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VA Attacks Own Revised PTSD Rules, Promotes Anti-veteran Dr. Sally Satel
PTSD - Try suicide, the cure forever
Your Veterans Service Organizations liaison from the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs [the VA] is now promoting the work of Dr. Sally Satel, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
This is like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention telling Americans treating the Ebola virus is really a diagnostic and therapeutic “trap;” quote is from Dr. Satel.
Does Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki know or care what anti-veteran nonsense the VA is emitting? How about President Obama?
Long an avowed enemy of Vietnam War veterans, Satal takes direct aim at last year’s revised PTSD rules that were hyped by Sec. Shinseki in a well-publiczed op-ed piece (USA Today, July 12, 2010). Writes Satel in Feb. 1 piece on the AEI site:
The idea that one can sustain an enduring and disabling mental disorder based on anxious anticipation of a traumatic event that never materialized is a radical departure from the clinical–and common-sense–understanding that traumatic stress disorders are caused by events that actually do happen to people.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki
Sure, the war against veterans at home has been a bipartisan exercise of neglect, but anyone paying any attention to the Bush-Cheney years knows fully well that administration took its key from the AEI on major policy initiatives, and Satel became a leading light of the out-and-out animus towards veterans, especially those Vietnam War guys who smoked all that pot and wore peace signs. Get over guys is the message by Satel and apparently now the VA and Sec. Shinseki to all veterans with PTSD.
In so many words American veterans, your psychological problems are not the fault of the entire USA. Get it?
Now that the GOP and Tea Party have made public their intention to target the insufficient amount of money now spent on veterans [an ever growing universe of people who served this country unless we can up the suicide rates a few points], one wonders if Sec. Shinseki knows even what’s going on in his own office.
Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=78529
Posted by Yanira Farray on Feb 3 2011, With 0 Reads, Filed under Veterans Affairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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Could someone tell me where the voices of dissent? Congressmen? Senators? Service org’s?
Maybe they all secretly agree with these statements. Silence is consent? A ill wind is blowing.
Excellen point Glenn. Where is the national outrage? There is none.
To Date:
Dr. Satel determines an approach to service connected trauma that may have an impact on troops and personal trauma from warfare experiences.
Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann’s call to reduce VA funding and Veterans monthly income.
The Heritage Foundation recommendation to reduce VA funding and Veterans monthly income (See Brian Riedl, The Heritage Foundation – a budget anaylist for the foundation in “How to Cut $343 Billion From the Federal Budget” The HEritage Foundation website).
The national media has (to my knowledge) ignored these attacks on the wounded and disabled Veterans.
No, none, not a bit of national outrage. Recommendations of taking from the wounded and their families is largely being ignored by America. True, major Veterans Organizations have written articles about Congresswoman Bachmann. Not good enough! Lawful outrage is needed.
In answer to your question, Congressmen, Senators and Service org’s must be contacted by we the people. Without being exposed to our lawfully expressed outrage we need to borrow pick up trucks from very generous people. This way we can move the wounded under bridges and enable them to take a few possessions with them.
Regards
Dale R. Suiter
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Betsy Orr Metz and mike voissem, Veterans Today. Veterans Today said: New post: VA Attacks Own Revised PTSD Rules, Promotes Anti-veteran Dr. Sally Satel http://bit.ly/hJ6mS1 [...]
Many of you may recall that waiting for the shit to hit the fan was no picnic. I remember how “getting hit” was a relief from the anticipation. Sally….you sit there and wait…night,after night,and tell us how you feel….tell us what your dreams are like !!!
With respect, not going to happen Sgt Ed. People that loathe the combat Vet seldom have any real experience. They do not have a concept of staring into the darkness trying to hear anything that can give warning, night after week after month after year. They do not (and do not want to) understand how this changes people, for life. I know Vietnam Vets that 40 years after the fact do not recieve any assistance from the governement. They self medicate with Rx in a bottle.
I do not know what motivates people like Dr. Satel. Any ideas? (Serious question folks!)
Regards
Dale R. Suiter
Satel is a joke in the mental health community and AEI is known for being more about politics than anything else. As you mentioned, she goes back to the Bush White House and the GOP congress, but we have had great bills passed since those dark days and a lot of them are about PTSD. We have them because people like Obama bothered to understand it.
When Obama was still trying to get the nomination, he made a quiet trip to the Montana National Guards to look at a program they had to stop suicides and help with PTSD. Spc. Chris Dana had committed suicide and he was the” one too many times” it happened. They came up with their own program and he wanted to find out more about it. He’s paid attention all along and so has Shinseki. Satel couldn’t get her load of crap to do anything even when she had friends in the White House so I put her in the ranks of Bachmann. I cringe when she opens her mouth too.
Dr. Sally Satel background includes (in part):
Professional Staff Member, Committee on Veterans Affairs, U.S. Senate 1996-97
Staff Psychiatrist, West Haven VA Medical Center, 1988-93
She authored “PTSD’s Diagnostic Trap”. The date I have for the article is Feburary 1, 2011. Read it if you wish to understand her perspective on PTSD Vets, please.
The American Enterprise Institute dates back to World War II. It appears to be a rather small but very influencial conservative organization.
O.K., Folks at the Heritage Foundation, Congresswoman Bachmann, The American Enterprise Institute and Dr. Satel have targeted Vets and by extension, their families. How many more enemies do we have? Serious question. I believe the situation is going to become difficult for Vets. Yes, I believe the sky may very well fall on Vets. Two important organizations on the national stage, a national political figure and an M.D. with nation wide reach has targeted Vets or am I missing the point? Let me know folks – is this the begining of movement towards “… the war is over … Sailors (Soldiers, Marine, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen too) and dogs stay off the grass.”?
Note: I am not paronoid – people are in fact out to get me and us!
Regards
Dale R. Suiter
Satel lacks credibility ahe is a wacko just like her friend M. Bachmann.
O.K. Dr. Satel is a highly educated person with a national forum. Ms. Bachmann is a nationally knows political figure. Both women attract media attention. How much real damage can they do to vets? How much have they done and are they part of a large pattern? I am believe they are part of a large – well organized pattern to reduce the size of governement, in part, by taking away Vet benefits. What do you think? I would like to hear your view on this important issue.
Repectfully
Dale R. suiter
I have no respect for anyone who trivializes our veterans and any even less respect for Eric K. Shinseki who tarnished the Ranger Regiments honor by stripping them of there well earned berets. Staff officers, nothing but politicians in uniform.
Rangers took their color from tankers who are the traditional wearers of the black beret (in more than just the US Army; Brits, Germans, etc.). One of the first SGMs of the Army decided to ban unit headgear in the late 60s (to include tankers black berets) and the Ranger Reg’t stepped in to appropriate that color in the early 80s when it was acceptable for SOCOM to wear them. Wasn’t theirs in the first place.
Yet here’s another idiot. These poeple think their so intelligent, because they read books. If you want this woman to change her veiw of Soldiers with PTSD, then drop her off in the middle of the war zone, and let her walk several miles in a Soldier or Marines shoes, I’m quite sure she’ll retract any crap she’s talking about.
I find it very odd that the people that say these kind of things, are always running their mouth about us Vets, but never served their own Country.
Like I said before, These people need to be fired and Vets hired to replace them.
Only Veterans of war will really understand. Beleive me, I truely understand!
You are right on! Perhaps one of the ways to start is pressuring the VA to hire more veterans. Our local VAMC has 29% veterans, the Milwaukee VAMC has 31%. I was once told by a dir of our local VAMC that was a good percentage. I told her if I scored that on a college test I certainly would fail. Very often directors of VA hospitals surround themselves with non veterans and throw in one as a token. My son was an Iraqi vet with the AF, came back and got his degree in engineer plus, had a military background in heating and refrigeration,…oh yes, graduated cum laude from college, applied for a position at a VAMC that was open and it came down to him and another. They hired a person with a green card from a foreign country. He sought out why they hired the foreigner but could not get a straight answer. The VA system of hiring veterans is terrible. Social workers, psychologists and counselors need to have some combat experience to counsel veterans but you seldom see this.
Very well put!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, very well put..interesting is the clinical social workers, & Dr hiring OPM rules on vets and non-vets.If your a license social worler and a vet the 10 point of 5 point will not apply in hiring or promotion as the professional license takes precentage! If your a MD and a Vet the points do not apply?? They can hire who they chose, and most are Non-vets in the critical care aspects we need today for more Vets to have these clinical positions, or just to be in a VA to simply…bond with vet patients. Since most Social workers & MD are not in the union they haveno advocacy rights. When I brought this to the th “Chartered” national VSO to review at national I brought a Social Worker A Vet…they walked away from it???? OPM rules are like IRS, two sets of books.
There are bean counters and closet anti-war/anti-VN vet bureaucrats and quacks out there who have been systematically in a state of denial that dioxin, PTS,
suicides, homelessness and the higher mortality rate among In Country VN vets for decades. Cutting the budget to look good to the constituents that voted them into power at the expense of those who risked their lives under orders of the CIC in Indochina and have still have to bear the burden of their service with multiple types of non-inherited forms of cancer and their broken homes from decades of improperly recognized, diagnosed, and treatment programs concerning genuine mental health symptoms ( PTS ) borders on SERIOUS denial and hyprocrisy from people like Satel, Bachmann and the rest of those flag wavers who are more concerned with short term solutions to long term problems.
Where’s the link to the VA-VSO liason promoting Satel’s work? I don’t see anything in your article documenting that.
See “Satel in Feb 1. piece …” in the article above. It is the AEI piece on the Doctor’s views of PTSD and Vets.
Dale R. Suiter
Satel has no interest in saving the tax payers’ money when it come to mental health care for veterans. Her only concern is the promotion and defense of APA brand biological psychiatry. I wrote her years ago about my success with orthomolecular therapy, which costs a fraction of the cost of biological psychiatry and enables recovery, rather than causing a lifetime of disability for the patient, and she did not respond.
Veterans stand in the breech, because prior to the early ’80s, the symptoms of PTSD were diagnosed as incurable “mental illnesses” like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, biological depression, etc. The DSM Bible said that stress and traumatic experiences could not cause these symptoms without a genetic predisposition. When great numbers of WWII, Korean War and Vietnam veterans began to present with these symptoms in the 1970s, that statistically could not be blamed on genetic factors, the diagnosis of PTSD was created.
In the 1960s, Linus Pauling, Abram Hoffer, Carl Pfeiffer and the other pioneers of orthomolecular psychiatry found that stress and trauma, frequently combined with poor nutrition and or toxins could not only cause these symptoms, but were no doubt the major cause throughout the general population. Their findings were not welcomed by the “mental health care” establishment which operated huge facilities to warehouse the incurable patients and supply them with expensive drugs and electro-shock treatments.
If the symptoms that veterans display are in fact caused by their stressful and traumatic service experience, then the whole biological model of “mental illness” falls, and with it the profits of Big Pharma. Drug psychiatrists guard their prey like the great cats of the jungle, and will not back away without resisting.
In the American South, hundreds of thousands of people were hospitalized, lobotomized, sterilized and died in great numbers with the “mental illness” of pellagra. For years after the nutritional cause and cure were found by US Public Health Dr. Joseph Goldberger this holocaust was allowed to continue by establishment medicine. See http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/goldberger/
Only the advent of a second world war brought government action, because pellagra had been a scourge among the troops in the First World War. Today, biological psychiatry and Big Pharma dominated medicine have crippled our military and all but destroyed the Seed Corps, and government looks the other way.
Shes seems to be justifing all her failures as a VA doc in the era when “All Veterans Are Wrong”…its called avoidence distress disorder. On one hand she starts her”opinion” using the Greek warrior ethos, then swithched to the western latin methodology of the evidence based (opinion)’s. The Va is not authorized to use greek terms in its research..so shes has a pulpit to help fuel a 2012 DSM-V review on PTSD. Vets this is the hidden agenda with the AMA 137,000 Doctors/lobbyists/Pharmocology. The 2012 DSM rewrite is currently under review to include PTSD. In Greek the word “Trauma” is “Wound”…in Greek the word “Therapist” is “Healer”….she most likely was told by a no-no nonsense hard charging vet to kiss their ass at the VA on more than one event meeting, I would love to see her “script record” while doling out bullshit, she doled out AMA scripts by the overload math???…and thus she reappears today at a critial time line on the DSM review. Interesting is she “avoided” the suicide numbers of vets just these past two years alone? Interesting she avoided the numbers of WW2 vets suicide numbers in California alone is epidemic???? She fits her “opinion” to fit her failures as if to continue a “political correctness of HER mind”….Glad Im not her husband?
I do not think we can let her continue her “off-kilted” voice on matters of her writing about “support” vets or those who served in a oombat era even though they we’re not 11b’s…they saw, felt, witnessed the “Trauma Wound” hurt as much as the 11b or combat arms vets in day to day firefights, Medics alone account for a great deal of pain, yet are considered “support” or B-team. This is I think is her target…the teams in support areas in the middle east…the whole zone is a combat zone, as one never knows who or where an attack can or would occur. Remember last years suicide bomber who stole a police uniforme went into the CIA/MI compound (green-zone) and blew-up 22 serving with 11 “black-star Opns Men & Women”….Tell me the MP’s at the Gate do not feel this pain or the medics who carried the bodies out will ever forget that day in the “green-zone”. We will never know the names of the 11 cia operators, just stars on a wall at Langley, even their familes will never know the truth…This “doc” is a diease and is a cancer on the “ethos” of the warrior seeking wellness..be it one-day or the rest of ones journey in PTSD/Grief/Et al…it seems again we must stand-up as vets for our brothers and sisters as vets in another round of US & Them. I had hoped would be forever put in the ancient history books. j.
The 88 mike today is a front line solider. These very brave troops go out day after day knowing they will face IED’s. You are correct, very correct is you assisement of the good Doctor’s views on PTSD.
Dale R. Suiter
…I guess the first clue is American “Enterprize” Inst. Enterprize being the operative motive. Relative to the Gen’s decision to pass PTSD for less paperwork he saw what we all saw…We need to get the vets to a VA as fast as possible, from that aspect we would beable to bridge the gaps. The Dr does not see this motivation aspect, does not see denial to acceptance in the 1 to 1 vet dynamic. Which is why she left out such analysis as the RAND study, The DoD suicide analysis and countless white papers reflecting more is needed to build a “run before you can walk” enviornment” for vets in distress or confused about what the aftercare models are. Friends : I work in the cold weather shelters in a urban setting.. “Everything that does NOT work in VA healthcare system beccomes homeless and on the “run” from. My Vets in these shelters are my mission, I keep them away from felons, from drug dealers and countless predator factors, I spend hours with hot food & coffee sharing my journey with them, and stand with them at the enterence of a Vet Center or homeless program idea. Dr. Satel, does not get it that Vets working with vets is still better than any Yale or Harvard educated med scripting MD..and jealous is the nature many doc’s. I find it also interesting she did not cite ANY VA National PTSD center studies which counter-points her “attitute” on the subject. She is paid to deliver a paper to counter obama and his past US Senate Veterans Committee experience, to be used at a later date. VT readers will not let politics fuel or stifen sound PTSD policy that keeps our men and women alive with a sense of hope. she is bitter person, and educated enought to “smhooch” a conservitive movement against vets needing direction on the “first step home” Its not Treatment…Its Bonding with fellowship of vets that is our secret..you cannot put this into a pill, you cannot write a social network paper..unless you have walked the walk, survived the journey and given your spirit a tune-up along side a fellowship of vets. We need to get this VT piece to Max Cleland and let me suggest Dr. Hoges book (USA, Col, MD) book “Once A Warrior-Always A Warrior. the list of resources in the science-evidence based reference list will blow her paper-work, attitude and motives to kingdom come… vr jim.
Email message to Dr. Sally Satel: You failed to bring to light the new weapons methodology. in this era of PTSD unsceen wound triage Uranium Depleted ammo, and the dna altering effects in a neuroscience element as the Medical science dia-noso is not advanced enought to keep up with weapons advancemet. Ans since your work at the VA ever so long ago you appeartently are not aware of far better respected PTSD research, from the National PTSD center which will benefit,police, firefighter first responders and families in the years to come in civic-engagement science sharing. By the way the federal courts have decided that a MD’s paper and dia-nosos is just an “opinion” as has the Legislative bodies in hearings. I do hope you plcae your words on a “oath” sworn record untill that time, its just “poppy-cock”. 25 million veterans plus families are very disapointed in your research findings as they gave you a “f” grade. Now I’m off to see Sen Akaka, so we can talk about your “stink-talk” paper as a possible enemy of the state. I am going to ask for your OPM, and DEA scripts records from your time at VA if you present this paper for public record, Then we’ll deal with Hoover and AEI..We are searching for some of your veterans as paitents and we will get to the truth from retired VA associates and the like minded “quality” VA employees you insulted to build a political case at Hoover and AEI. Maybe when all is said and done and legally vetted references..you may need a lawyer? We may want to have you placed on the peer to peer watch at AMA if in fact you still “hold” a current license with updated educational protocols in place, not to worry our archives have all histories available when needed. The sum of all your “opinions” add and divide a lifesaving methodology and you call attention to the division elements in a time and place when all honor and healing needs advancing in a era three medical approach. Hence this is not Greece, nor is it Theater of war..it is war, and warriors hurt, we as a nation must consider as the law has and the hard-charging VSO’s you “stigma” as getting in the way, have a duty to protect the best possible science development. It clearly is not your work and to determine the fractul in your motive please place this in a public record. Then wwe can “xray” and CAT scan your motives, direction, paymaster and affiliates. Healthy vets are curious and we do not like it when unhealty Dr’s send the wrong message in the subtleness of a “think-tank” which has but one purpose. Respctfully.
Jim White-Society of Archivists (Ret.)
Mathematics, Physics,& Science Committees
National Security Committees.
Veteran-Duel Service.
I don’t believe dr. satel is affiliated with the Veterans Health Adm. anymore. If she is I would like to know where? Her article has some good and accurate points and would be very convincing for a non-warzone person or therapist. Her point about being careful in not over pathologizing what a war-zone vet is feeling and thinking and how he is responding as if he is still in the war zone is true. What it leaves out is that while these PTSD symptoms usually involve issues with authority, not trusting those who “havent been there”, intrusive thoughts, feelings, and images of the war zone, that this can equal temporary occupational impairment, not mental illness. In my work with Iraq and Afganistan Vets, I made no assumption that he/she was going to have this level of occupational impairment forever or for many years. I made no assumption about the future one way or another. Many times these young vets could not sit in school anymore then working. Obviously therapy should come first, hopefully without meds. But I would make damn sure that this veteran who has this level of impairment, has financial help, from the gov. that sent him to these hell holes. In helping them get on PTSD disability because of our understanding of the above issues, I would in no way encourage or enable the vet to see themselves as permenently impaired and in need of Compensation for it from the VA forever. I dont mention this Permenent and Total thing and most of the younger vets want to work, to be more stable. It can take years for some of them to come home while they are getting sober and in psychotherapy weekly and learning about themselves and trusting a bit more so as to have meaningful relationships and work. If we dont give them this and they wonder back in 10 or 20 years down the line, they may be worse, and get into the psychiatry trap with meds. from the VA that impair ones sex drive, relationships, work ability, and zest for life. This is more common then over-diagnosing PTSD. There are many vets who got PTSD from boot camp. What? Yes. The fear there is very real for some. They may be extremely afraid of the Drill Sgt. or the other recruits in terms of bodily harm or worse. The PTSD from this is more like the kind ones gets from a Cult. Now he hasnt even been to the zone yet. And being a truck driver in Mosul or where ever, you always know that you could be next, and you heard who was killed from a roadside bomb last week and all the local people look suspicuous, like they want to kill you. ‘Well Sally, do this for a couple of years after boot camp and while you are only 22. You were only a truck driver, you didnt see anybody killed or wounded. You were never shot at or close to an explosion, so go to school and shut up.’ I believe this argument is old and she is in a minority, but at times, a powerful one. Lets be accurate about our understanding of all this and keep the ignorant, but currious policy makers, and media educated along with as many of the voters as possible.
Can we get Eric to give us his professional opinion once and for all?
Sally Satel’s contact info…maybe she would like to hear from some REAL patriots instead of the head in the sand assholes she seems to be in touch with. Just thinking out loud.
She is billed as a “Resident Scholar” (lol) her “RESEARCH AREAS” are:
* Mental health policy (including the psychological impact of war and disasters)
* Domestic drug policy
* Political trends in medicine
* Transplant policy
Contact E-mail: ssatel@aei.org Phone: 202-862-7154 Fax: 202-862-7178
send her an email or fax…hell call her give her your DIRECT opinion ho her “findings”
My best to all readers
I wonder if this woman has ever been married to a veteran with post traumatic stress disorder and watched him (attempt to) sleep at night, or stood in front of him as he had a flashback. Obviously not.
She can’t possibly call herself a mental health expert and be serious. If you drove over a road every day thinking that with every inch you moved forward you might die, that would affect you. If you walked around each day thinking that at any moment a mortar might land on your base and kill you, that would have an affect. Anticipating the event IS a traumatic event in and of itself, particularly over prolonged deployments.
Ignorance abounds, apparently.
I find it interesting that my post on this was removed by the moderator. All I did was to post the contact information of Sally so interested veterans could contact her directly. Veterans Today certainly has developed a thinner skin than it has presented in the past. Freedom of speech…ha ha! Will this be removed also?
Best to all readers,
D. Tracy
The individual is going with the flow , my spanish mother use to say same candy with different stick, is their convenience why he has not clean the VA system,over pay personnel, good money put in something that later on it doesnot work, pay incentive to employesif they cut benefits ,allowd veterans to suffer from the start of the cement war,dont hire first veterans to work for VA and Veterans,silence doctors so they change their medical opinion for the department benefits their Pockets, and many more that I will not go their,if whanted the system to get better it wiil be done since day one their is some people they dont believe in the flag and her children take them out before it gets better jajajaja
One suggestion to help combat helpless anger is to get together with some vet activists, making sure that some of them are community connected or business people, not just one class. Make sure a few of them can articulate the issue at hand of vets without combat MOS and no provable stressor having PTSD also. Now using these folks, including some Vet Service Org. people, request a town hall meeting for war zone veterans with the Congressman or Senator, and not at the traditional Vet Clubs but on neutral territory. I have been involved over the years since late 70s in these and more then once legislation was proposed out of these meetings. The new law for non-combatants to be able to have PTSD partially came out of these kinds of meetings. We are more impowered then you think. Animate those feelings.
Satel, Bachman, Ryan and all of the right wing-nuts are lunatics. If they want to
mess with ALL veteran’s they better be prepared to pay the piper. We sacrificed
our bodies AND minds to “supposedly” better America. Where did Nam get us ? Where did Iraq get us ? And where will Afghanistan get us ? The answer to all is
NOWHERE. The rich got richer, and still are getting richer, on all of these senseless and unnecessary “police actions” that somehow got to be called “wars”.
And us veterans, and the ones that are fighting for so-called “freedom” now, are going to end up getting screwed and tatooed if these loonies get their way. There
will be an “uprising” (Muse) so these wing-nuts better prepare for their demise..
in some way, shape or form. And Obama better get his act together as well. I voted for the man in ’08, but if he continues to pander to the right I will not
vote for him in ’12. I thought we got rid of the Puppetmaster after ’08, but
it almost seems the bullshit continues. The vets deserve everything they can get…plus more. How about a humane and decent quality of life. Is that asking too
much ?…..I don’t think so. Semper Fi.
A related event in the matter of the trivialization of PTSD by an insurance company. That being a widely distributed ad for GEICO auto insurance. It is the one that disingenuously asks whether a former drill sergeant makes a good therapist. It is transparently ridiculing soldiers who seek psychological counseling. The patient is a 20ish male of typical foot soldier age who is seeking help. The Drill Sergeant/Therapist belittles him, throws his notebook at him, tells him he makes him sick, that he’s weak and manby-pamby. The ad has nothing to do with auto insurance and is completely out of line. It reinforces the discredited notion that men who seek psychological help or treatment are weak, wining, and mama’s boys. Such a repeated message broadly distributed at a time when suicides among soldiers continues to rise is more than wrong, it is directly harmful to brave men. It ridicules the seeker of help and treatment reinforcing the stigma and implied weakness of soldiers who request it. I cringe and am angered more every time that ad is run. GEICO needs to never run that ad again, apologize for that soldier’s portrayal, run a message supporting troops with PTSD who seek help as many times and places as they did the one that belittles those who do. Then it would be good if they actually contribute some of their millions to help these men and their families who make their enterprise possible in the first place.
Does anyone else have an idea as to what to do about this crap?
My idea is to UNITE, Protest, distribute information, and do WHATEVER we need to to get the American Public to see the actual BS we are being put through on a daily basis! After all are we not the REAL DEFENDERS of this Nation? We all know that the VA is a very corrupt organization that violates our civil and constituional rights, yet we do nothing but quietly complain in the back-round! That has to change! TOGETHER WE ARE STRONG ALONE WE ARE JUST ONE!
Speaking from personal experience, our Senators, Congressmen/women, President, do not give a dam about us! The American People just think we’re a bunch of crack pots trying to get more undeserved benefits because that is what our CORRUPT government tells them! Veterans Service Organizations sell out for money and other perks! The law enforcement and media ignores all the illegal acts against us because yet again were just a bunch of crack pots! Yet with all this we still stay Un-united, and continue to suffer wrongly! WHY, we have a very legitimate cause, and we out number them?
I think it’s time we STAND UP and show our country and it’s people what is really going on! Expose all the lies that are being told about us! The other option is to sit back and continue to bitch and moan in the back-round and hope to get a little scrap here and there as usual!
Believe me I love my country, and what it was supoosed to be about and for, but I dispize how it’s being run now! How many of them Piece of SH*t’s in Washington do you really think are willing to give their lives for this country? How many of them are willing to take a pay decrease to decrease the budjet they themselve ruined in the first place? How many of them got a pay increase while we and REAL US Citizens living on SS have not for two years now? This country now takes better care of ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS than it does it’s own veterans, and REAL citizens for that matter!
Sorry folks for some reason thing thing printed my comment before I was even done! But if anyone else beleive like I do, and wants to make a REAL impact contact me at the address below! I’m personally sick and tired of being treated worse than a ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT!
US ARMY VETERAN
Marc C. Daniele
m6c9d2000@yahoo.com
I think she should be dumped into a combat zone along with a few other senators and congressman. Or maybe their children should have to fight in a combat zone. Nothing like hitting someone close to home to give them a different point of view.
My latest expierence with a socialworker and a VA doctor at our outpatient clinic, ist ignorance and arrogance. The VA gave the contract to the outpatient service to another contractor, even the old one had good doctors, therapists (VET) and care.
But it seams they go for the cheapest bitter. There scheduling system is a mess and a doctor and some nurces left already.
My husband is a Gulfwar vet with a Purple Heart, diagnosed with PTSD and TBI and has Gulfwar illness symtoms on his request I go with him so I often to VA Appointments, because of his short memory loss, he forgots his medi- and health history.
This councelor was only interessted in our financal history and on top of it had the opinon and the nerve to say, that there where no soldiers on the Ground in the first Gulfwar, because it was a ” only a fighter plane war”. These kind of incompetent people is what the VA employs.
And I wish Ms. Satel would have to live with a disapeld Vet to experience how it is.
The new doctor they finally found is just arrogant, uncaring and not interessted in what in my husbands symtoms, even just ignored my witness.
There will be a backlash against Vets and if that happens I tell my husband to flash his purple heart down the drain, if these is the thank you of the American Nation for the service of Vets and theire families.
My two stepsons serving the militaery, both have a couple of deployments in Irak and Afghanistan. I think more new recruts and Soldiers like my stepsons, should be informed how a ” greatful” nation and the VA system let them down if they need help.If more of the young people who apply for the militaery would know how bad the VET’s are threated, the militaery would hurt for soldiers.
What a disgrace and for special from Teapartyers, like Mrs. Bachmann to suggest to save on the Vets. I always thought that Teaparty people are the real patriots and appricate the Service of the men and woman in the Military
English is my second language, so I apolozise for spelling mistakes.
i sit here and read and believe all my brother veterans have wrote. i also believe the republicans as well as this satel psyche all need a doctor for thier thoughts and actions.but remember we are vietnam vets who fought as brothers to survive the war. so if we now all stand and unite they can’t beat us.we need to let all our senators and congressman and even the president that we will hold them responsible for thier actions against us.lets beet them at their own game.remember we are unstoppable as a team. so brothers lets unite one more time.