Troops as Republicans has decreased by one-third since 2004

The answer should be as clear as Iraq and what happened to them ever since. Sending them into a nation they did not have to be sent to is not a good idea. Sooner or later they figure it out. Sending them to risk their lives, watch their friends die and then end up wounded is not a good idea either when the VA is not able to take care of them. There was a lot they noticed.

They noticed that stations like FOX cable news loves to say they support the troops but when it really mattered to them, hosts of the FOX shows were all about really supporting the politicians and the defense contractors instead of the men and women we sent to risk their lives. Once in a while they had some solider saying hi to family back home but when it came to talking about what was happening to them, no one on FOX seemed interested at all.

They were not able to get into the VA to see psychologists. They were committing suicide but the VA budget was cut, Nicholson was returning funds and none of this seemed to matter. In 2006 when the Democrats took control over the chairmanships of the committees, they managed to pass the largest VA increase in over 30 years. This should have been done when there were two wars producing more and more wounded and in need of care but no one on FOX wanted to talk about this.

We saw them coming home and falling apart. We saw them coming home to no jobs. We saw them coming home and becoming homeless. We saw them suffering from PTSD and TBI and we saw their families paying the price as hope was taken away from them. We saw the survival rate from catastrophic wounds rise as the death count was low, yet no one was talking about the need to take care of these men and women for the rest of their lives.

We saw the families head over to Germany, fly to Walter Reed and Bethesda, giving up their jobs to take care of their sons, daughters, husbands and wives. We saw them being taken care of by the people at Fisher House, yet no one was talking about them. When the reports came out about the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed, the people at FOX were more angry over the fact the report was written instead of what was happening to our wounded troops.

We show up and line the streets to welcome them home and most of us, well, we wonder exactly what it is we are welcoming them home to when we know how much they have gone through as well as how much they will have to go through. The people over at FOX, well, they avoid all of this.

That's the biggest problem of all. We have an obligation to them that should transcend any political agenda. They should never,ever be used by either side for any reason. They should be supported by all sides no matter how they feel about the battles being fought. We need to all remember that after they decide this nation is worth risking their lives for, we better make sure we don't make them regret that decision once they are in combat or after.

Most of what they are still facing today was begun in 2002 but most of the American public didn't have a clue. Why? Because the people watching FOX were never told. The people watching CNN and MSNBC were hardly ever told. Is it any wonder most of them still don't know what PTSD is? The problem is not that the people don't care. The problem is the media just doesn't care enough to let them know what's going on. The GOP get to say they support the troops while they ignore them but support the defense contractors. The Democrats get to say they support the troops because they do fight for them but they hardly ever go on TV to talk about what the troops need. This should clear up why so many are switching to the Independent party. They've been let down by both sides.

Survey: Military independents on the rise

By Brendan McGarry - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Apr 9, 2010 14:53:53 EDT

Political party affiliation has fallen sharply among those wearing the uniform today, a new Military Times survey shows.

An exclusive survey of some 1,800 active-duty troops shows the percentage of self-identified Republicans has decreased by one-third since 2004, from 60 percent to 41 percent, while the percentage of self-identified independents has nearly doubled to 32 percent during the same period.

These career-oriented officers and mid-grade and senior enlisted members are still far more conservative than liberal, but they are less likely today to identify with the GOP, the survey shows.

Much of the shift appears to have occurred only very recently, with the percentage of troops identifying themselves as Republican dropping nine percentage points from 2008 to 2009 and the percentage of those calling themselves independents increasing 10 points over the same period.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/04/military_poll_advance_040910w/