The conditions at Walter Reed are a valid and very important topic of discussion, but please folks let's get our facts straight.
The Army, or higher up the chain, the Department of Defense, which runs Walter Reed Hospital, has nothing whatsoever to do with Veterans Affairs. The VA is a separate, cabinet-level organization with it's own leadership, budget, staff, and facilities. If we want to talk about the VA, that's fine, but please let's not conflate or confuse the Walter Reed issue with the VA hospitals. They are not the same thing.

Yes sir, I'm sure looking forward to government run healthcare (i.e Hillary!care) for the entire U.S. population.

Jay, I agree with you on this, and I also agree with DocJ. Even through a lot of people want to blame President Bush for this, it was happening way before he became President.
However as the President, he does need to take the lead on this and try to straighten out this mess. Same as all the "elected employees" in Congress.

I have read different articles on this, and one article claimed that there was no doctors on the evaluation board that assigns the amount of disability a person receives. If this is true, it needs to be fixed.

Another article claimed over 600K of backlog claims. Also if this is true, someone isn't doing their jobs correctly.

And Actual is also correct in his statement about gov't run healthcare.

Best post I read was that the vets be given vouchers to go to the best medical place for treatment and in turn, that place bills the VA for the care. That makes more sense than having our veterans staying in a roach motel.

The conditions at Walter Reed, as represented by the Washington Post, are utterly unacceptable. but I'm not going to to call for heads to roll.

Well, of course you're not. This would mean pointing your grimy little finger at Ronald Reagan and all those wonderful neocons working to shoot down those awful "entitlements."

Gee, asti, pity you didn't read another two sentences before you shot your mouth off.

"Better to keep silent and be thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."

J.

waiting to lay blame later also gives you guys some time to figure out which democrats to blame, and how to spin all responsibility away from republicans.

Slingshot,
You might be correct on that line of thinking, however; anyone that has half a brain will know it is both Republican and Democratic parties fault. They, both parties hopefully will have their cranium/rectal surgery and fix this problem so it will never happen again.

If any person slams one party or the other on this, it will show their true color, won't it?

"No, I think first we need to fix the problem, then worry about apportioning blame. The heads will still be there after things get mended."

Now where I have heard that before? Katrina, and we all know how well that is coming along.

Asti, Sling, BG2K - do you guys pull out the vitriol just because this is a Jay Tea post? Why does it have to be Rep vs. Dem? The vets are all AMERICANS and deserve better than what they are getting no matter what administration is in charge. They have all bleed for this country and DESERVE better no matter what administration is in charge. At least Chuck at TCOverride shoulders part of the blame:

I SHOULDER PART OF THE BLAME FOR NOT TRYING TO FIX THE PROBLEM. I left my brothers behind, and got myself home. After recovery, I moved on to other things, even though the complaints made today are the same as they were 2 years ago. Families are in the dark, medhold is a ridiculous and poor taste joke and apparent cover-your-ass move by the chain of command. I am an officer. I am a leader. By allowing this to happen, and continue to happen, I am at fault for not getting it fixed earlier or fixing it myself.

That is the mark of a true leader folks. The mark of a true American caring about his fellow Americans in their time of need. Being a Captain there isn't much he can do aside from writing to the correct people. Meanwhile politicians, both Republican and Democrat, will only do the right thing if it benefits them politically.

So it isn't a Republican thing. It isn't a Democrat thing. It's an American thing. Don't drag this discussion down with senseless drivel.

Whenever a Republican says "let's not worry about who's to blame" you know they are guilty as sin.

Then, Lee, it's a gosh-darned good thing I'm not a Republican.

J.

Man oh man. Jay points out the obvious; that the problems need to be addressed FIRST and immediate action taken and out come the partisan attacks. I mean, please. Do we not already have enough experience with our Congress wasting precious time that could be spent actually fixing a problem while they bicker over who's to blame?

Grimy little finger? Asti, when did you last wash your hands? You seem to do an awful lot of finger pointing yourself.
Spin responsibility away? Barney's already at wheel in that regard.

I suspect that you vote for Republican candidates far more than you vote for Democrats, Jay. Are you telling us that isn't true? The fact that you're not wiling to identify yourself as a Republican is a different matter.

Jay:

I've been waiting for this day for a long time. I agree in toto with your view in your post.

But then, gosh darn it in your comment responding to Lee you go and bolox everyhting up!! Here you go again, denying the obvious. You've done it before. A 12 Step program might help you get through your denial. Why are you so ashamed of calling yourself what you are Jay?

I guess I shouldn't have included BG2K in that last bit since he was just bringing up a strawman.

Katrina, and it's aftermath, was a debacle to be sure. But both parties should shoulder the blame. Nagin and Blanco for not doing their job, Brown for not doing his and the POTUS for not reacting quick enough.

As for post-Katrina New Orleans, well, they re-elected the man that was ineffective in the first place and now are suffering the consequences. As far as federal aid is concerned I'm in the 'why should I pay for someone to rebuild when the choose to live 10ft below sea level' camp. If you want to live there fine - I shouldn't have to pay for it (federal taxes used for rebuilding). You want to live below sea level then that burden is your own.

Hugh - Jay can be conservative and not be a Republican. I'm sure it's hard to believe. Some are Libertarian, some are Green. Some are even Democrats but they are decried by the further left Dems as not being Dem enough. God knows how Kos and his ilk would treat someone like Kennedy if he was running for office in today's climate.

Lee just shows that he is more interested in placing blame than actually fixing any problem. For Lee every issue boils down to how can we place the blame on Bush and the Repubs.

J.R.:

In case you missed it, the sky is blue and water is wet.

(Well, if we're going to go around stating the obvious...)

J.

Dan,

That kind of 'deep thinking' eludes the left. They still cant figure out how one of the best and most accomplished Dems of the last 20 yrs, Zell Miller, is actually a conservative.

Dan and J.R.

The kind of "deep thinking" that reviles the moderates of the Republican Party in Congress? The kind of "deep thinking" that drove the independents away from Republicans in November? You mean that kind of "deep thinking"

By the way J.R. I've been joshing Jay about his party affiliation for months.

"Joshing," hugh? I thought you were just being an ignorant asshole. My mistake.

J.

Awww Jay ignorant asshole (and I even complimented you sort of in the first part of the comment)?

Asshole, maybe. Ignorant, never.

H

I know, off topic, but if one doesn't agree with Lee's politics, they're automatically a filthy little Republican. It's the dirtiest name he can think of.

I'm a bit conservative, a bit liberal and mostly libertarian and he's called me a republican too.

Not sure what Lee is ... beyond hater that is.

Fixing the problem and taking heads off have to happen at the same time. If you leave the people who made this mess in power, NOTHING will change. Why? Because the leaders will never own up to creating the problem. They'll say "we'll look into it," which means they'll wait for the story to get out of the press, and then go back to the same old shoddy care. We, as Americans, need to fire these idiots. If they had a true fear of losing their jobs, they would act differently. That's the only true way to apply pressure and force chage. And that's exactly what we need to do. FORCE them to do it. I agree that this goes way beyond partisan politics. Whoever is to blame for this fiasco, show them the door. Then things will change.

Allen-
you make a good point, but my earlier post is 100% correct based on reading this blog. according to the people that run this thing, W could strangle Cheney with his bare hands, in public, on television, right after saying "i hate dick cheney and i am going to strangle him," and somehow it would still be the democrats fault.

dan irving-
i think the vitriol comes out because it is hard to hold back when one reads the most disingenuous statements which are writtne ostensibly in the sense of trying to be a problem solver. your point is taken, however. but, i would remind all of you, that the next time you go around calling all dems traitors, remember that the vets, some of whom (surprise, surprise) ARE democrats, are all Americans.

i give wizbang one piece of real credit, though. they allow, almost always without any censorship other than when someone really crosses the line, free expression of all views, regardless of how crudely some posters state their opposition to the opinions of the writers of the blog. a lot of people just delete the comments of people's views they don't like.

I saw in the news yesterday that an army (sorry for the pun) of contractors were at work fixing the problems.

It seems that nothing gets done in this administration until the liberal press, and the liberal Democrats start cry and whining about it.

Things were so much better under Republican suppression. Why do the Republicans hate the troops so much?

Oh yes, Barney -- what would we do without the liberals watching out for us.

Sometimes I can't figure out whether you're intellectually dishonest or just blinded by your extreme ideology -- then I realize they're really the same thing.

the va has always sucked. it's a massive bureacracy of the kind the movie "brazil" could have been based upon. they can throw an army of contractors at it if they want...it won't solve the root problem. the good that can come from this is that we can now stop with the red herring debate about who does or does not support the troops...actions speak louder than words...none of us do. now let's get on to a RATIONAL debate about how to stop the un-necessary carnage that made building 18 necessary in the first place.

So you're not gonna lay any blame on the "troop supporting" Republican Administration?

Shocked, just shocked I tell you!!!

BTW, they DON'T support our troops!! (It's just a Marketing line the Republicans use to squash dissent).

You got to remember now that barneygoole belongs to the "club".

The problems at Walter Reed at so politically incorrect that they are virtually unsolvable in the long term.

1. Walter Reed in located in the ghetto with a high crime rate on post and an enormous crime rate in the surrounding community. The location crates problems in attracting good civlian employees and getting military people to volunteer to be assigned to Walter Reed.

2. The majority of the workforce in from the local community. They have little in common with the majority of the wounded service members. The workforce is also the bottom of the barrel of civilian employees in DC. Anyone who has spent even a day at Walter Reed should not be surprise that employees lose records, are ineffective, acted rudely, and poor performers.

3. Walter Reed has to follow the same contracting rules as everyone else. Thus, all of their minor construction, housekeeping, and maintenance contractors are 8A minority set aside contractors. It should surpirse no one that those contractors cannot repair the plumbing or fix the dry wall.

4. Walter Reed is the last place anyone in the military wants to be assigned. Thus, the best soldiers avoid it and those assigned do everything to get out of there. In the four years of the war, probably 95% of the military at Walter Reed have rotated out. Since Walter Reed is considered such a bad assignment it gets the weakest leaders and cause people to not care.

Remember, one of the reasons that the BRAC commission decided to close Walter Reed is that the entire military considers the place a miserable place that should be avoided.

Oyster,

How could anyone vote for a Republican or Conservative nowadays?

Haven't they shown you what they really believe these last 6 years?

I always felt I was an Independent as well. In fact, I have voted for Republicans a few times in the past.

Not any more.
No way.
They believe in feathering their own beds and to hell with everyone else (in other words, F the poor).

Now if I could just get a real alternative to the Democrats.

jhow66-
have you ever posted anything of any substantive value to this blog? isn't the club the one you go to with knee pads on every saturday night?

sure they are culpable to a point. they didn't do any planning for this mis-adventure...and this latest episode is only symptomatic of that abject failure. but the va is a problem as old as the va. my fathers uncle, a veteran of d-day, passed on while in the care of a va hospital 20 years ago...and it was a f'ed up system then.
of course it is a rovian slogan designed to quelch real debate. what we really need to do is figure a way out of the black hole that is iraq. and questioning who supports the troops is ridiculously counterproductive.

Lee has beclowned himself so many times with his hatred and bile that he's become the epitome of a troll; but I don't want him banned because such moronic behavior needs to be on display to remind us of what the moonbats are all about.

PS: Sorry JT, I sometimes lack the self-control to adhere to your admonition about not feeding such creatures.

Jay,

I know it's obvious, but sometimes the obvious needs to be repeated.

By the way J.R. I've been joshing Jay about his party affiliation for months.

Not sure why you directed that comment to me, I don't care about your "joshing" around with Jay and can't see where I mentioned it either.

To summarize superdestroyer's analysis:
Work hard, study, stay in school or get stuck at Walter Reed, and don't be black.

Is that what you were really saying?

J.R., I just appropriated your remark to hammer home just how accurately you captured Lee's contribu