They have done enough for us - it is time we take care of them!
With petty politics still dominating our national debate, confusion over our war policy, an economy that may be on life support, partisanship again dominating our election, and price gouging from our banks and credit card companies, how does that make those returning from the war zone feel about what little we do as a nation to honor our veterans upon whose back we have built this temple to the Gods of greed and malicious behavior. Don't you think we could do a little better?
Since hot air and no substance rules in our nation's capitol it seems the least we could do is take a few moments to pause and ask what have we done for those who risk their lives to defend us. If we were truly in to soul searching as opposed to partisan babble the answer would be clear. Our failure to address the cost of government, rising debt and deficit spending, greed mongering by the very banks we bailed out with tax payers money, and the entire specter of empty promises and political lies is a sorry testament to leadership, concern, compassion and honesty toward veterans.
These past seven years as Obama took his Nobel Peace prize and then made mistake after mistake in foreign policy and war management as his Administration catered to the progressives, trillions of dollars in stimulus spending has accomplished nothing more than to add $8 trillion more to the national debt. At the same time, billions and billions of dollars wasted on failed war policies of the Obama administration have sucked the lifeblood out of our domestic programs.
During that time not only did we lose several thousand brave men and women defending a bizarre foreign policy and a non-existent war strategy, but America brought back over 700,000 disabled veterans, meaning we now have over four million disabled veterans from wars since World War II.
What happens to them, they get lost in a bureaucratic maze at the Veterans Department where far more often than should happen, a veteran can die before they get through the waiting period to see a doctor. Not because they do not need the treatment, but because they cannot get an appointment for weeks and months because of so called administrative issues. Any administrative issue that costs us the death of a veteran, especially an injured veteran, is a disgrace to our character, ability, and broken promises to those willing to risk their lives to protect us.
So far the Obama administration has failed with bank bailouts, failed with keeping interest rates at artificially low levels, failed to contain inflation, failed to win any of the three wars he has championed, failed to stop terrorism, added millions to the welfare roles, kept millions more from finding gainful employment, failed to give over thirty million people health insurance as he promised, well you know how it goes.
Let us vow to not let his failures continue to harm our veterans, those proud souls who answered his call to arms and now cannot get help for risking and often giving their lives. Let us not let the malaise of failure continue to punish our veterans, and especially our wounded warriors and those suffering the many stressful results of war against terrorism. These brave men and women and their families who depended on them should be the first priority for our government, before big bankers, big pharmaceuticals, and those who profit from the fruits of war.
Obama and Congress have demonstrated nothing to give people confidence, certainly nothing to indicate it is any different than business as usual, and even less to demonstrate they have a clear policy and the ability to implement the strategy. Our veterans and the people deserved much better. We opened the door to change and got nothing in return. We the people have been short-changed and many are truly suffering. We should vow to fix the mess facing veterans, and never let it happen again.
While our highly likeable president continues to dazzle in speeches then fall flat on his face in execution we should demand far more from our next president. In the meantime, Congress should be held accountable for allowing the services to veterans to disintegrate. Fix the mess now!
Obama needs to be the president of all Americans. He needs to learn from JFK , Ronald Reagan and even Bill Clinton that when you are elected president you are president of all the people, not just the Harvard elite. Kennedy was from Harvard and he knew that. We don't anoint presidents we elect them and once elected we are their boss.
If you want to honor the veterans, truly honor the veterans, then stop playing politics with war and foreign relations and make decisions, act bold and demonstrate leadership. We did not pick you to hand off the ball to the nearest person but to slam dunk the damn ball yourself. Stop performing for the Europeans and Middle Eastern countries and even the enemies of America like North Korea and Iran because your popularity ratings in those countries has nothing to do with your leadership here at home.
You are our president, not theirs. We pay your salary. Every time you cow tow to special interests it is our back that takes the dagger and pays the cost. Where is the leader we expected, we were promised, and we elected? Where is the change? It is time you get out of the frat house and into the real world. Listen, don't pontificate. We have had enough of that crap.
Every day you should wake up and remember that it is our Constitution you pledged to defend, the people's Constitution. Your accountability is not to your Chicago cronies or Harvard elitists, not to the weak kneed politicians or corporate thieves, not to the arm chair socialists or societal losers but to the American people.
Stop the partisanship. Stop the bickering over ideological nonsense. Stop taking care of special interests and protecting people who should be prosecuted. Listen to the pulse of the country, listen to the heartbeat of America and you will see how far you have strayed from our expectations. Then act like a president and fix the problems you have so you can fix the problems we have.
When you reach that point you will have honored our veterans by honoring their families and friends, the very people they are willing to die for. Be American and be president and take responsibility and fix this mess and you will have all the support you need. Continue the path you are on and you will be nothing more than another interesting footnote in our presidential history.
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