The soldier, yours or mine, is walking up the street dressed in uniform ,and we the people know that he is going back to Iraq for the second or third time. We the people hug him and thank him and let him know that we the people (as usual just family and friends) will watch over his family while he is gone. We the people will make sure that his family has what they need to make ends meet. We the people know that going to war means that a lot of the things we the people take for granted probably won't be available for him. Things like a hot cup of coffee, a warm shower, or a soft, dry, bed simply won't be available to him despite the billions (trillions?) spent by our current administration. The military gets paid so little, that some of them and their families are still eligible for food stamps.
The soldier votes but his down sized voice is not heard. He is not allowed to express a dissenting opinion, though an opinion in lockstep with the administration is welcomed. A dissenting voice is subject to court martial. That is the reality of a military man who must support his family. We the people need to be their voices to ensure that they and their families are cared for while they are away at a war of the governments bidding. Unable to express their dissent or objection, the military is now being asked to pay for a larger $hare of their health care cost$, since the number of dead and wounded far exceeded the number$ that anyone could have imagined. After the horror of 9-11, some of the people who experienced that terror filled day suffered from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). They were offered counseling and in some cases a huge financial settlement. How is it that our troops endure similar horrors and worse, for 12 or 15 months at a time, in their first tours of duty, yet can be denied help (preexisting conditions) or claims for disability compensation?
The taxes that we the people pay are supposed to fund agencies such as the Veterans Administration to provide care for those who do return. Despite being under funded during this administration, at least one candidate for President in the upcoming election is refusing to increase funding for the VA. What a despicable way to show gratitude for our returning troops. The fantastic new medical treatment center in San Antonio, TX., Intrepid, the state of the art facility for amputees and those with Traumatic Brain Injury wasn't funded by our government. It was funded by private donations, and we the people.
During this current orgy of spending called campaigning, the administration and its allies in the mass media, have chosen to give us a steady and overwhelming diet of trivial and picayune statement of fact that is fiction, all the while seeming to forget the troops and indigenous civilians who are dead and dying.
We the people can choose to wear a flag pin on our lapels or put a “Support Our Troops” bumper sticker (made in China) on our car, as so many of our politicians do, or we the people can give a voice to our soldiers and veterans. We the people are the decider.
