And We All Want This?

UPDATE HERE, THANKS JANELLE (make sure to watch the video)

President Obama has floated a proposal that private insurers pay for the care of wounded veterans. It's a snake-like move which is more important in understanding the Obama administration's contempt for the military than anything I have seen to date. Living in a military town I come across wounded vets on a fairly frequent basis and I can only imagine what they think of their new Commander in Chief. It also is enlightening looking back on my college days.

I attended well known university and became friends with many of the 'best and brightest' of my generation. Many of these folks are now famous in their own right and many are wealthy beyond what I can hope to achieve.

It is curious to me though, that in the great group of friends that I had, exactly none of them chose to serve in the military in any capacity. Coming in on the heels of the Vietnam War I guess this is not so surprising, but there's more.

It took ME, in dire straits financially, a whole lot of gumption to sign on the dotted line with Uncle Sam. I had absorbed a base distrust for the military in college and didn't get too upset when the ROTC office on campus was vandalized or when a pro PLO march was held or when a woman (whom I now know was severely psychiatrically disabled) was picked up in a limo and given the stage at a campus-wide event to rail against men and corporate America in general. It's just the way it was.

The time I served in the military was easy time. I didn't do anything important in the service. I didn't even have to spend time overseas. But I met the most fantastic people. Men and women who chose to serve and had been shot at and who had lost friends in battle or in training accidents. The salt of the earth. I was amazed. I love those guys and gals. Love 'em. And you should too because whether or not you agree with why they were deployed they went when they were called with no question. Clinton or Bush, they went and saluted and protected your right to do whatever the hell you want to do.

And that brings me back to the culture in which Obama and his staff germinated. They have a deep distrust of the military and I would not be surprised if it rises to the level of hate with some of them. I believe that much of this comes from a knowledge that they wouldn't have been able to cut it in the service, and a fear that, faced with the possibility of combat, that they would have cut and run like little kids.

This decision to go back on a promise made to these fine folks is contemptible. Harvard still, I believe, will not allow the ROTC on their campus. Screw Harvard.

Used to be the highest calling was to serve one's country. Used to be. For me, it still is. For me, I stand with our vets and our active duty servicemen and women. Hard stand right? Bully for me right?

You would be surprised at how hard this stand is if you wander into the wrong community... the one with all the 'nuclear free zone' signs and the Priuses and the well manicured bicycle paths. The one with the super-high population of PhDs. You know, the university towns (and not that dreary Ag school darling) and beautiful places. The one's where the voters fight against school vouchers but send their kids to the best private schools.

Me, I'm right where I belong... in the sticks, with the medics and police and nurses that worked their way through school, and, in most cases, put in a few years in the Army or Navy or Marines. Hoorah. The salt of the earth. I am proud to be counted amongst them and honored that they have embraced me.

Obama has gone back on a promise here that cuts to the core of the health care issue. The VA is running out of money (big surprise with a non competitive enterprise), so he's sticking it to the patients; men and women who are battle-wounded in service of their country. Heroes. Why in the name of all that is holy do you think it will be any different when the government runs your health care?