I supported Joe Biden back before it was cool, I was the State Veterans Coordinator for the Biden 08 committee and worked for a man named J.B. White who was the National Veterans Chairman for Senator Biden.

Here is the diary, I wrote then, Why I have chosen to support Joe Biden it is dated 26 June 2007. So my support for him as VP on the Senator Obama ticket will be just as enthusiastic now,  as I was then.  I want a democratic ticket to win with stronger majorities in the House and Senate. Some of it is personal as the democratic party has been the veterans best friends for the past ten years, people like Patty Murray, Bernie Sanders, Dick Durbin and Barack Obama have been leading the effort in the Senate, while the house has Chairman Filner, John Hall, Michael Michaud and Phil Hare.

Today the presumptive nominee for the Republican party addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars annual convention and expounded on his deceptive assertions against Senator Obama, then he took it a step further he lied about his committment to this nations veterans, especially the disabled in service while in uniform.

Short of giving their life, these men and women have paid as much of a price as a citizen can be asked to give to their nation. I wrote Senator McCain for help with my problems with the Veterans Administration about 3 years ago, he told me there was nothing he could do, as I was not from Arizona, excuse me I am an American veteran, I served the US Army not the Arizona National Guard, he is a US Senator, and now he wants to be the American President. He should be accountable to all of this nations citizens.
Cross posted at Military & Veterans: Politics for the deserving

I knew it was to good to be true, Senator James Webb spent almost 2 years building up a coalition of Senators from both sides of the ailse and getting enough votes to make the new GI Bill veto proof.

So to make the entire thing a farce the Bush Administration has had Secretary of the Veterans Administration James Peake make the decision to "outsource" the administration of the new GI Bill to a private company, since the VA does not have the personnel to handle such a large new entitlement program. Except VA employees in the education department are the only people who know how to administer federal veterans education benefits, and it would be easier to expland the VA workforce than to hire a private company that would be required to train all new employees on the laws that govern the VA education benefits.

At the recent Disabled American Veterans Convention Senator McCain was given a tepid welcome, and his remarks were not well received by the veterans there.

A reporter from the Las Vegas newspaper talked to 14 attendees, and only found one that stated he was definately voting for McCain, the rest were fed up with his voting record on veterans issues (wallet issues) and health care. The fact that he also opposed Senator Webbs new G.I. Bill didn't earn him any gratitude from the veterans nor would I think the active duty forces.

I hold no illusions, this is a republican state and has been for years. I live in one of the most republican districts in the state, Lexington County and it is represented by Joe Wilson R SC02, he is a retired reserve Army Colonel.  His Congressional biography can be read here.

He has been less than helpful in my personal dealings with the Veterans Administration on my claims for the exposures at Edgewood Arsenal. He is being opposed by Rob Miller as the Democratic nominee, if he wins it will have to be with the votes from outside the Lexington County area, he is from Beaufort, where he runs a small business with his wife. Hopefully with a large turnout for Obama, there will be enough down ticket momentum that Rob can unseat Joe Wilson.

I wish I was discussing ancient history due to the long history this nation has in abusing soldiers and veterans in human experimentation since WW2, the chemical weapons experiments in WW2 at Edgewood Arsenal, the Cold War human experiments at Fort Detrick (Operation White Coat) many projects at Edgewood Arsenal from 1955 thru 1975, Operation SHAD in the 1960's.

This week the VA Inspector General has released a report on the failures of VA doctors and researchers to properly document consent forms, and the deaths of patients involved in the research projects. Enough is enough when is accountability going to be demanded and veterans protected by the Veterans Administration rather than keep using and abusing them for medical research?

What in the world is this senile old man thinking with this idea? He wants to put all veterans into ER's across the country and out of the Veterans Hospitals why? Is there money in it for his republican friends in the health care industry or does he truly have NO repsect for service connected medical problems. Most healthcare at the VA is not for "serious combat wounds"  it is like any other hospital, men and women have normal health problems and the government is responsible for the total health care of veterans rated 50% and higher, if you are rated 100% then you are even entitled to that famous VA dental care, the former VA Secretary  Nicholson tried to pass off as an excuse to Bob Woodruff last year in that messed up interview.

Senator McCain is ranting about Senator Obama not caring about veterans, well what if the hell is this? Is this "caring" for disabled veterans? I don't think so.....

I don't know how much or what kind and I won't be like the Captain and make up a story. The false e mail has already made Snopes as a fake internet rumor.  The Obama "fight the smears" has it up .here

The Captain is real, his wife is real, the information he put into his e mail was fake, The story has also made the Army Times.

The Washington Post has the Silent Posting article buried in the World News section. The article is a four page description of the man's work and the work of his unit known as the "Gravediggers".

Since he was ordered to silence the blog, his fiancee has taken it over and keeps the faithful readers up todate with the unit. The blog was not ordered down due to OPSEC it was supposedly for the fact the one post in question was not approved by a superior officer, the post was about a higher ranking officer wanting him to accept a lateral promotion, which LT G did not want. The Army felt he was ridiculing the officer.

I have read TeacherKens McCain willing to ration Veterans' health care and Brandon Friedmans Veterans Respond to McCain's "Obama Wants to Lose" Remark great diary.

Then there is karateexplosions Our Gov't to Wounded Soldiers: Go Piss Up a Rope diary on the way the current administration is handling disabled soldiers disability claims. (shitty) So this diary is my rant of how I feel about Senator McCain and his disgusting use and abuse of the troops, and his disdain for "disabled veterans". He uses his military service and POW status as a corner stone of his "patriotism" and his love of country, and I like many other veterans honor his service but despise his "I stand for the troops and veterans of this nation" when he has one of the worst voting records by any elected official concerning votes for veterans issues.

In a hardly surprising report to veterans who have ever had to deal with the Veterans Affairs Department, on Thursday July 17, 2008 the VA's own IG's office released this Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for  the VA Watchdog.org sums it up this way

VAOIG REPORT: VA FALLS SHORT WHEN PROCESSING

CLAIMS OF SERIOUSLY DISABLED OEF / OIF VETS --

Agency has 30-day goal but 76% of claims take longer

with 22% taking more than 180 days to process.

Most Americans and even many veterans are not aware that more than one year ago the government pushed all new "veterans" the ones from Iraq and Afghanistan to the head of the line for processing, so if they are failing the "new veterans" think how they are failing us older veterans from the First Gulf War, Vietnam, Panama, Korea, and even WW2 veterans filing claims.

As most of you know I am a totally disabled Army veteran. I have many medical issues and use the VA Medical system as my only health care. Last night my wife and I got to see for ourselves how the new system they have set up for "emergency care" works.

You used to be able to walk in like any other emergency room in the nation, but now you call a nurse call center, they forward your call to the local VA Medical center to Dayton, Ohio call center. The process was fascinating and encouraging, a human and a computer program. It sounds like trouble but it's not.

In the second time during the Iraq War an "iconic" war photograph has the photographer questioning himself if he is to blame for the development of the veterans PTSD.

The two images I am talking about are the picture taken by  Luis Sinco of the Los Angeles Times of Blake Miller more commongly known as the "Marlboro Man" and the picture taken by Warren Zinn of the Washington Post of Joseph Dwyer carrying a small Iraqi boy to safety during a small arms firefight. What brings this to the forefront is last week Jospeh Dwyer overdosed and died, he was drinking and taking pills, he called 911 and died before reaching the hospital.

Then not one of the other than IAVA calls him on it, he has one of the worst voting records on veterans issue's of any sitting Senator. The National Veterans groups keep track of how Senators vote on their issues.

The National Commanders of the veterans groups should be denouncing Senator Mccain for making false claims of their support, when his voting record is against them and their membership, he has not earned their support, just because you are a veteran, you should not be given a free ride, especially when your voting record is in total opposition to your members needs, like financial assistance, compensation, hospital services, out patient programs, vocational rehabilitation etc.  Bottom line Senator Mccain sucks when it comes to disabled veterans and their families.

I could go on a rant about how Senator McCain is just using veterans and his military service to get elected. But it might be taken the same way General Clark's comments were taken, like sour grapes.

So I went digging into the Washington Post data base on the Senates voting records and the issues the votes are related to, I gathered all of the issues that he claims to support, veterans and military. He's running on the basis that ALL veterans support him and he has been given every award possible by the veterans groups. If he has been given them it wasn't because of his voting record, I can promise you that, read it below and you decide.

The New  York Times has a front page story this morning, in the online edition it has 5 pages, and it is worth the read.

The problem is I haven't even read it yet, but I imagine I could have written it. I have lived it, and it wasn't just alcohol, I tried drugs, I tried becoming a workaholic, if there was an escape, legal or illegal I tried them, up to and including suicide, to rid myself of the demons I carried with me.

The neocons who want to continue the never ending war in Iraq are running a multi-million dollar ad campaign focused on staying  the "course" and "winning the war" against Al Qaeda in Iraq.

The group claims to have 24,000 members here at Vets for Freedom my question is where did they get millions of dollars to run television ads?  Karl Rove and his friends Ari Fleischer and their few hundred million to play with maybe? They can be found at Freedoms Watch their goal to keep President Bush's wars going even after he leaves office.

Most people will assume that John McCain supports veterans, i.e. disabled veterans full hearted and with compassion, but in assuming that they would be dead wrong, researching his record on supporting the "troops" or the veterans  shows that he votes against laws that would help them thru Veterans Affairs programs.

Most disabled veterans know how McCain votes, because we live under the largesse of Congress, if the laws pass we get help, if they get voted down, well we are the ones who suffer from it, and of course our families. But Senator McCain is a "war hero" he is a disabled veteran himself,well all I can say is so was ex-Secretary of the VA Jim Nicolson, and who can ever forget the silly interview he gave to Bob Woodruff and claimed all the veterans from the Iraq war were coming to the VA hospitals to get their teeth fixed?