The One Where the Head of Middle America Explodes

The Republicans in the Senate refused to allow a DEBATE about the Iraq war. Just a flipping debate. They say that to do so would not support the troops. You see those yellow ribbons on cars all over the country, "Support the Troops." Let's talk about supporting the troops, and see what happens to the heads of middle america when they see this story.

From the Washington Post, a Pulitzer-worthy story in two parts, came out Sunday and today. This is part 1 and this is part 2. This story is about the medical care practically across the street from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the premier medical facility for injured veterans. The issue is that as medical technology has advanced, allowing people injured in war to live through it, and the number of people living through war injuries has overwhelmed the VA system. The building where these people are cared for is molded, busting out, criminally undermaintained. There are numerous, horrendous, deplorable examples all throughout the articles, but:

..."Suicide attempts and unintentional overdoses from prescription drugs and alcohol, which is sold on post, are part of the narrative here."

..."Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, commander at Walter Reed, said in an interview last week that a major reason outpatients stay so long, a change from the days when injured soldiers were discharged as quickly as possible, is that the Army wants to be able to hang on to as many soldiers as it can, "because this is the first time this country has fought a war for so long with an all-volunteer force since the Revolution."

So they want them to stick around, so they can be sent back. Read on.

"...A reconnaissance and land-navigation expert, Shannon was so disoriented that he couldn't even find north. Holding the map, he stumbled around outside the hospital, sliding against walls and trying to keep himself upright, he said. He asked anyone he found for directions."

"...Shannon, who wears an eye patch and a visible skull implant, said he had to prove he had served in Iraq when he tried to get a free uniform to replace the bloody one left behind on a medic's stretcher. When he finally tracked down the supply clerk, he discovered the problem: His name was mistakenly left off the "GWOT list" -- the list of "Global War on Terrorism" patients with priority funding from the Defense Department. He brought his Purple Heart to the clerk to prove he was in Iraq."

"...One amputee, a senior enlisted man who asked not to be identified because he is back on active duty, said he received orders to report to a base in Germany as he sat drooling in his wheelchair in a haze of medication. "I went to Medhold many times in my wheelchair to fix it, but no one there could help me," he said."

Had enough? Too bad, read on.

"...The soldier, Cpl. Jeremy Harper, returned from Iraq with PTSD after seeing three buddies die. He kept his room dark, refused his combat medals and always seemed heavily medicated, said people who knew him. According to his mother, Harper was drunkenly wandering the lobby of the Mologne House on New Year's Eve 2004, looking for a ride home to West Virginia. The next morning he was found dead in his room. An autopsy showed alcohol poisoning, she said."

"...Bomb blasts are the most common cause of injury in Iraq, and nearly 60 percent of the blast victims also suffer from traumatic brain injury, according to Walter Reed's studies, which explains why some at Mologne House wander the hallways trying to remember their room numbers."

That's enough, read the articles. Most of these guys are suffering from their wounds, including PTSD and traumatic brain injury, while naviagating the bullshit of the system, living in a mice- and roach-infested shithole. If this was a nursing home where your grandmother lived, it'd be shut down.

But Republicans aren't the only ones at fault here. Where the fuck are the Democrats screaming about this injustice? Where's the investigation? Why isn't the head of the VA hauled in front of Congress and demanded his resignation in abject humiliation? Where the hell is my party on this?

THIS is how we Support the Troops. Everyone get your putty knives out. Cleaning the mess of the exploded heads of middle america will be ugly.

Update at 7 p.m. MST: Joe Scarborough is leading with Britney's shaved head. I really hate these people. CORRECTION: Not leading, but that was the intro tonight.