President Obama's Weekly Address - September 22, 2012

Congress Must Act to Create Jobs and Grow the Economy

President Obama's Weekly Address - June 2, 2012

It’s Time for Congress to Get to Work

President Obama's Weekly Address - August 6, 2011

Getting the Economy Growing Faster

President Obama's Weekly Address - July 10, 2010

Help for Vets with PTSD

This Veteran's Day...

... I would be remiss in not taking a moment to remember and give thanks to every Veteran who has served our country bravely and honorably.

Sometimes we walk around with blinders on, but it's good to take a look around every once in a while. Thanks to my good friend, Armadillo Joe, for the reminder.

Obama Smear E-mail Update Part 2

The update at this point is that there is no update. The e-mails I've sent out in trying to reach Gary McDermott, the supposed originator of the "Obama dissed a wheelchair vet" story have garnered no response.

However, I did get this comment from Jim Davlin, a disabled Vietnam veteran who didn't take kindly to the receiving the same e-mail and apparently came across my blog trying to validate the story as well.

UNEDITED: I got the email today and like you I tried in Vain to valid it. And got no joy! Seems you can write anything you want and, people will believe it at least the right wing zealots.I find this truly disturbing because I am a disable Marine in a wheelchair, this makes us look like at best a bunch of winers at worst liars. Good luck on tracking this coward down, if he told half the truth he would stand up and be counted!Just so there is no questions my name is Jim Davlin, I was with Delta Company 1/5 , in 1966, My email is Jimdavlin@charter.net. I stand behind what I say, so if this coward has the stones email me!

Thanks, Jim. I hope you have better luck than I'm having. If you hear anything let me know.

The Obama Smear E-Mail Campaign Continues

I found this in my inbox today. Yet another one.
************************

Subject: A disabled Vet speaks about Obama

For what may be to come......

I am a VHCM member, I spent 12 months in Vietnam (147th CH47-CE) as most of us did. I am also a disabled veteran; I have been a wheelchair user for 35 years now. A few months ago I went to listen to Barack Obama at a local college. When he was done with his speech I got in line to ask him a question.

When my time came, my question was: "Senator Obama; I work with disabled veterans throughout the VA Hospital system, what is your plan for our veterans, especially our disabled veterans who use the VA Hospitals for their care. I stated we need mandatory funding for our VA system to ensure the care is available when needed, especially in light of the current situation in Iraq and the numbers of troops who are coming home with severe disabilities."

He told one of his aide's to get my name, blew me off, did not answer my question and I never heard from him or the aide again. Is this who we want as our "Commander in Chief"? He wouldn't even answer a "veterans" question, regarding other veterans.

Take it for what it's worth...just thought I'd pass on my experience with Mr. Obama.

Gary McDermott
147th ASH Hillclimbers
Vung Tau, RVN 68-69

If you are wishing for hope and change, you better know what the salesman is selling.

*********END E-MAIL**************

This e-mail may be a fairly new one, for when I tried to look it up for debunking purposes, nothing immediately popped up. A Google search revealed that it was used in a recent comment section of Tampa Bay.com dated June 11, 2008.

Unfortunately, there is nothing to easily verify this comment. The writer doesn't specify the date or what college he supposedly attended listen to Senator Obama. Also, the story sounds incredibly similar to Mitt Romney's encounter with a medical marijuana patient and blowing him off during a rally while Romney was still campaigning.

The writer does provide his full name and unit which I'll track down and see if I can do any amateur investigating to locate the writer and verify the story.

And just for the record, Barack Obama has a very specific policy regarding veterans as President of the United States. Here is a list of bullet points - specifics can be accessed via his website.

A Sacred Trust
Barack Obama believes America has a sacred trust with our veterans. He is committed to creating a 21st Century Department of Veterans' Affairs that provides the care and benefits our nation's veterans deserve.

~Allow All Veterans Back into the VA
~Strengthen VA Care
~Combat Homelessness among Our Nation's Veterans
~Fight Veterans Employment Discrimination

Help for Returning Service Members
Obama will improve the quality of health care for veterans, rebuild the VA's broken benefits system, and combat homelessness among veterans.

~Ensure a Seamless Transition
~Fully Fund VA Medical Care
~Fix the Benefits Bureaucracy

Improved Mental Health Treatment
Obama will improve mental health treatment for troops and veterans suffering from combat-related psychological injuries.

~Improve Mental Health Treatment
~Improve Care for Traumatic Brain Injury
~Expand Vet Centers

UPDATE (7:35pm): A Google search of "Gary McDermott" and his unit name brought me to this website. The "Crew Roster" does indeed have McDermott's name listed among it's members. I have written an e-mail to a Rodney Brown of the 147th Veterans Association in an attempt to find out more information or hopefully get in contact with McDermott. Below is my e-mail.

Dear Mr. Brown,

Recently, I received an e-mail forward with the subject header, "A Disabled Vet Speaks About Obama."

In it, the writer speaks of having attended a local college to listen to Senator Obama speak, and after having asked a question regarding what the Senator plans to do in regards to veterans care, the writer claims that he was dismissed, was told to give contact information to an aide, and that he never heard from them again.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much pertinent information to verify this story except for the writer's name and unit. It was signed, "Gary McDermott, 147th ASH Hillclimbers, Vung Tau, RVN 68-69."

A quick Google search of the name and unit above brought me to your website and Mr. McDermott's name is in fact on your member list.

In an effort to verify the validity of this story, I was hoping you could help me contact Mr. McDermott or at least forward this information to him in hopes of making contact to get more specific information as to where and when his interaction with Senator Obama took place.

As a matter of complete disclosure, I am an Obama supporter but I am not affiliated with the Obama campaign or the campaign website in any way. I'm just a concerned citizen who is trying to keep informed and search for the truth.

I will include the body of the original e-mail I received for reference.

Thank you in advance for any assistance you can offer.

5th Anniversary of the War in Iraq

Today is a sad day in our nation's history.

The war in Iraq has produced the following:

US Casualties: 3,990
Estimated US Wounded: 100,000
Documented Iraqi Casualties: 89,750
Estimated Iraqi Casualties: 600,000-1,000,000
Estimated Displaced Iraqis: 4.2 Million
Current US Financial Cost of War in Iraq to date: $512 Billion
Estimated US Cost: $3 TRILLION

And this son of a bitch had the nerve to say the following to our troops in Afghanistan just this past Friday:

GEORGE W. BUSH: I must say, I'm a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed. It must be exciting for you … in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks.

Gee, George, you've convinced me. The excitement! The romance! Making history! Maybe you shouldn't deprive your daughters of such an experience and talk them into enlisting. Or maybe you should have had a better attitude when you looked like this, you dumb bastard:

Still Got Your Limbs? You're Going Back.

We speak of the over 3,000 dead American soldiers but don't often think about the wounded. At this point, there are over 150,000 Iraq Veterans receiving diability benefits, according to the Veterans Administration. This is due, in part, to the medical advances that have happened in the last 30 years. Injuries, that in the past would have been fatal, can now be better treated on site and thus save the soldier. But now it seems that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is minor and treatable, according to the US Military, and soldiers suffering from PTSD can be redeployed. This is outrageous!


EXCERPT: On Christmas... Army Reservist James Dean barricaded himself in his father's home with several weapons and threatened to kill himself. After a 14-hour standoff with authorities, Dean was killed by a police officer after he aimed a gun at another officer, authorities told the Washington Post.

Veterans for America's [Steve] Robinson told Inter Press Service that Dean, who had already served 18 months in Afghanistan, had been diagnosed with PTSD. He had just been informed that his unit would be sent to Iraq on Jan. 14.

"We call that suicide by cop," Robinson said.

I don't know about you, and I can't imagine what these troops are going through, but I can only think that if I were in their situation, I'd want someone of sound mind next to me and not worrying if he'd taken his medication that day. Why would you want anyone who is medicated to have a firearm is his/her hand?

Read the story.