Bush is McCain's man in the mirror

John McCain wants you to believe he will bring change to Washington? How? The only thing he's changed is himself. This is coming from someone who voted for him in 2000. I ended up voting for Gore after Bush won the GOP primary. No, I was not a Republican. I was an Independent. Back then I thought if anyone was going to understand veterans, it would be McCain since he was one. Oh, how times have changed.

Back then while I adored President Clinton and liked Al Gore, I was not happy with the way the veterans were still suffering. The Vietnam veterans were still not being taken care of properly and the Gulf War veterans were faced with having to fight for their lives after they came home with illnesses no one understood the cause of. They came back with depleted uranium poisoning on top of everything else. I was just as hard on Clinton as I have been on Bush because of the veterans. When it came to them, no one was living up to what we owed the veterans.

Anyway, last night I couldn't get to sleep so I turned on CNN. I watched the documentary on McCain. Once again I was reminded of how much he's changed and why I am thoroughly disgusted with him. He has become the mirror image of Bush in order to win the presidency. Now he's trying to sell himself as not being part of the problem?

The problems for veterans got worse while McCain was sucking up to Bush. When he could have been front and center on veterans needs, McCain was against what they needed. He was part of the congress when the devastation hit our veterans harder than at another time. Obama was not. He was not part of the creation of this catastrophe. Obama was part of taking on cleaning up the mess people like McCain created. Most of the changes for the better happened since the Democrats gained control, albeit limited control, of the senate. They had a stronger majority in the House. What they have managed to do is increase funding for the VA and passed the new GI Bill and they had to fight hard to do it with veto threats from Bush. McCain was not part of the change the veterans needed. He was part of the problem and total ignorance the congress had up until 2007 when the committees were then controlled by Democrats.

There are some Republicans who are fighting for veterans and when they do, I'm more than happy to post about what they are doing but McCain is not one of them. He has not fought for veterans even though he's one of them. What makes it worse is that he has fought against them. This is why I'm so hard on McCain. I expected a lot more out of him and feel like a total damn fool that I supported him in 2000. I won't make that mistake again. The stakes for our veterans are just too high a price to pay. He can say he wants to bring change to Washington all he wants but so far the changes he says he wants to make are not in their favor.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

Namguardianangel@aol.com

http://www.namguardianangel.org/

http://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

Bush's Golf War on Daily Show

Reading so much about what is happening to our troops and veterans on a daily basis, is stressful, to say the least. At the end of the day, the PC gets shut off, but my mind won't. I need to de-stress. I watch the Daily Show. I usually watch the funny stuff until he is interviewing someone then change the channel if I'm just not interested in the guest and turn to the History Channel or National Geographic or the Discovery Channel. Can't help it. I am, as my daughter puts it, a geek.

Last night, Jon Stewart did a piece called Golf War about the recent comments made by Bush about giving up golf because he didn't want some soldiers Mom seeing him playing golf. Stewart took a humorous approach as always pointing out that image does mean something, then played clips of Bush acting like an idiot. I couldn't help put wish he had added in the clip of Bush looking for WMD in his office making fun of the fact they were never found in Iraq after we lost so many troops sent to find them.

Bush's Iraq WMDs joke backfires


The president could be seen bending over to peer at the floor of the Oval Office
US President George W Bush has sparked a political row by making a joke about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

At a black-tie dinner for journalists, Mr Bush narrated a slide show poking fun at himself and other members of his administration.

One pictured Mr Bush looking under a piece of furniture in the Oval Office, at which the president remarked: "Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be here somewhere."


After another one, showing him scouring the corner of a room, Mr Bush said: "No, no weapons over there," he said.

And as a third picture, this time showing him leaning over, appeared on the screen the president was heard to say: "Maybe under here?"

The audience at Wednesday's 60th annual dinner of the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association obviously thought the quips hilarious - there were laughs all round - but the next morning, in the cold light of day, things looked far less amusing.

The joke about the fruitless search for Iraqi WMDs so far, Washington's prime justification for the US-led invasion, has been branded as tasteless and ill-judged.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3570845.stm

While the outrage of all of this has been causing major headaches and heartaches, I have to admit that I laughed at what Stewart put together. Then I grew even more outraged over what has happened all these years with Bush in charge. No other person placed in the highest position in this country would have gotten away with any of this and we have to be honest about this to discover why he was able to pull all of this off. The majority of the nation is pointing their fingers in the right direction and that is to the elected GOP senators and congressmen.

During many sleepless nights, I will turn to CSPAN to watch what goes on when the only cameras rolling are from CSPAN. Most of the time the speeches are boring, but often CSPAN will play videos from the past. It is how I was reminded of the speeches Cheney gave regarding Iraq following the Gulf War, along with the others who also came out predicting everything that happened in Iraq. More reminders of how we got to where we are and how the GOP didn't care at all. I've heard enough of their speeches, tempted to smash my TV set while I heard them talk nonsense. I heard their speeches about how we cannot afford to fully fund the VA or spend the money on the VA because as they claimed, they had a duty to the tax payers.

I've read their web sites in detail as they seemed to be proud of the fact they were good stewards of our money and voted against what the Democrats wanted, prevented them from putting bills up for votes and prevented them from holding hearings on what was happening with all of this. None of them wanted to get to the bottom of any of this. It took the voters to give the Democrats the power to call for hearings and investigations. It took the voters to give them the power to actually do something right for the sake of the men and women risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, and then risking them again while trying to obtain treatment and compensation for their wounds.

Readers of this blog are fully aware of what the facts truly have been while they heard the simple minded claims of the elected with bumper sticker slogans instead of true support. Now we have the president actually admitting that he thought playing golf sent the wrong message to the families of the fallen. This is how he trivialized the sacrifices of their sons and daughters, their husbands and wives. We are all having a very hard time letting all of this sink in. We are forced to face the fact that no one really mattered to him at all.

Here is the video from last night.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=168642&title=golf-war
http://www.thedailyshow.com/

Then you can add in the rest about what happened to the wounded veterans with PTSD, how they ended their own lives and many more tried to. The suffering of the families. The countless, (countless because the administration didn't care to count them) PTSD wounded denied treatment. The list goes on but Bush, well he thinks it mattered more what he looked like playing golf than what was happening to any of them.

Bush didn't tell the truth about golfing either

This morning on CNN, they were talking about Bush's claim he gave up golfing out of respect for the fallen. Turns out that is not exactly true.

Inside BASS
President Bush, Alton Jones enjoy a round of golf
By Tim TuckerAug. 27, 2003(Archive)
Updated: September 2, 2003, 6:56 PM ET
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Nine years ago, veteran Texas pro Alton Jones guided then-Gov. George W. Bush on a fishing trip to Lake Aqilla. The pair was recently reunited in the great outdoors.

Alton Jones shakes hands with President Bush after a friendly game of golf.This time it was on the first green of the Ridgewood Country Club near Waco, where Jones lives, and Crawford, which serves as the President's southern White House while visiting his home state.
It was on the golf course that a gracious President Bush greeted Jones and Charles Pack, a mutual friend who hosts a local television fishing show. Pack had pre-arranged the meeting with the President, who fishes his own 80-acre stocked bass lake on his Crawford ranch.
"It was probably the most amazing thing I've ever experienced," Jones said. "He remembered all about our fishing trip, and I was surprised to learn that he follows the (CITGO Bassmaster) Tour. He knew that I had had a real good season.
"It was a thrill to talk with the president. He is a genuinely nice, sincere person."
When Jones and Pack arrived on the course (after submitting to a government background check), President Bush recognized them and waved to them to join him and his entourage (which included 19 golf carts). As they ducked under the security barrier, they were immediately confronted by Secret Service agents. The President instructed the agents to allow them to continue toward the green.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/columns/story?page=bass_col_tourney_trail_030827

Bush Shoveling Out Iraq Happy Talk
Associated Press Writer Scott Lindlaw contributed to this report, 10.13.03.
WASHINGTON – President Bush, annoyed by what he considers the “filter” of news reporting, will seek to go around the press on Monday through television outlets that do not routinely cover the White House.
Bush was giving a series of interviews to make the case that the situation in Iraq is getting better.
The Commander-And-Sneak George W. Bush shows off his military skills at the Andrews Air Force Base Golf Course in Maryland, using golf club to command troops to “Charge!” Bush acquired his knowledge of tactics and strategy watching John Wayne cavalry movies in his childhood. He has told the press that he receives direct orders from God on military matters (such as invading Iraq).
http://www.williambowles.info/gispecial/gi-113.html

Yesterday I posted how he made the claim of giving up golf because of the fallen troops but managed to do a stunt for the video he presented for laughs at the correspondents dinner. I brought up the fact of how many lost their lives looking for the WMD Bush managed to joke about looking for on this tape. This morning one of the panel on CNN raised the fact that maybe he should have taken care of the wounded out of respect instead of giving up golfing. He was right.

The conditions at Walter Reed were known by his administration in 2004. He did absolutely nothing. We've have years of members of his administration hiding data on the wounded, the suicides and the backlog of claims, yet Bush seems to think that his golfing is so damn important that the imagine of his sacrificing it for the troops would be of any value to anyone! Well turns out that wasn't true either. Above are just two pictures of him enjoying golfing. Who knows how many more are out there on the net?

This just came out on Raw Story

Bush's last round of golf as president dates back to October 13, 2003, according to meticulous records kept by CBS news.

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Bush_I_quit_golf_over_Iraq_war_05132008.html

In the interview he said he gave up golfing in August. Looks like one month is just like anyother to him.

Bush gave up golf for the troops?

Bush calls new attack on US his worst worry

Tuesday, May 13, 2008


(05-13) 18:32 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

President Bush said Tuesday he was disappointed in "flawed intelligence" before the Iraq war and was concerned that if a Democrat wins the presidency in November and withdrew troops prematurely it could "eventually lead to another attack on the United States."

In an interview with Politico magazine and the Internet portal Yahoo, Bush also said he gave up golf in 2003 out of respect for U.S. soldiers killed in the war, which has now lasted more than five years.

"I didn't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf," he said. "I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."

Bush said he made his decision after the August 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad.

A question submitted from the online audience asked Bush whether he felt he had been misled about Iraq as he made the decision to go to war.

"`Misled' is a strong word," he said. "Not only our intelligence community, but intelligence communities all across the world shared the same assessment. And so I was disappointed to see how flawed our intelligence was."

"Do I think somebody lied to me? No, I don't. I think it was just, you know, they analyzed the situation and came up with the wrong conclusion," he added.

He acknowledged concerns about leaving the unfinished Iraq war to a Democratic successor. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have said they will bring troops home if elected.

Bush said his "doomsday scenario of course is that extremists throughout the Middle East would be emboldened, which would eventually lead to another attack on the United States."
click post title for more

Yet in March of 2004 he was joking about WMD. You can watch it on YouTube. He was acting up for the
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKX6luiMINQ

During it he lied about the death of Pat Tillman. To this day his family is still trying to find out who was behind the massive cover up.

As we honor veterans who are leaving us, we also honor qualities that remain. The generation of WWII can be certain of this: When they are gone, we will still have their kind wearing the uniform of the United States of America. (Applause.)

The loss of Army Corporal Pat Tillman last week in Afghanistan brought home the sorrow that comes with every loss, and reminds us of the character of the men and women who serve on our behalf. Friends say that this young man saw the images of September the 11th, and seeing that evil, he felt called to defend America. He set aside a career in athletics and many things the world counts important: wealth and security and the acclaim of the crowds. He chose, instead, the rigors of Ranger training and the fellowship of soldiers and the hard duty in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Corporate Tillman asked for no special attention. He was modest because he knew there were many like him, making their own sacrifices. They fill the ranks of the Armed Forces. Every day, somewhere, they do brave and good things without notice. Their courage is usually seen only by their comrades, by those who long to be free, and by the enemy. They're willing to give up their lives, and when one is lost, a whole world of hopes and possibilities is lost with them.

http://politicalhumor.about.com/cs/bushcomedian/a/bushwhca2004.htm

But he says he gave up golf out of respect for the fallen? I don't get the joke here.

"I didn't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf," he said. "I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."

By the time he gave this video performance, we lost 140 taking Iraq and no, they didn't find the WMD Bush joked about on video. We then lost another 718 by the time this video was done. I wonder if he ever thought of the families of those fallen soldiers when he joked about the fact no WMD had been found.

Bush suspends troop pull-out

Bush suspends summer troop pullouts from Iraq 4:14pm EDT
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Thursday announced a suspension of U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq this summer to allow the military to reassess the security situation. Full Article Video

More time, more wounded, more stress, more dead,,,,,,,,,,,,,,wonder if he still calls it a comma?

Bush shafts Hepatitis C veterans

February 28, 2005
Plan Backfires- VBA Fast Letter Boost Claims

BUSH ADMINISTRATION FIGHTS AGAINST SERVICE CONNECTED DISABILITY FOR VETS WITH HEPATITIS C


Top Guns with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are going on the offensive to prevent veterans from getting service connected disability for HEPATITIS C transmitted by airgun shots before, during, and after the Vietnam War.



Three decades after the end of the war, hundreds of thousands of brave men and women who served their country are dying, and the Bush Administration is fighting their attempts to get pensions and adequate VA medical treatment. An estimated 95% of all claims are denied, despite reliable scientific evidence.



In April 2002, a delegation of members representing the HEPATITIS C Movement for Awareness (HMA) and HCVets.com, a HEPATITIS C military claims support organization for families, went to Washington DC on a mission to educate representative concerning HEPATITIS C related issues.



The delegation had appointments with Congressional and Veterans Affairs representatives. One of these meetings was with Lawrence Deyton MSPH, MD Chief Consultant, Public Health Strategic Health Care Group, for the VA.. Members met specifically with Dr. Deyton to expressed concern regarding transmission methods for the HEPATITIS C virus listed by the VA, and the need to reform qualifications for testing Veterans. Those attending the VA will not get tested because they did not use drugs or become an alcoholic, risk factors used to qualify patients for testing. Members requested Dr. Deyton include reused needles, vials, syringes and airguns in this determination to test Veterans.



Dr. Deyton acknowledged these risks, stating "his hands were tied". He stated, "Anyone receiving airgun injections, should get tested for HEPATITIS C." Deyton did not just say "Veterans", says Ed Wendt, Vietnam era Veteran, transplant survivor and HMA's Government Relations Director. Quoting members who attended the meeting, Deyton implied "everyone" receiving shots administered by the now defunct style airguns, should be tested.



HMA published Dr. Deyton's quote in an upcoming newsletter which resulted in a Veteran service connected for HEPATITIS C at the regional VA level. The decision was based on that quote, plus other evidence submitted that demonstrated the products used to sanitize & disinfect medical and dental equipment, did not kill the HEPATITIS C virus.
go here for the rest
http://www.hcvets.com/data/transmission_methods/plan_backfires.htm