 2008 - If John McCain is elected the next U.S. president, wounded veterans could be in for a world of hurt.

On the campaign trail, the Republican's presumptive nominee has talked of a new mission for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and argued that veterans with non-combat medical problems should be given vouchers to receive care at private, for-profit hospitals -- in other words, an end to the kind of universal health care the government has guaranteed veterans for generations.

"We need to relieve the burden on the VA from routine health care," McCain told the National Forum on Disability Issues last month. "If you have a routine health care need, take it wherever you want, whatever doctor or health care provider and get the treatment you need, while we at the VA focus our attention, our care, our love, on these grievous wounds of war."

The Republican senator argues that giving veterans a VA card that they can use at private doctors would shorten the long wait times many veterans face in seeing government doctors, who are nearly universally viewed as among the best in the world.

A recent study by the RAND Corporation found that "VA patients were more likely to receive recommended care" and "received consistently better care across the board, including screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow up" than that delivered by other U.S. health care providers.

go here for more

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10972

Troops contribute more to Obama campaign than McCain's

Troops contribute more to Obama campaign

By Rick Maze - Staff writers
Posted : Thursday Aug 14, 2008 14:23:40 EDT

Military personnel are contributing more to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois than to his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, according to a nonpartisan group tracking donations to candidates.

The Center for Responsible Politics says that in terms of total contributions during the 2008 election cycle, 859 service members have contributed a combined $335,536 to Obama as of June 31, an average of about $391 a person.

In comparison, 558 service members have contributed a combined $280,513 to Sen. John McCain, an average of $503 a person.

Running a close third in the contributions is Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, who has suspended his run for the Republican presidential nomination but has not formally dropped out of the race. He has received $232,411 in contributions from 537 military members, an average of $433 a person.

Looking just at contributions from service members with overseas addresses, McCain trails far behind Obama and Paul.

click post title for more

McCain's Waterloo was Sturgis

This is approaching a daily dig at McCain for me. He just keeps doing it. While he talks about what we owe veterans, he ducks the fact he's voted against them even chance he had the opportunity to prove what he says. This is ridiculous. I heard his speech at Sturgis too many times and while it was being "sold" as a tribute to veterans, he made it a campaign speech instead. I wonder if any of his staffers let him know they show up every year and none of them were there just to see him? Does he think bikers are dumb or something?

He talked about needing to drill today, but didn't mention the fact most of them are fully aware that will do little for the gas problem today. He talked about giving the oil companies more leases to drill, but never mention the fact they already have a lot of leases they haven't touched or the fact that refineries have not been built. He also poked fun of the fact about inflating tires and tuning up our engines. That even though every expert says that saves gas and bikers, even though they get a lot of mileage on their hogs, they also drive cars and trucks as well. So much for that.

Then McCain went after congress for not being in Washington when we are suffering but forgot he's part of them and hasn't been there much in the last couple of years. Obama has not been there much either but Obama is not chastising them for it.

Now he tries to pass of PTSD as if he has any clue what it is. Fact:100% of people who have been tortured develop PTSD, so either he is in denial or he thinks the way he acts is normal. Maybe he just assumes he's better than all the other POW's who have been tortured through the centuries? They have been wounded and all of them at different levels but what most do not have in common with McCain is that they would not turn their back on other veterans the way he has and they would not then try to claim to be some kind of hero after doing it. Bikers are not stupid and McCain really should know that veterans aren't either.

Bikers roar for McCain at Rally


GOP candidate stops at Sturgis
By Tom Lawrence
Black Hills Pioneer
STURGIS - Politicians are used to hearing the roar of the crowd, but Sen. John McCain heard an entirely different roar Monday night at The Buffalo Chip.


McCain said he was also concerned about health care for veterans and service members. Some veterans and the South Dakota Democratic Party staged a rally in Sturgis Monday to criticize McCain for supposedly “rationing” health care for veterans and service members, but McCain said they were distorting his words. He said he wanted to send uniformed personnel to regular health care facilities with “a plastic card” to cover the costs while Veterans Administration facilities focus on veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and wounds from improvised explosive devices.

“I'd love to have that debate with Democrats and that group,” he said.

McCain, who was a prisoner of war from 1967-73, said he didn't suffer from PTSD. “I never had a problem, believe it or not,” he said, attributing much of that to his age, since he was nearly 30 while many current service members are a decade younger. “It took me 15 minutes to readjust.”
go here for more

http://www.bhpioneer.com/articles/2008/08/06/
breaking_news/doc4898a1fbcc4b0562619741.txt

Not all veterans salute McCain

Just because someone is a veteran, that does not necessarily make them a nice guy, a smart guy, a military expert or even a decent human. There are some veterans who were decorated and ended up homeless. There were some who were heroes in battle only to end up in jail for crimes committed after. Veterans come from all walks of life, all different experiences and enter into the military for all different reasons. What they do after combat should count as much as what they do during combat. While we do take into consideration someone's military record in court cases, they are not given a get out of jail free card. Even if they have PTSD, avoid prison, there are legal consequences they have to live up to from community service to getting therapy. Employers may give preferential treatment in hiring veterans but the veteran still has an obligation to do the job they were hired to do or they get fired. Loans may be a bit easier for veterans to obtain to start a business or purchase a house but they have to pay the loan back.

Why is it that McCain thinks he gets an automatic pass on running for president the same way he received one running for the senate? Too many in this country look at McCain and see the image of him as a POW. While that does put him into a unique category as a rarity, that should not absolve him of everything he has done since he came back. While he spent years in the senate, he was not a champion on veterans issues. As a matter of fact, he either voted against bills for veterans or fought against them. Senator Jim Webb's GI Bill is the latest one he fought against and then tried to pass it off as something he supported. Bush even attempted to congratulate him by tying him into the announcement of the signing of the bill when Bush and McCain did everything in their power to kill the funding.

We do not give all veterans a free ride on what they do after service and should not give one to McCain either. Considering because of veterans like McCain running away from what other veterans need, the rest of the veterans have been suffering for far too long under his "leadership" against them. KC

Not all veterans salute McCain
Click-2-Listen
By Dan Moffett
Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
Sunday, August 03, 2008
The growing ranks of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will have a lot to say about who becomes president. And what they are saying isn't what you might expect.

In theory, John McCain, with his long record of service as a Navy pilot and prisoner of war story from Vietnam, should have the market cornered on the military vote.

Instead, he has drawn opposition from many veterans because of his voting record in the Senate. Sen. McCain has voted against bills that would have improved veterans' benefits, particularly health care, or measures to ease the strain on active-duty troops and their families.

The disapproval among vets for Sen. McCain has fed surprising support for Barack Obama, who has voted for many of the veterans' initiatives in the Senate that his opponent rejected.

One of the last things the McCain campaign expected was to wind up in the cross hairs of angry veterans and having to fight off repeated attacks. But, then, that was also one of the last things the decorated veteran John Kerry expected in 2004.

The Internet has given rise to a new generation of veterans groups that line up from one end of the political spectrum to the other - Veterans for Peace at the left end and the Swift Boat Vets on the right.

Among the many misconceptions about running for president is that a military combat record makes a candidate more electable.

The Disabled Veterans of America gives him a 20 percent rating, compared with an 80 percent rating for Sen. Obama. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America gives Sen. McCain a D and Sen. Obama a B+. The Vietnam Veterans of America say Sen. McCain has voted against them on 15 issues.

One of the most vocal and fastest-growing veterans groups to oppose the McCain campaign is VoteVets.org. Formed in 2006, the organization claims a membership of roughly 100,000, with a political action committee devoted to electing congressional candidates who oppose the handling of the Iraq war.

Especially galling to VoteVets.org is Sen. McCain's opposition to the new, bipartisan GI Bill that increases education benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan vets. Sen. Obama voted for the bill when it passed 75-22 in May; Sen. McCain was on the campaign trail and did not vote.

click post title for more

Obama and McCain let the troops down at Fort Hood

Carissa Picard sent this email. In case you don't know who she is, she is the President of Military Spouses for Change. She's been very active helping the troops at Fort Hood. Living with the families and the troops, she's well aware of what's going on today and how the troops need to be heard. She tried to put together a Town Hall meeting with the troops and the two candidates running for President and Commander-in Chief. This was such a big deal CBS was going to cover it. Obama had better things to do, as well as he also had better things to do than attend the DAV convention and sent a tape to be played at the convention. McCain, well he was willing to do this but would only commit if Obama did. The whole thing fell apart. What is very troubling is that we have two occupations going on right now, troops suffering and families suffering as they are expected to do their duties. The two people who think they have the right "leadership" to command these men and women do an awful lot of talking about how important the troops are to them but they never really do much to prove it. So is this all just more talk from politicians trying to use the love the American people have for the troops and not really doing anything for them or what? Read what Carissa wrote and then you decide.

DIARY on MILITARY SPOUSE PRESS - POLITICS AS USUAL: The Injustice of Not Having the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall

Some of you know me and know that what I do comes from the heart (see: http://www.milspousepress.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=573). Caynan, my husband, is a medevac pilot covering the Baghdad area. Yes, progress has been made. But it isn't pretty. (Magilla the Gorilla, the large stuffed animal I sent him that is now a part of the crew for my husband's team, needs a harness because he gets tossed around during the missions and is getting bloodied up.) You will not like what you are about to read but I hope you will remember that I tried to invite the candidates to Fort Hood back in November of 2007 (http://blip.tv/file/500866), that you met me when I was stumping for Biden in Iowa because I believe so strongly in being a voice for our active duty service members and families.

What I wrote below, I wrote in response to a personal email, I wrote in my OWN voice, not as the President of MSC, and not as the organizer of the FOrt Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium. I have been a Democrat all my life. My husband has taken heat from his chain of command because of my advocacy for our soldiers here at Fort Hood (See also why we should take care of our wounded: http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,157747,00.html). But I am heartbroken and disappointed and angry. I approached the campaigns asking for ANY dates that worked for them. I will be more than happy to give you the invitation and press release if you want it, just email me. You know what, I understand that town halls are risky. But every time my husband gets in that Blackhawk he is risking his life, and he does it anyway. We honor those who have the courage to take risks. The stakes are high, you may be thinking. Yes, they are. They are very high. No one knows that more than we do.

I am officially an independent now. I think that this was town hall was a political game too for the campaigns--AND I AM ANGRY. I am speaking out as the spouse of a soldier serving 15 months in Iraq. Fort Hood is home to approximately 56,000 soldiers and 24,000 spouses. Our "in house" records, as of Feb. 2007, had our death toll at 650 deaths to this "Global War on Terror" but the DoD numbers, of course, for Fort Hood, have us at that RIGHT NOW. (Guess it all depends on how you define dead). (I'm sorry, casualty of war.) Six weeks ago, a 19 yr old stationed from Hood shot himself to death via webcam in front of his 19 year old wife (he is listed by the army as a "non-combat related casualty; small arms fire"). He was stationed at Camp Taji.

On July 22, my husband calls me from Taji to inform me he can't shower because another soldier has been electrocuted to death in the shower. A few months ago, 4th ID announced it was raising funds to expand its soldier memorial on post for the THIRD time as its Division losses have been so great. 4th ID is, of course, on its 4th tour in Iraq. 1st Cav Division will be going back for the fourth or fifth time in six months (they just back in this past December when their tours were extended to 15 months).

A soldier with TUMORS in his lungs that I am helping here at Ft. Hood was CLEARED as fit for duty for AFGHANISTAN even though he can't run or do push ups without passing out. (General Schoomaker has been informed of the situation and is now having this soldier re-evaluated.) MEANWHILE, when I approached Obama's people about the event (whom I thought would jump on this opportunity), I get stonewalled by their vet coordinator. I get told by McCain's people he won't come if Obama won't come (nice).

I get NO dates from Obama's people and one date from McCain's people. I go with that date to the network and the venue and Obama. Obama's deputy director of scheduling tells me, "oh, the Senator is spending time with his family on that day, Ms. Picard. Surely you can appreciate that the Senator's time with his family is sacred." I felt like my head was going to explode when she said that to me. The Senator's time with his family is SACRED? Yes, it is but what about OUR TIME with OUR FAMILIES? Between 2002 and 2006, the divorce rate for Army officers TRIPLED and for Army enlisted soldiers doubled. Incidents of child abuse and neglect increased with the length of the soldier being deployed. PTSD is a HUGE risk factor for domestic violence. Repeat tours increase the likelihood of returning with PTSD. 2 in 5 service members are returning with either a traumatic brain injury or PTSD (or both).

WHAT ABOUT OUR FAMILIES? Last time I checked, the Senator gets to see his family. They CAN travel with him. He does not rely on 15 minutes DSN phone calls with bad connections that he has to wait in line to make or internet that may or may not be working. And after NOvember, he WILL be with his families. I told Ms. Koehkne, with all due respect, no one knows more than an Army wife, how sacred time with one's family is. And I certainly don't appreciate the fact that the man whose orders will send my husband away from my family for yet ANOTHER 12 or 15 months cannot commit to talking to our troops because time with his family is more important than time with us, especially when the war in Iraq is such a large part of his election platform.

It is utterly outrageous that these two men have not come to US together and worked out a time for BOTH of them to talk to our service members and spouses. We should know how they plan to maintain our all volunteer force after six years of war and in the face of the escalating "global war on terror," strengthen our domestic security and replenish national guard/reserve forces and equipment (particularly in the event of a natural disaster and/or, god forbid, an internal attack), and fortify our military and veteran institutions while doing this.

I am not bashing Obama, I am angry at McCain as well for not trying to make this happen either. Our soldiers are MORE THAN A PHOTO OP. OUR FAMILIES AND OUR SERVICE MEMBERS ARE LIVING AND DYING for this country and for this war on terror. We wanted the country to remember that the next president is going to determine exactly how much longer we are going to keep living this way and where exactly our service members will be living and dying and being wounded when NOT WITH US, their families. WIll it be Iraq? WIll it be Afghanistan? Will it be Iran?? Pakistan??? AND WHEN YOU ARE DONE WITH THE SERVICE MEMBER, when he or she returns wounded, battered, bruised, broken, what is this country going to do to help this service member and this family put itself back together?

Since Fort Hood has lost the most soldiers in the war on terror and its soldiers have spent the most fighting in this war, I think this is clearly the most compelling audience for these questions. Every soldier knows that orders to Hood equals orders to combat. THe National Veterans Organization wants to help create a presidential town hall before November for our soldiers and spouses and veterans. Ralph Nader wants to be involved. I say we challenge ALL candidates to attend. I say we tell them to put up or shut up because I am, quite frankly, sick of it. And God help them if my husband goes down in his helicopter in Iraq, because it won't be pretty. They think that this military spouse is on fire now, as a gold star spouse I will make Cindy Sheehan look like a pussy cat. (I should mention that I am Irish.)

I expect both campaigns will be angry at me for this email but they don't have to work with me to do this event. They just have to come together to make this happen for our troops and their families. If not Fort Hood, then at least some other Army installation. It's the Army and National Guards that are deployed the longest at 15 months and they should be heard.

Someone tell McCain wounded troops are not fair game

The following is very good and goes a long way in showing that the troops should never be used in anyone's campaign, especially wounded ones. Obama has never allowed reporters to cover his trips to see the wounded and as far as this trip goes, reporters were never under the impression they would be going to Landstuhl this time either. It was to be a private visit but even at that, the retired General he was taking was told that his visit would appear to be political. It made Obama aware that his visit would be seen that way as well.

What McCain managed to do was use wounded troops in Landstuhl as part of a political game. Not just in the lie created in his commercial, but by also saying that McCain has been any kind of a champion of wounded troops or veterans. His record shows how little he manages to support them when it counts.

The biggest indication of this is the fact the DAV has given McCain such a deplorable grade on veterans issues. Keep in mind that while the DAV as an organization stays away from taking political sides, the majority of people in the DAV are Republicans. They put wounded and disabled veterans ahead of any kind of politics and proved it when they ranked McCain at 20%. Most of the highest ranks from the DAV have gone to Democrats simply because it is not the majority of Republicans supporting the veterans when it counts, but it is the Democrats.

If Obama had used his trips to Walter Reed or Bethesda Naval Hospital as a political stunt, I would have come out against using the troops. If McCain ever does manage to support the wounded, it would go a long way to proving what he says. Someone really should tell him that the troops, the wounded and the disabled veterans are not tools he can use in a political game. Obama has to run on his record and what he does. McCain has to run on his record and what he does but especially because McCain is a wounded veteran, what he fails to do carries a lot more ramifications.

Fact Check: No evidence that Obama troop visit was to be media event

10:10 AM CDT on Thursday, July 31, 2008
By Robert Farley / PolitiFact.com

A John McCain campaign ad claims that Barack Obama "made time to go to the gym, but canceled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn’t allow him to bring cameras." Mr. Obama's campaign denies the Democrat ever planned to take reporters with him, and The Washington Post reported Wednesday that there was no evidence that media would be invited. Some background:

In an effort to shore up his foreign policy chops, Mr. Obama took the unusual step of making a trip overseas — to the Middle East and Europe. The idea, in part, was to show the presidential candidate's gravitas as an international leader.

But the strategy backfired a bit when Mr. Obama canceled plans to visit wounded troops at a military hospital in Germany.

Mr. Obama had been part of a congressional delegation that visited Iraq and Afghanistan, but when that trip ended Mr. Obama stayed on the road, spending several days on a campaign-funded tour of Europe. Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, was supposed to be one of the stops.

The decision to cancel was made after the Pentagon raised a number of issues about its policy against campaign activity at a military base — including visits by campaign staff or any media coverage or speeches. As a sitting senator, Mr. Obama was welcome to visit troops, but no one on the campaign trip with him, including a retired general who is advising his campaign, could go along.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/
politics/national/stories/073108dnpolfactcheck.1a2b2fec.html

Candidates’ forum at Fort Hood is scrubbed

It will be very interesting to find out why Senator Obama thought doing something else was more important. Don't get me wrong. I think he'd make a fine president but this was very important to the troops. I hope he plans on doing it another day and I hope Senator McCain does as well. The future of the troops depends on who takes the chair next and they should be able to ask all the questions they want.

Candidates’ forum at Fort Hood is scrubbed

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jul 29, 2008 15:52:57 EDT

A proposed Aug. 11 town hall meeting near Fort Hood, Texas, in which it was hoped that the two presidential candidates would talk to audiences of military members, veterans and retirees is off, the event’s chief organizer said Tuesday.

But whether the event is canceled or simply being postponed is unclear.

“We are open to rescheduling, if they want to, but it was getting to close to Aug. 11 to leave it open,” said Carissa Picard, managing director of the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium that was planning the event, planned for the Bell County Expo Center in Belton, Texas, near Fort Hood, the largest U.S. military base.

Picard had announced July 11 that the town hall meeting would be televised by CBS and that aides to Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential candidate, had indicated McCain was willing to attend.

Picard tried to bring pressure to get Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic presidential candidate, to agree to attend, but campaign officials said Obama had another event previously planned for that day.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/military_forthood_townhall_072908w/

August 9 - 12, 2008 Bally's Hotel Las Vegas 3645 Las Vegas Boulevard South Las Vegas, NV 89109

But Senator Obama will not be able to go to this either. This is from the DAV site.

Delegates to DAV 87th National Convention to
hear from Presidential Candidates

Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is tentatively scheduled to address the delegates at DAV’s 87th National Convention on Saturday, Aug. 9.

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), the Democratic presidential candidate, will be unable to attend the convention because he is travelling out of the country. He will provide a taped message to delegates however.

DAV's 87th National Convention is being held at Bally's Hotel Las Vegas Aug. 9 - 12.

http://www.dav.org/

McCain does not think all veterans worthy of care

While this sounds good, considering the combat wounded do have a sense of urgency in getting proper care, PTSD is healed better the sooner treatment begins, what McCain is getting wrong is that this system is supposed to be taking care of all veterans. All of them were willing to lay down their lives for this nation. We need to take care of all of them but he just can't understand that.

McCain has voted against veterans for years and now he wants to tell millions of non-combat veterans their health care is not as important to him. What he also does not understand is that when it comes to VA disability compensation, the claims get processed the same way and the backlog pile holds combat veterans and non-combat veterans lives on the line. Example would be a sailor serving on a ship never deployed into war is injured on that ship. Is he less important to take care of? What if it was a sailor who happened to have been hurt on the USS Cole? What about a pilot? Let's say he was injured but never deployed into combat. Is he less worthy? When it comes to the VA it is not Combat Veterans Administration but Veterans Administration, in other words, all veterans.

We have a pressing need to take care of the veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan right now, but we also have a pressing need to take care of Vietnam Veterans, Gulf War veterans and Korean war veterans along with the other minor combat operations we had that also produced veterans and wounded veterans. We have state side veterans being eaten away from Agent Orange exposure, Marines from Camp Jejune exposed to contaminated water but he does not address them. We have women in the military and female veterans never deployed into combat but have been wounded by sexual attacks. Do they count?

McCain: Make combat-disabled top VA priority

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 23, 2008 14:48:14 EDT

Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s call to “concentrate” veterans’ health care on those with combat injuries is raising questions about the Arizona senator’s commitment to funding the ailing VA system.

Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., said a system that treats combat veterans and non-combat veterans differently is inherently unfair. “We can care for both combat veterans and non-combat veterans if we just decide it is an important thing to do,” Filner said Thursday, one day after McCain talked at a Dover, N.H., town hall meeting about the need to concentrate veterans’ health care on people with injuries that “are a direct result of combat.”

“Right now, there are people who drive a long way and they stand in line to stand in line to get an appointment to get an appointment,” McCain said.

Filner agreed veterans are being ill-served by the Veterans Affairs Department, but he disagreed with the idea that only combat veterans deserved attention. “We are not providing adequate health care for combat veterans. We are not providing adequate care for veterans who never saw combat,” Filner said.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/military_mccain_healthcare_072208/

Fort Hood Town Hall Waits for Obama's time

While Senator Obama wants to be Commander-in-Chief, has taken time to travel to Afghanistan and Iraq, has run his campaign on being right on Iraq, he is not willing to give up some of his time to participate in a Town Hall at Fort Hood. McCain has agreed to do it but Obama's campaign has not. Why not? Why wouldn't he see how important this is to the troops? They have a lot of questions for the next Commander-in-Chief considering there are two occupations going on, wounded wait for care and families suffer. This is too important for it to be ignored. I believe this is because of Obama's campaign advisors advising him in error. Obama is a lot smarter than they are and he should see the need to do this and the obligation he has to them if he wants to be the next Commander-in-Chief. To view how important this is, watch the video on the right sidebar of this blog and see how many organizations have committed to this.

Now That We’ve ‘Won,’ Let’s Come Home

Now That We’ve ‘Won,’ Let’s Come Home
By FRANK RICH
Published: June 22, 2008

THE Iraq war’s defenders like to bash the press for pushing the bad news and ignoring the good. Maybe they’ll be happy to hear that the bad news doesn’t rate anymore. When a bomb killed at least 51 Iraqis at a Baghdad market on Tuesday, ending an extended run of relative calm, only one of the three network newscasts (NBC’s) even bothered to mention it.

The only problem is that no news from Iraq isn’t good news — it’s no news. The night of the Baghdad bombing the CBS war correspondent Lara Logan appeared as Jon Stewart’s guest on “The Daily Show” to lament the vanishing television coverage and the even steeper falloff in viewer interest. “Tell me the last time you saw the body of a dead American soldier,” she said. After pointing out that more soldiers died in Afghanistan than Iraq last month, she asked, “Who’s paying attention to that?”

Her question was rhetorical, but there is an answer: Virtually no one. If you follow the nation’s op-ed pages and the presidential campaign, Iraq seems as contentious an issue as Vietnam was in 1968. But in the country itself, Cindy vs. Michelle, not Shiites vs. Sunnis, is the hotter battle. This isn’t the press’s fault, and it isn’t the public’s fault. It’s merely the way things are.
click post title for more

Nothing really gets covered about Iraq on the TV and even less than nothing on Afghanistan. No one noticed the death count in Afghanistan has gone up and we lost more there than we did in Iraq. No one notice the five killed just the other day or the other deaths there this year.

It's easy for the backers of the Iraq fiasco to claim victory when they don't know what's happening behind hearing there are less attacks now and less deaths of American forces, when every other indication leads to even more violence around the corner. It's easy for them to ignore the rise and fall in deaths over the years and even easier to ignore that the Iraqi people are pretty much fed up with all of it. None of the backers noticed the fact that troops have been treated to contaminated water by KBR. The billions of funds missing and unaccounted for. The other pieces of news coming out pointing fingers all at this are easy to ignore when they have their fingers in their ears.

Everyone agrees that the occupation of Iraq will not end unless Obama becomes the President. We know where McCain will take this and it is not to the end as soon as possible but more of the same "whenever" it happens and screw over those sent to finish it out. There is nothing we can do now about any of this until the election is over. It's obvious that Bush has managed to trap the Democrats leaving them no room to end this because the fact is their slim majority is not enough to end it no matter how badly they want to.

What the American people right now can do is put the pressure on Congress to take care of the wounded right now and those who will come until this is finally over. Take care of the families who have been living on food stamps while their husband or wife has been deployed yet again on the meager pay they receive at the same time the cost of living is leaving them out. Yes, the troops worry about their families with the price of food going up along with everything else and gas at over $4.00 a gallon. If you don't think the thought of their families suffering while they are deployed is hurting their morale, you better think again.

Over 800,000 claims backlogged is also damaging their morale when they know the next one added to the pile of claims could be their own claim if they get wounded.

It's not bad enough the people in this country pay so little attention to Iraq and even less to Afghanistan, it's the fact we don't pay attention to the troops either.
Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

Iraq never came up at McCain town hall

I hope to be forgiven for posting this whole opinion piece but it's just too good to cut anywhere.

Iraq never came up at McCain town hall
Nashua Telegraph - Nashua,NH,USA
Published: Friday, June 20, 2008
Iraq never came up at McCain town hall
It was a perfectly beautiful day in Nashua when the faithful turned out to see John McCain last Thursday at Daniel Webster College. In Baghdad it was 101 degrees, expected to reach 113 by Monday.

With 155,000 U.S. troops in Iraq facing mortal danger daily, braving the heat in body armor and in sandstorms, often going without food or sleep, and dealing with the toll of repeated tours, you'd think that their plight might warrant at least one question at McCain's town hall.

Former U.S. Sen. Warren Rudman betrayed Republican anxiety over the war issue in his introductory remarks. While talking about the unforeseen challenges each new president faces, he used George Bush and 9/11 as an example. With a momentary pause he added: however you might feel about what the president did.

There were questions on education, immigration, health care, Social Security and college costs. One questioner was concerned about too much videogame censorship. It was fun to watch McCain's eyes glaze over as she went on at some length. I can't imagine he knows much about video gaming or cares. There was no discussion of Iraq, however.

On Primary Day last January, The Telegraph published a large front-page color picture of Senator McCain and I talking in front of City Hall. We were talking about how we both agreed that our democracy demands a healthy debate if we are to make the best choices for our country.

We haven't always had such debate when it was needed. In 2002, the U.S. Senate shirked its responsibility, spending 24 days debating the agriculture bill but only four on the war authorization.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican from Nebraska and a Vietnam vet, said it best. Speaking during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on "the surge," Hagel said:

"These young men and women that we put in Anbar Province, in Iraq, in Baghdad . . . they're real lives. And we better be damn sure we know what we're doing, all of us, before we put 22,000 more Americans into that grinder. Don't hide anymore; none of us. That is the essence of our responsibility. If we don't debate this, we are not worthy of our country. We fail our country."

If one truly cares about our soldiers and their families, how can one be silent? It would seem that the mostly Republican crowd and their candidate were happy to sweep the issue under the rug.

Dave Tiffany
Hollis
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080620/OPINION02/445067781/-1/opinion

Why not one question on Iraq or what is happening to our veterans? Not one question on the GI Bill? Not one question on PTSD, the VA law suit, suicides and attempted suicides? This is a shame and very telling about what McCain supporters don't care about.

Is John McCain Able or is he Cain?

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Veteran
by don mikulecky [Subscribe]
Wed May 21, 2008 at 04:56:50 PM PDT
Is it disrespectful of a veteran's service if one wonders about certain behavior patterns and the possibility that they are related to combat experience? I wrote a diary in December of 2007 reviewing the book: Achilles in Vietnam: Combat trauma and the undoing of character by Johnathan Shay, M. D. Ph.D. I think the subject needs to be brought up again relative to certain behavior exhibited by a well known public figure who is also a Vietnam War Veteran and was a POW during that war. The book jacket tells us that Shay is a staff psychiatrist in the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Boston. His patients were Vietnam combat veterans with severe, chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Shay examines the devistation of war by comparing the soldiers of Homer's Iliad with Vietnam veterans suffering from PTSD. Allthough the Iliad was written twenty-seven centuries ago it has much to teach about combat trauma, as do the more recent, compelling voices and experiences of Vietnam vets. The historical legacy of war goes back at least that far yet we still tend to wish it away. Denial is of little value to anyone when the issue becomes pertinant to our Nation's future. Let us look at what Shay learned about this horrible effect of combat experience.
(go below for link and more of this)

My reply

McCain must have it
First time

But one Saturday morning, while practicing take-offs in his A-6 Skyraider off the Texas Gulf Coast, the engine suddenly quits. McCain’s plane plunges into Corpus Christi Bay.

Then there was the Forestal. The following is from Against All Odds

On the Forestal John McCain prepares for war.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.): We'd only been in combat for a few days, so the adrenaline and excitement was still quite high.

On July 29, 30-year-old McCain climbs into his A-4e Skyhawk.

After a pre-flight check, his plane gets into take-off position.

But as captured in this real-life video, another plane's rocket ignites and soars across the flight deck. It punctures McCain’s external fuel tank, which erupts into a huge fireball.

Video cameras mounted on the flight deck record the raging inferno surrounding McCain’s plane.

Timberg: McCain is essentially engulfed in it. Very quickly and very cooly he realizes that his only way out is to pop open the cockpit. He climbs out, and there's this lake of fire. He drops into it, rolls and rolls through it.

But just as he turns around to help his fellow pilots escape, the first bomb goes off.

Timberg: Planes are exploding and rockets are exploding. Men are coming out and trying to put the fire out only to have the explosions kill them.

McCain is blown backward by the explosion. Dazed, but conscious, he drags himself to sickbay.

Sen. McCain: And I went up to the sickbay and I walked in and there were a whole lot of people lying around that had been terribly burned, third-degree burns, unrecognizable. And one of them called me over and he said, "Mr. McCain, Mr. So-and-so, he didn't make it, did he?" And I said, "Well yeah, he did I just saw him around in the other room. And he said, "Oh thank God." And he died.

The fire rages for hours. Planes are tossed overboard to prevent even further explosions. A curtain of fire-retardant foam is pumped out onto the deck in a desperate attempt to save the ship.

Down in sickbay, McCain looks on in helpless horror as a video monitor plays the scene.

Joe McCain: Here was this disaster occurring all around him, in which he could see his fellows, his comrades, his pilots, his beloved enlisted men just get cooked, and he's in the middle of this enormous chaos. This disaster was happening to everybody else.

Finally, after 24 hours, the fire is brought under control. The ship is saved, but at great human cost; 134 men lose their lives.

McCain is one of the lucky ones.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

The POW time is really the only time mentioned when talking about McCain and PTSD. We forget about the other times.

100% of people who have been tortured develop PTSD. No question about that. This I discovered when training to be a Chaplain.

He shows the signs of it as well. I've been working with PTSD vets for over 25 years now, as well as being married to one of them.

Shay's first book got right to the point. I have it on my blog as my favorite book. He got nothing wrong in any of it.

Aside from the fact I think McCain would be very dangerous as a President, he is also the least likely to take care of the veterans and the troops. He has shown no regard for their lives, even early on as you read above. He wants to run as a veteran, but he runs away from what other veterans need. Check his voting record.

by Kathie Costos on Thu May 22, 2008 at 05:55:36 AM PDT
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/21/17840/8730/798/519924

McCain says the legislation is too expensive on GI Bill

McCain says the legislation is too expensive and has proposed his own version, which would increase the monthly benefit available to most veterans to $1,500 from $1,100. It would not offer the equivalent of a full scholarship.

The ad by VoteVets.org Action Fund, features Iraq and Afghanistan veterans noting that both McCain and President Bush oppose the bill.

"McCain thinks covering a fraction of our education is enough," one veteran says. Another one, pictured recovering from head wounds, adds in a voiceover: "We didn't give a fraction in Iraq. We gave 100 percent."

"Senator McCain" an announcer concludes, "we respect your service. Please respect ours."http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/20/AR2008052000020.html

I heard this ad. McCain said the GI Bill was too generous in one of the speeches he gave. Can you imagine that? Too generous? For men and women who were willing to risk their lives, do what they were asked to do and always gave 100% while deployed doing their jobs! McCain doesn't think they are worth it. I don't think he's worth any support from any of them. Think about it. While McCain seems to be running on being a Vietnam Vet and POW, he has voted against the veterans and the troops while in the senate. He is no longer a POW and he is longer in the military, so that makes him a veteran, yet he cannot be bothered to vote in their best interests or in the interests of the troops serving now.

He is a Senator and must be held accountable for what he has done, along with what he has not done all these years serving in the Senate. That is what this election has to come down to. Yes, he deserves respect as any veteran does, but just because he is a veteran that does not mean he is not a jerk and a hothead who does not give a damn about any of the needs veterans have. Begin a veteran does not give him the rank of saint demanding unquestioning worship! Stop bowing down to him and hold him accountable.

I would be the first one backing him if he cared about the troops and the vetearns. After all, I voted for him when he ran against Bush in 2000. He is no longer that same man who cared more about the country than the power he could obtain from this country. He has found people more worthy of his attention than the troops and most of them are lobbyists.

Tell Gates and McCain "retention" is no reason to shaft troops

Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized Webb’s bill as a detriment to service retention efforts in an April 29 letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Gates also endorsed key features of the Graham bill without citing the bill by name or number. Clearly the Bush administration hopes that Graham and colleagues have put enough alluring features in S 2938 to draw bipartisan support away Webb’s bill. S 22 already has 58 co-sponsors in the Senate and 250 House members back a companion bill, HR 5740.

In battle over GI Bills, Webb still holds high ground
By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, May 3, 2008



In perhaps any other year, the new Republican plan for enhancing the Montgomery GI Bill, which Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) introduced this week with Sens. Richard Burr (N.C.) and John McCain (Ariz.), would win high praise from advocates for service members and veterans.

But as momentum builds on Capitol Hill to pass S. 22, Sen. Jim Webb’s hefty new GI Bill to replace MGIB for any service member – active, Guard or Reserve – with qualifying active duty service since the attacks of 9-11, the Republican plan still might be a few critical features short of an acceptable replacement for S 22 among leaders of GI Bill reform.

Graham’s bill, the Enhancement of Recruitment, Retention and Readjustment through Education Act (S 2938), is cleverly crafted and will seem generous in comparison to a more basic MGIB reform bill, HR 5684, which the House Veterans Affairs Committee endorsed April 29th.
go here for more
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54499

John McCain needs to remember he's a veteran

GI Bill Sparks Senate War
Politico: Sens. McCain, Webb Locked In Battle Over Webb's New GI Bill
Comments 6
April 30, 2008


The Politico) This story was written by David Rogers.

From Annapolis to Vietnam and back to the Pentagon, John McCain and Jim Webb trod the same paths before coming to the Senate. Iraq divides them today, but there’s also the new kinship of being anxious fathers watching their sons come and go with Marine units in the war.

So what does it say about Washington that two such men, with so much in common, are locked in an increasingly intense debate over a shared value: education benefits for veterans?

“It’s very odd,” said former Nebraska Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey, a mutual friend. And that oddness gets greater by the day as the two headstrong senators barrel down colliding tracks.

An Arizona Republican, McCain has all but locked up the Republican presidential nomination and is preparing for a fall campaign in which his support of the Iraq war is sure to be a major issue. Yet the former Navy pilot and Vietnam POW makes himself a target by refusing to endorse Webb’s new GI education bill and instead signing on to a Republican alternative that focuses more on career soldiers than on the great majority who leave after their first four years.

Undaunted, Webb, who was a Marine infantry officer in Vietnam, is closing in on the bipartisan support needed to overcome procedural hurdles in the Senate, where the cost of his package - estimated now at about $52 billion over 10 years - is sure to be an issue. But McCain’s support would seal the deal like nothing else, and the new Republican bill, together with a letter of opposition Tuesday from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, threatens to peel off support before the Democrat gets to the crucial threshold of 60 votes.
click post title for more

John McCain loves to remind people he served during the Vietnam war and was a POW. He has held this part of his life up as a reason to make him Commander-in-Chief of the military and also seems to think this makes him the perfect person to become President. If this reason alone qualified him to become President then there are a lot of others who would also qualify to become President since there were a lot of other prisoners of war.


There are these from the occupation of Iraq

Most of the POWs were captured from the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company when a convoy of vehicles from the 507th got lost and entered the Iraqi held town of Nasiriyah on March 23, 2003. The 507th was in charge of supporting actual combat troops but were not combat troops themselves and were ill equipped for fighting and quickly surrendered after all their weapons jammed. From their unit nine soldiers in the company were captured in the ambush and following soldiers surrendered to Iraqi forces:
Spc. Edgar Hernandez, 21, of Mission, Texas, was hit in the biceps of his right arm.
Spc. Joseph Hudson, 23, of Alamogordo, New Mexico, was shot three times, twice in the ribs and once in the upper left buttocks.
Spc. Shoshana Johnson, 32, a naturalized American from Panama, was shot with a single bullet that sliced through both ankles. She was the first black woman ever taken prisoner in the American military history.
Private First Class Patrick Miller, 23, of Wichita, Kansas
Sgt. James Riley - 31-year-old bachelor from Pennsauken, New Jersey. As the senior soldier present it was he who ordered the surrender.

And famous one

Jessica Lynch born April 26, 1983 in Palestine, West Virginia suffered a head laceration, an injury to her spine, and fractures to her right arm, both legs, and her right foot and ankle. She was knocked unconscious after her Humvee crashed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_P.O.W.s_in_2003_Invasion_of_Iraq

We also have these from the Gulf War

Acree, Clifford M. USMC Jan.18, 1991 POW 03/05/91
Andrews, William USAF -- MIA 03/05/91
Berryman, Michael C. USMC -- MIA 03/05/91
Cornum, Rhonda USA -- * 03/05/91
Dunlap, Troy USA -- * 03/05/91
Eberly, David W. USAF Jan. 17, 1991 POW 03/05/91
Fox, Jeffrey USAF Feb. 19, 1991 POW 03/05/91
Griffith, Thomas E. Jr. USAF Jan. 17, 1991 POW 03/04/91
Hunter, Guy L. Jr. USMC Jan. 18, 1991 POW 03/05/91
Lockett, David USA Jan. 20, 1991 MIA 03/04/91
Roberts, Harry M. USAF Jan. - 1991 POW 03/05/91
Rathbun-Nealy, Melissa USA Jan. 30, 1991 MIA 03/04/91
Slade, Lawrence R. USN Jan. 21, 19915,3 POW 03/04/91
Small, Joseph USMC Feb. 25, 1991 MIA 03/05/91
Sanborn, Russell A.C. USMC Feb. 09, 1991 MIA 03/05/91
Stamaris, Daniel USA -- * 03/05/91
Storr, Richard Dale USAF -- MIA 03/05/91
Sweet, Robert J. USAF Feb. - , 1991 MIA 03/05/91
Tice, Jeffrey Scott USAF Jan. -, 1991 POW 03/05/91
Wetzel, Robert USN Jan. 17, 1991 MIA 03/04/91
Zaun, Jeffrey Norton USN Jan. 17, 1991 POW 03/04/91
http://www.nationalalliance.org/gulf/returnees.htm

And more from Vietnam

List of 1,205 P.O.W.s
In April 1993, Harvard scholar Stephen Morris discovered a document in a Soviet archive indicating that Vietnam may have misled Americans about the numbers of P.O.W.s it held at the war's end. The document, a translation of writings allegedly prepared by North Vietnamese general Tran Van Quang, stated that North Vietnam held 1,205 American P.O.W.s as of September 1972, just a few months before the release of the 591 P.O.W.s in Operation Homecoming. U.S. government officials suggested that the discrepancy in numbers might have been an exaggeration on the part of Tran Van Quang, or that a confusion of statistics between American soldiers and South Vietnamese commandos caused by an error in translation. Several independent analysts, however, including former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, said that the document appeared authentic.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/trenches/mia.html

Then you have survivors of the Korean War as well. But the only thing all of these people have in common is that they served their country and were held in some of the most horrific conditions anyone could endure. Fully 100% of people who have been tortured develop PTSD because of the treatment they received.

Yes, Mc Cain was a POW but he has also been a senator with a very poor record of voting for veterans. Again if being a POW qualifies him to be President then line up everyone else and let them all run against McCain. The media will not go after any of them on what they say because they never question McCain even though he has a record to either stand or fall on as a Senator.

McCain runs as a veteran but he also runs away from being one when it comes time to taking care of them. When the votes were needed to take care of the wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan, before he put his hat in the ring for the presidency, he voted against veterans. Did anyone ask him why?

These are just a few.

In mid 2007, Senator Reid noted that McCain missed 10 of the past 14 votes on Iraq. However, here is a summary of a dozen votes (two that he missed and ten that he voted against) with respect to Iraq, funding for veterans or for troops, including equipment and armor. I have also included other snippets related to the time period when the vote occurred.

September 2007: McCain voted against the Webb amendment calling for adequate troop rest between deployments. At the time, nearly 65% of people polled in a CNN poll indicted that "things are going either moderately badly or very badly in Iraq.

July 2007: McCain voted against a plan to drawdown troop levels in Iraq. At the time, an ABC poll found that 63% thought the invasion was not worth it, and a CBS News poll found that 72% of respondents wanted troops out within 2 years.

March 2007: McCain was too busy to vote on a bill that would require the start of a drawdown in troop levels within 120 days with a goal of withdrawing nearly all combat troops within one year. Around this time, an NBC News poll found that 55% of respondents indicated that the US goal of achieving victory in Iraq is not possible. This number has not moved significantly since then.

February 2007: For such a strong supporter of the escalation, McCain didn’t even bother to show up and vote against a resolution condemning it. However, at the time a CNN poll found that only 16% of respondents wanted to send more troops to Iraq (that number has since declined to around 10%), while 60% said that some or all should be withdrawn. This number has since gone up to around 70%.

June 2006: McCain voted against a resolution that Bush start withdrawing troops but with no timeline to do so.

May 2006: McCain voted against an amendment that would provide $20 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for health care facilities.

April 2006: McCain was one of only 13 Senators to vote against $430,000,000 for the Department of Veteran Affairs for Medical Services for outpatient care and treatment for veterans.

March 2006: McCain voted against increasing Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes.

March 2004: McCain once again voted for abusive tax loopholes over veterans when he voted against creating a reserve fund to allow for an increase in Veterans' medical care by $1.8 billion by eliminating abusive tax loopholes. Jeez, McCain really loves those tax loopholes for corporations, since he voted for them over our veterans' needs.

October 2003: McCain voted to table an amendment by Senator Dodd that called for an additional $322,000,000 for safety equipment for United States forces in Iraq and to reduce the amount provided for reconstruction in Iraq by $322,000,000.

April 2003: McCain urged other Senate members to table a vote (which never passed) to provide more than $1 billion for National Guard and Reserve equipment in Iraq related to a shortage of helmets, tents, bullet-proof inserts, and tactical vests.

August 2001: McCain voted against increasing the amount available for medical care for veterans by $650,000,000. To his credit, he also voted against the 2001 Bush tax cuts, which he now supports making permanent, despite the dire financial condition this country is in, and despite the fact that he indicated in 2001 that these tax cuts unfairly benefited the very wealthy at the expense of the middle class.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/9559

When the media finally asked him about the new GI Bill, first he said he didn't have time to read it. Imagine that! All these veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan and he didn't have time to even read the bill because he was out campaigning to become Commander-in-Chief of the military. Then the media asked him again why he did not support the bill. This time he responded by saying that he didn't think it was a good idea to make it more "attractive" to leave the military than to stay in it.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, seemed to give a thumbs down to bipartisan legislation that would greatly expand educational benefits for members of the military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan under the GI Bill.
McCain indicated he would offer some sort of alternative to the legislation to address concerns that expanding the GI Bill could lead more members of the military to get out of the service.
Read the whole story here.

The questions here are very simple ones. If Mc Cain wants to run as a veteran then why does he run away from what veterans need from him? Why does he keep turning his back on other veterans? Why is the media afraid to ask him questions they would have no problem at all asking anyone else? Do they think fact checking and asking him questions would insult the fact he was a POW? If that's the case then this would qualify all POW's this nation has for taking over as President and I'm sure they could all do a much better job for the sake of their brothers and sisters who deserve and earned so much more than he is willing to provide them with.


Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Namguardianangel.blogspot.com
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Is McCain Hiding PTSD?

McCain delays releasing medical records again, raising suspicion
John Byrne
Published: Friday April 4, 2008


Declined to provide files three times to New York Times

A little noticed remark in the press is generating heat for McCain's presidential campaign.

On Wednesday, McCain's campaign told CNN that the Arizona senator's medical file would be produced May 15. Trouble is, they previously said they'd be released April 15, and they've refused to turn the records over to the New York Times on at least three occasions.

This has led some on the left to question, "What's he hiding?" -- as is the banner headline on the politics section of liberal blog, The Huffington Post.

"Mr. McCain has yet to make his full medical records or his physicians available to reporters," the Times veteran medical correspondent Dr. Lawrence Altman penned in March. "At least three times since March 2007, campaign officials have told The New York Times that they would provide the detailed information about his current state of health, but they have not done so. The campaign now says it expects to release the information in April."
click post title for the rest

While there is nothing to be ashamed of if he has PTSD, it is a question that needs to be answered, now more than ever as he tries to become the President. We've all seen enough of the side problems PTSD causes to know we have a right to worry. His anger issues, mood swings, memory loss are all issues that need to be addressed. Above all is the fact that experts say the rate of PTSD in people who have been tortured is 100%, assuming this is correct, the American people have a right to know if McCain is mentally disabled and at what level if he is to be even considered for the job of President. As President he will have to make very important decisions, deal with world leaders and have very clear thinking. While McCain's age is a concern, it is not the most pressing one.

McCain wants to run on being a POW Veteran and seems to believe this alone qualifies him to lead the nation as well as stand as Commander-in-Chief, however his voting record is something he is either apparently avoiding or forgetting about. His record on veterans issues as well as the care of the Armed Forces plainly sucks. It's one thing for the media to think he's charming, but I want the media to think more about his ability than his charm. They already showed how little they care about who leads this nation when they adopted Bush and pushed him on the public instead of asking and investigating answers.