THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!

I don’t normally watch Dr. Phil nor do I normally care what he has to say. Not because of anything against him personally or professionally, I am just simply not into that type of TV show. With that being said though, he had a show on a few days ago that I was compelled to watch. He was talking to some injured Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who are having a very difficult time getting the treatment they need and feel they have fallen through the cracks of our system.

They told of having to wade through mounds of bureaucracy and paperwork just to get simple care, let alone major treatment. They told stories of veterans who have died waiting for treatment, some who went to VA hospitals seeking treatment for suicidal thoughts and were told it would be 5-6 weeks before they can be seen. Some of them actually committed suicide while waiting to be seen.

Of course these incidents should NEVER happen. These brave men and women have sacrificed a lot, some leaving an arm, a leg, and various other body parts on the battlefield to defend and protect our freedoms. They should be given the highest quality care for as long as they need it after they return. Many pay the ultimate sacrifice and never return. Their families should be cared for as well. That is not even open for debate or discussion in my opinion.

What is open for debate and discussion is whether these incidents are rare and anecdotal, or if they are widespread and systemic. Dr. Phil and some his special guests seemed to think it is widespread and systemic. Of course if you look long and hard enough you can find people to support any agenda you are looking to prop up. One of his so-called experts, a guy named David Hunt who is a military analyst for Fox News, said we need to stop spending money in Iraq and use it to care for those injured.

That is an idiotic, even moronic statement at best. You don’t pull funding from troops in harm’s way and instead use it to treat casualties. Unless of course you want the casualty count to rise astronomically. Still another guest whose name escapes me who was a member of the House of Representatives in charge of the oversight of the VA said the VA was give a budget of $100 billion this year. Obviously the money is being spent on something other than what it was intended for.

Throwing more money at a broken system may not be the best answer either, but if we are to consider giving the VA a larger operating budget we must make sure there are very stringent controls on how the money is used. Where would get this increase from? Well, I certainly am not in favor of defunding an ongoing war to pay for the fiscal mismanagement of VA administrators. Only the unpatriotic among us would support doing something like that. Kind of makes me wonder a little about Dr. Phil and his guests.

We as a nation spend just South of $400 billion a year giving free (i.e. taxpayer funded) healthcare, welfare, unemployment, education, and numerous other benefits to criminal immigrant invaders who have dome nothing to deserve one dime of it. All they have done is broken our laws to come here and then demand that we take care of them after they get here.

They are part of the problem, not part of the solution. I am sick and tired of Jose being able to drive around in nice cars, live in big houses, and take his 9 kids to any hospital or clinic he chooses and get them cared for on you and me while our veterans and their families are dying waiting on treatment and eating dog food in some cases. We have our national priorities so screwed up its pathetic. We have political correctness and liberalism to thank for this.

So, here’s a novel idea, let’s stop funding freebies for those who don’t deserve it and instead spend that money on getting our wounded vets and the families of those who gave all the care they deserve and are entitled to. American military veterans and their families being disrespected in this way is an outrage and should make us all ashamed to call ourselves patriotic Americans for allowing this to happen and not holding our government officials’ feet to the fire on this issue. They work for us remember, not the other way around as many of them would have us believe.

Our brave military heroes serve with dignity and honor only to come home to this kind of injustice. They deserve better. Yet we have so many left leaning politicians and even citizens who are so blinded by their hatred for President Bush and for the war that they actually turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to the plight of our veterans and to the solution to their plight. That is so pathetically sad that it almost makes me wonder who I should feel the most sorry for. I said almost. Obviously the veterans would win that contest. As far as the ones who are willfully blind and deaf to the truth staring them in the face, well, you can’t fix stupid.

Jim Chitty

Writer/Columnist/Blogger