What We Said And What We Meant
Molly Ivins on the Bush administration's difficulties in getting word and deed to match:
Just before Memorial Day, Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi said, "Our active military respond better to Republicans" because of "the tremendous support that President Bush has provided for our military and our veterans." The same day, the White House announced plans for massive cuts in veterans' health care for 2006.Last January, Bush praised veterans during a visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The same day, 164,000 veterans were told the White House was "immediately cutting off their access to the VA health care system."
My favorite in this category was the short-lived plan to charge soldiers wounded in Iraq for their meals when they got to American military hospitals. The plan mercifully died aborning after it hit the newspapers.
In January 2003, just before the war, Bush said, "I want to make sure that our soldiers have the best possible pay." A few months later, the White House announced it would roll back increases in "imminent danger" pay (from $225 to $150) and family separation allowance (from $250 to $100).
In October 2003, the president told troops, "I want to thank you for your willingness to heed the important call, and I want to thank your families." Two weeks later, the White House announced it opposed a proposal to give National Guard and Reserve members access to the Pentagon's health insurance system, even though a recent General Accounting Office report estimated that one out of every five Guard members has no health insurance. What a nice thank you note.
Sure, the Bush administation supports our troops! (wink, wink)
UPDATE: We're winning the war on terror! Well, that is, if you don't count all the acts of terror. Check out the funny math at The State Department, reported by our pal in Washington, LA Times' Josh Meyers.
Miss Ivins has had her head up there so long she no longer recognizes the scent.
She's not even a third-tier tree-killing columnist. As with Geo Will and MoDo, people who read her work deserve what happens to their immortal souls.
Crid at June 9, 2004 10:18 AM
Crid -- All Miss Ivins has done in this excerpt is lay out a few appalling facts. Would you like to address their veracity, or are you more interested in dreaming about "the scent" she no longer recognizes? Lena
Lena at June 9, 2004 11:00 AM
Lena, fanatics such as yourself will take anything at face value. I presume the opposite, that she's stretched the truth whenever possible, hence the *absence of citations*. Give me the chapter and verse and I'll weep, otherwise it's safe to presume she's the fuckwad she's always been.
Crid at June 9, 2004 8:48 PM
Rod, whomever you are, thank you for not sharing in the future. Your weird-ass shit above will be deleted, on the grounds that it is both 1. unreadable and 2. appears to contain other people's personal e-mail, not necessarily intended for public consumption. Please get help. Elsewhere.
Amy Alkon at June 9, 2004 9:25 PM
"Lena, fanatics such as yourself will take anything at face value."
Crid, do you really think I'm a fanatic? I'm flattered. My grandfather was a terrorist -- I mean, freedom fighter -- by the way. I guess it runs in the family.
Lena at June 9, 2004 9:36 PM
One of those is a little disingenuous:
Last January, Bush praised veterans during a visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The same day, 164,000 veterans were told the White House was "immediately cutting off their access to the VA health care system.
This paints a picture of legless, eyeless veterans cruelly shut off from essential care, but it really isn't like that. My recollection -- and I'm sorry I can't find a link, if it's absolutely necessary I'll try -- is that the people affected were people who had done short (4-6 year) stateside hitches, who either had private insurance that provided better care elsewhere anyway, or were employed by the government in another capacity and had access to other insurance and health care programs. By doing so, they freed up the money to treat other veterans better who needed it more.
Not that I'm here to defend the Bush administration, but sometimes things are not what they appear to be at first glance, and should be argued honestly.
Phil at June 11, 2004 1:50 PM
Thank you, Phil. A great reminder for me to not get so riled, or conversely smirkish, on the first reading of just about any news or opinion piece (lawyer blasting excluded because of utter contempt, tho' Volokh Deep Law gets a grudging pass). There always seems to be the 'rest of the story' waiting in the shadows.
allan at June 12, 2004 10:14 AM