Can you believe those weasels even imagine pulling this crap on wounded servicepeople and veterans?!

Why does this sort of thing keep happening? The foot dragging and denial about agent orange in Vietnam,to the Gulf War Syndrome denial, to the recent problems found at VA hospitals the government keeps doing this sort of thing. Why? I know of no constituency for giving our veterans anything other than the very best care with the most inclusive eligibility requirements, yet one must exist. What persons and institutions comprise that constituency?

Reich-wing scumbags have implemented newspeak. "Support the troops" means sending them someplace dangerous, and does NOT mean taking take care of them when they get hurt.

ya gotta bail out that Saudi Prince who invested all his hard earned money in Citi

One more thing I find curious and distressing here is there are so few letters, three at the time I'm writing. That's all our vets get from us too??

This whole thing started before the Bush regime but he sure has helped it along, send 'em and forget 'em. For Walter Reed Army Hospital to be in such disrepair is pathetic and ought never have been allowed to deteriorate so badly. Funds have been getting cut for years now.

All the hoopla about sending them to war, applauding their courage and bravery, and then the government fails to provide adequate funding both at home and in the war zones: inadequate equipment, inadequate protection for them, and inadequate care for them when they get back home, injured and disabled.

It should simply never happen that a vet has to fight the Pentagon to get $16,000 in benefits because the Pentagon has conveniently narrowed definitions, making it harder to obtain legitimate benefits. Are they ashamed of themselves? I doubt it.

Ok people, time to write and call our senators and representatives, get on the stick! These soldiers are our family--someone has to fight for them when the government lets them down.

You went in the military, and you were expecting benefits? Haven't you ever heard of extraordinary definition? It's what the military uses to save dollars instead of lives. When they promised you free health care, they meant it wasn't going to cost them a thing.

It's clearly very important that we keep the people who are responsible for this sort of policymaking at the Pentagon for as long as possible.

We need to do that for the sake of continuity, because who can imagine a worse tragedy for those who serve their country in uniform than a policy shakeup? I know that returning veterans fret about that possibility above all others.

So let's all get behind Obama's selection of Gates for Secretary of Defense — clearly he's emerged from the Bush era unblemished, as we keep hearing in the mainstream press. Put down that letter to the president-elect, hang up that phone call to your Senator, delete that email to MoveOn telling them you'll donate if they organize an anti-Gates campaign.

Somewhere, a continuity-loving, shakeup-fearing veteran will thank you.

Since we have an all-volunteer military, if knowledge of this mistreatment becomes more widely-known it will certainly (we can hope) affect enlistment. Let's spread the word, not to discourage brave Americans from enlisting (as we do need a military) but to change this invidious policy. If enlistments drop off the policy will likely change.

We wish we had them, but usually things turn out subtle, or in "shades of gray." But this is black, pure black: Nickel & diming wounded veterans.

Mr Gates appears splendid as Secretary of Defense primarily because he has the wonderful advantage of being compared to his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld.

Aren't you glad now you answered BUSH's call to go to war?

Of course he cares about you.

He said so right after that big bru-ha-ha over the conditions in the VA hospitals.

They're so much better now, aren't they?

Of course you were fighting for American freedom and ideallic principles... in Iraq.

Because Iraq was so instrumental in carrying out the attacks on 9/11 and training terrorists... or not.

But of course its better to fight the terrorists over there in Iraq. I'm sure the people there will remember us fondly when we're done.

Oil? Pish Posh! The very thought!

Osama Bin Laden... we'll get him when we're good and ready... maybe... if we feel like it... possibly... but we've got him right where we want him! Over there... somewhere... or maybe its over there... or possibly there...

I am all for what Obama is doing now in terms of creating a government that can function and address first things first. But the mistreatment of our veterans is so shameful and pervasive that I believe we should:

1. Hold the press accountable for keeping this story in the forefront of people's thinking;

2. Hold Congress accountable for making certain that veterans are protected and defended, just as they protected and defended their nation;

3. Hold President Obama accountable for putting someone strong, dedicated and highly visible in charge of solving this problem, and keeping that person accountable for solving it in measureable ways;

4. Hold ourselves responsible for not dropping the ball on holding others to their promises.

The treatment of veterans is a national disgrace. Universal health care would help because then veterans, and everyone else, would get the help they need. But barring that, the ONLY answer is moral conviction that leads to action.

I remember after 9/11 when the New York Times focused on the individual stories of each of the thousands of people who died. Maybe it's time for every national publication to focus on the individual story of a veteran lost and abandoned in the system, some for al the years since Viet Nam, every single day. They are enough veterans like that to keep these stories going for a long, long time.

and this makes me spitting mad. It's about the 4,325th thing this sad, pathetic excuse for an administration has made me spitting mad about.

Jan 20th, 2009 cannot get here soon enough.

I hope Elephantman or some other kissass for Bush educates us as to why it makes perfect sense to stiff wounded vets. I doubt he'll show up in this thread though.