Soap Box

We've all heard the stories about veterans with serious medical problems being put on long waiting lists and denied the immediate attention they need, to the point that some have even died waiting.

When confronted, the president and congress pay lip service to the problem, shuffle around a few figureheads and basically turn their back on the situation.

The problem is that, like all government entities, the Veterans Administration is a bureaucracy where statistics, �CYA� and making sure the budget is raised every year takes precedent over efficiency and excellence.

Example, on average 22 veterans are committing suicide every day and the VA defines suicide in a very narrow scope, not including drug overdoses and a myriad of causes of death, they think they can classify as something other than one taking their own life; semantics and foolishness.

It�s kind of like Obama's classifying the murders at Fort Hood as violence in the work place when everybody with enough gray matter to tie their shoes knew it was an act of terrorism perpetrated by an Islamic extremist yelling, "Allahu Akbar."

Obama will try to move heaven and earth to keep from blaming terrorist acts on radical Muslims; in fact he can't even bring himself to say "Islamic Terrorist".

Well, a violence in the workplace decision may clear the government of some obligations they would have had to comply with, had it been decided to tell the truth and call it an act of war but that doesn't negate the fact that Obama's decision is based on a lie.

In much the same way the VA refusing to classify an obvious suicide as such by sidestepping the issue with some bureaucratic crap is also based on a lie.

I am not here to knock the VA or the many dedicated people who have spent their lives providing health care to America's vets. I very much admire the purpose and the mission of the VA, but no matter how dedicated the rank and file staff may be, when there is incompetence, dishonesty and corruption in the hierarchy, it filters down through the ranks.

Too long our veterans have been treated like second-class citizens; too long they have been left to the mercy of bureaucrats and bean counters.

Unfortunately, we have a president who is more concerned about the medical needs of illegal aliens than of the men and women who laid their lives on the line for this nation.

The veterans need a champion, the veterans need a president who has more compassion for them than for Syrian refugees, who is more concerned about the scourge of veteran suicide than the myth of global warming, a president who will take the physical and mental health of America's veterans serious enough that if it means replacing the entire management team at the VA they do it, political cronyism notwithstanding.

Folks, it is simply not fair to send young men and women off to war, to suffer death and injury and all sorts of mental disorders civilians cannot even begin to imagine and bring them back home and shuffle them off to the side.

This is simply not acceptable; never has been, never will be.

I pray that the next president, whoever it may be, will grasp the gravity of this situation and make our military a top priority, the rebuilding, the re-equipping and the care and welfare of those who serve.

22 veterans will commit suicide today.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops and the peace of Jerusalem.

God Bless America

� Charlie Daniels

PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU POST

Feel free to comment on Charlie's soapboxes, but please refrain from profanity and "Anonymous" posts are not allowed, we need a name (it doesn't have to be your first and last name) and you MUST provide a valid email address. If you provide an email address, but leave the name as "Anonymous" we will pick a name for you based on your email address. No one other than website adminstrators will see your email address, not other posters. If you post without a valid email address, your comment (whether postive or negative) will be deleted. � TeamCDB