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Tag Archives: As I see It

Veterans Administration


The VA has been in the news regularly with some misinformation, some real information and some vague information. The facts are hard to find and even looking at the website, many times information is illusive. The reports and stories about lack of or poor service to vets all over the country are for the most part true. The real issues lie with the Congress of the United States. These are the same 535 who have done little or nothing of merit for the past 10 plus years yet extol their accomplishments at election time.  There are some areas where the VA shines but usually they are located near a major city with a large Hospital presence (civilian or military) or a major military base. The problems are with the outlying facilities that just have an out patient presence or no good connection with local medical facilities. The Medical staffers are as frustrated as the veterans as their hands are tied by what ever rules are in place and often they are uninformed on new procedures or methodology. One area where the failure has occurred is the check in process, it took over a year to get the ID card kiosk to function properly and even as changes were made , all facilities were not online at the same time. The learning curve is steep since the how to’s are not completely formed until after they are rolled out and then the mad scramble to fix it begins. Meanwhile  the medical staff and their clients flounder in the surf of incompetence from above. Medical professional leave in frustration, others remain because of the nearness of retirement and out of duty. The rules are more like laundry list in Chinese (unreadable) and takes a seminar to understand them. All of this because we have a Congress that has the habit of not reading  or being properly read into the rules or laws governing the care of veterans who have given so much in actions sanctioned by the same Congress who do little beyond offering  lip service between elections. I compare our current Congress to the “pointy haired” boss in a nationally known Cartoon strip, clueless!

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Rape As A Tool


Recently a Presidential candidate spoke about immigrants being rapists. This sentiment has been brought forth before in the words of segregationist whites who stated with complete confidence (but no proof) that Black men will rape White women and thereby cementing the idea of the evilness of Blacks. This sentiment was apparent in ancient times and recent times until today with the various mini wars around the world. To get back to the American Black white rape deal, does anyone remember or chose to remember how many times Black women were raped when captured in Africa, on board the slave ships and after reaching America on the plantations. Since the White masters felt they were better than the Slaves they “owned”, there was no guilt associated and the general population paid no mind because the Blacks were considered sub-human. So what made these “master” and the populace in general fear the Black male so much? Could it be an innate “human Guilt”?  The Rapes were used as a tool to control the population of slaves by demeaning them as people and a control (This is the same method used on native Americans during the “settling” of the West). The long-range effect is and has been a long line of mixed race folks whose original ancestry is often lost to the ages due to poor record keeping possible on purpose or through ignorance. The best that can be said is that we are all Americans   and the bias minded Americans need to get over it and move into this Century.

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Demagogues, Witch hunters and Charlatans


It has become clear to me that many current and past well known figures in politics and the public eye are not who they purport to be. We have over the years been enthralled or distracted by seemingly larger than life figures who have turned out to be less than most of us ordinary people. We have had Jim Jones (Jonestown) who induced hundreds to commit suicide or be murdered , Senator Mc Carthy who sent the nation on “red” witch hunt and ruined lives, We had Several Evangelicals who fell from grace after information on their personal and financial misdeeds came to light, we have had several Federal legislators ousted and imprisoned over  official and personal misdeeds. Years ago in the 1600’s we had the “Salem Witch Trials”. All of these things have to do with people who took upon them selves the mantle of  leadership under the guise of administering justice and religious right. Our current political climate appears to be running in the same vein. We have a congress lead by Right wingers who without our explicit consent doing what “they” want and ascribing it to the “American people”. We have a leading Presidential aspirant with unknown affiliation or motivation who has excited the angriest (gullible?) elements of the country into a mob who are covered with a blanket of hate for anyone not like them in mindset and skin color. This is the same type of mass sentiment that created the witch hunts ala Salem and the McCarthy eras. It is of great concern to me that the media coverage no matter how the middle of the road is flavored and often overshadowed by  the extremes of the right and left of center outlets. With all of the truth being available not enough people avail themselves of it and become entrapped by the Demagogues, witch hunters and charlatans whose sole purpose is to incite discord which in turn hides their own agendas which do  include the good of anyone but themselves and their cohorts. Remember the following Names: Joe McCarthy, Dennis Hastert, Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, Spiro Agnew, Jim Jones, Cotton Mather, Tom Delay and many others. They have all been (or are currently)  high in the public eye and (or will fall) fell after their true nature or purpose is exposed. If we become and remain vigilant we will be wary when the lies sound like the truth according to someone with a high public profile.

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Snake Oil


Listening to NPR news this morning there was segment of an interview with Mitch McConnell. This inter view was much like listening to a snake oil salesman. The questions while being straight forward were answered the way you would expect a not so honest person to respond. Mr. McConnell came through with flying colors. His responses while being extensive were not true answers as much as they were talking points. His use of the phrase the “American People” has been a mainstay of his party for years but only means the people we can fool. Mr. McConnell is a polished speaker but an inveterate liar whose sole objective is and has been for years to gain power in the Congress. Now that he has it he will do no good for the country as a whole. His remaining in the Senate is a tacit OK to poor government and a unilateral shift to the right which will impact us all for years to come and in no good ways. It is unfortunate that his disciples fail to see the true face if their hero.

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Disrepected by 535


The Presidential race is an issue in its self. The uproar over Hillary Clintons emails and servers has been blown way out of proportion. No one is investigating the previous Secretaries of state (Condoleezza Wright and Colin Powell) for their use of private servers, apparently its ok for one political party but not for the other or is this just another part of the dirty politics we are experiencing ? If we the people (voters) allow these political misdeeds to continue then shame on us! It is understandable that a lot of us (if not all) are angry and dissatisfied with our government and have been for a long time but that anger is misplaced. The energy in that anger needs to be placed on the doorstep of our Congress. These are the culprits in our broken politics. For too many years we have voted these people in without questioning what they are doing and have done, all the while they have mislead us and made us like it. How many coal miners lives have been lost due to the personal ambitions of their representatives? How many disasters and climatic problems could have been avoided or lessened by these representatives if they spent less time politicking and setting up their future lives with their “cronyism” ? The easy yet seeming hard question is are we willing to take a stand and vote against these political ne’er do wells and begin the shift to a more practical government much like the one offered (or perhaps required) by the Constitution? There will be no major shift towards better government until we demand it in the voting booth. Keep in mind that change in government does not begin or end with the President, it begins and ends with the Congress and if we do not take a stand against them then our fate is tied to 535 reckless and often feckless representatives.  The current vile and vicious language of the Presidential race is not a joke and we need to rise above the awful, hateful rhetoric to understand who we really need to elect even if that choice is not our primary one. Remember we have a broken Congress and we need to understand that whoever is in the Oval office will not prosper until we begin with election to replace the  535 seat fillers who have demeaned the office for years and at our behest.

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Validation


The ongoing tragedy of Veterans care explained in a recent interview with researchers into the issue. It appears that our noteworthy? Congress mandated a change in procedure  (outsourcing care to local civilian medical facilities) but only gave 90 days (3 months) to get it done. Several prospective providers declined due to the small window of time provided. The companies that accepted the challenge are still struggling to implement the system. The Congress has been on the attack against these companies for failing but the failure is on the heads of Congress for not understanding what was involved in a huge undertaking such as this. Their intent was good but flawed , this is indicative of the offhand manner of legislating for “the American people”  they are so fond of citing. Our veterans have been suffering for years with poor medical treatment but not from medical staff but from the oppressively convoluted system of administration. The medical staff suffers as much as the Veterans since they have to follow the often inept and seemingly insane rules. This was supposed to make getting medical care easy to get in areas where there was or is no VA full service  medical assistance, instead we have the same clusterflak that brought us to this stage. There is no reason a veteran should have to travel 500 miles for treatment when there are qualified facilities within a 2 to 10 mile range. In Illinois there is a full VA medical complex in the St. Louis Area and Chicago but people are sent to Danville and often to Indianapolis (if Danville cannot take care of them). There is a provision for travel expenses but that system is not working that well either. The current news covers the upcoming Presidential election but if we do not pay attention to the smaller races  for Congressional seats we are failing make the needed changes in Government. The validation is that I have talked about this before but apparently no one is listening. I am a vet and fortunately do not have the serious illnesses suffered by others but I have had conversations with many and the stories you have heard are true. My experience was a series of appointments cancelled, reset and cancelled (one with no notice) and provider  changes . For a moment look at the plight of the providers, they get the brunt of the abuse being the “front line”. This role causes turnover and poor service. Whether you are a vet or if you know one, you need to be aware that our Congress is more at fault for many of the countries issue being unresolved or under resolved than any President we elect.

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PARAPROSDOKIANS


PARAPROSDOKIANS are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently humorous. (Winston Churchill loved them). In the current political races this is sometimes the case but more often we have entire sentences and speeches that seem to fit this definition. Looking at the uproar over walls being built, mass deportations and now which bathrooms can be used there is much fodder for this form of speech. It defies my logic as to the States that have enacted laws governing bathroom usage, why now when these folks have been using restrooms according to their preference for some time. The few incidents that I have been able to find relate to serial offenders not the everyday LGBT person. These folks have the same desires as we have and that is to live, work ,learn and enjoy life. We have (excuse me) more perversion in our Congress than we can bear and no need to mention in the entertainment business. These seemingly religious backed initiatives are no more than religious persecution , just modernized and tailored to suit. This country was founded by people who fled their home countries to worship as they pleased but in that pursuit they murdered native Americans whose religious bent (if examined) was purer than the first settler’s. These so called religious folks committed as many atrocities in the name of the deity as the Crusaders now they are attempting to manage bathroom privileges. What next underwear color?

The Game’s Afoot


The recent rulings regarding bathroom usage in certain states has become a focal point in the current national elections. These “bathroom” issues are purely political and just another tactic brought to the front  for political purposes. The points made were put out as potential threats to children and women. One  person interviewed  stated ” He did not want some male pervert in the bathroom with his daughter or wife”. This is the message put out by the legislators of those states and it is purely a political ploy. The issue was never an issue until the legislators decided it was one. It indicates the lengths that Dupublicans will go to have their way and manipulate the voters. It is never hard to persuade people who limit their access to information to local news , faux news and gossip disguised as religious law (sharia anyone?). The current political climate is one of intolerance and bigotry perpetrated by the same long serving lawmakers around the country. This is why our Congress is deadlocked and getting paid to do nothing. The issues are not who is or will be President but more who we have elected and continued to elect in the smaller and off-season elections, namely – Congressional, state and local . These collective elections are what generate the radical and misleading information that the media reports. Comparing the outcry over Radical Islamist practices to the (extreme) Evangelicals and other religious sects in America, there appears to be more in common than not. The Constitution calls for a separation of Church and state yet many States have crossed that line many times based on personal pejoratives. There are as many religious sects in America  as there in the Islamic world. My opinion is that there is (according to known history) one bible but hundreds of interpretations according to the ministry.

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Telling It Like You Want To Hear It.


The Trump excursion and the other runners have all put out their talking points but Mr. trump stands out as the one who tells it like it is and speaks the truth. Truth is subjective. Everyone’s truth is different and persuaded by each persons experience and background. Donald Trump has spoken plainly about many things and in some of the worst terms. The supporters of Trump have been allowed to believe that He can bring back the halcyon days of “White Right” and take America back. This false belief does not take into account the “theft” of American from the Indigenous natives by White Europeans. Americas history is a plethora of white oppression and theft by semi legal and non legal means. The masses who follow Trump appear to be largely uninformed and / or under informed. It is unfortunate that many of them have become afraid of the melting pot quality of America and have decided that other Races are the reason the country is in the State it is in. The real truth is that these folks have been implicit in the condition of the America’s present condition due to the lack of vetting the people they vote for in the local and State elections. The same people that these folks are calling their protectors are the perpetrators of a hoax that has begat the many ills plaguing us now. How many have really paid attention to the people they elected? The elected officials we have in place all have their own interests and those interests are no the interests of their constituency but they have used the innate biases of that constituency to further their own needs.

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Good Job


Can anyone do a good job? The politicians and the aspiring politicians all campaign on doing a good or better job than whoever is in the office now. Can anyone do a better job? The answer has yet to be known. Looking at the rhetoric, each campaigner advocates for reform but unfortunately reform is not as easily accomplished as stated. It takes a combined effort of all of the elected officials to do the necessary job of Governing. What we have is a selected group of people whose purpose is to further their own agendas not the required agendas of the Government. That is probably the least of our problems, the most is more dysfunction which ultimately affects the voters.  What we as voters do is to select the candidate who most mirrors our opinions (which are often based on what is aired in the media) and thoughts. In a perfect world this would be reasonable but since the candidates are imperfect (as  we all are) we need to pay attention to what the candidates say and what we (should) know as fact or reality. Our ability to vote is the main resource we have to insure better government and unfortunately we have not done a very good job so by extension the people we’ve elected haven’t fared well either. We have often kept the same people in office too long even when we know they have not done a good job but we were either swept up in the hype and rhetoric of campaigning or we were lazy. Generally we do what is required of us in our work and home lives but seldom more than that on a consistent basis. With this in mind we have allowed our elected representatives to do the same and less. We hold them to a higher standard because they hold an office that we put them in while forgetting that they are ordinary people in a necessary job. Can they do a good job?, yes they can but we have to keep reminding them to do it and expect it from them. Always remember Government moves at a slower pace due to checks and balances so what is legislated or debated now will not become reality for months to years in some cases. Unfortunately the ill effects will last as long if not longer so who we elect is the first big step to better government and practicality should be the deciding factor not personal beliefs.

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