Walter Reed Hearings Live Thread~2nd Panel (w/Kiley)

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s national security panel will hold a hearing today on the scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.  The hearing begins at approximately 10:00 AM ET and will be chaired by Subcommittee Chairman Tierney.

UPDATE:

Please unrecommend this diary and slide over to a fresh new thread here

CSPAN took a short break to show us some random stuff from the House but the hearing continues live. WTF??

The panelists will include:

Panel I:

1. Specialist Jeremy Duncan
2. Annette McLeod, Wife of Cpl. Wendell "Dell" McLeod
3. Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon

Panel II:

1. Lieutenant General Kevin C. Kiley, M.D., U.S. Army Surgeon General
2. Major General George W. Weightman, Commander (former), Walter Reed Army Medical Center
3. Ms. Cynthia A. Bascetta, Director, Health Care, U.S. Government Accountability Office

Panel III:

1. General Peter Schoomaker, Chief of Staff of the Army
2. General Richard A. Cody, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army

The hearings will be televised on CSPAN and will stream live on CSPAN.org

Discuss!

•  Beginning with Dana Priest's narration...

  found on the WaPo website:

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

  by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:08:22 AM PDT

  •  Isn't time, to consider RICO charges against

    Haliburton?  This is corporate organized crime!

    by Mr Stagger Lee on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:21:36 AM PDT

    •  Absolutely,

      I lost it when I saw that this company was a Cheneyburton spin-off

      by Mark Adams on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:29:02 AM PDT

    •  Yes, it is time

      Scuzzy bastards.  

      by vigilant meerkat on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:59:25 AM PDT

    •  Haliburton is being investigated.

      I'm not sure where the case is now, but William Greider wrote about it last June. This is probably one of the reasons why they are trying to undermine trial lawyers in general with "tort reform" and one trial lawyer in particular running for President who has consistently called out Halliburton.  http://www.thenation.com/...

      by MontanaMaven on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 08:41:15 AM PDT

    •  kind of makes sense of the US attorney firings

      doesn' it?

      by zedaker on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 09:04:10 AM PDT

  •  Annette McLeod has been GREAT!!!!

    Straight talking no bullshit tell it like it is. A woman trying to help her husband. Emotional, not contrived. A woman trying to keep from losing control and managing mostly but the tears still come and the sobs break through. She had me crying.

    by TexDem on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 08:47:04 AM PDT

•  Tierney makes a money quote

  "Rats and cockroaches don't fester overnight."

  by Christian Dem in NC on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:09:55 AM PDT

  •  Also good statements covering

    the mass exodus of qualified personnel due to privatization, that the conditions at Walter Reed are not from a lack of DOD budget ($460 billion), and that this has been known for a while.  He questioned if this has come about because the admin thought this would be a short war and if conditions will become even worse due to the consequences of the surge (paraphrased).  

    by Ellicatt on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:15:10 AM PDT

•  Alright - I just turned it on.

  Coverage on C-Span.

  Not sure if I'll be able to handle this emotionally.

  by turnover on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:10:00 AM PDT

  •  It's going to be rough

    No doubt about it.

    by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:10:50 AM PDT

•  In the Words of Every Gamer

  On Earth:

  All your base are belong to us

  It's GG for the private people.  Bush/Cheney, like McCarthy, need the military to support them.  This, combined with other issues, will stop that support.

  by ChapiNation386 on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:10:32 AM PDT

  •  I've been waiting a looooong time.

    I was raised behind the Orange Curtain. My father was a sailor in WWII and Korea and my cousin lived with us while stationed at El Toro after his tour in 'Nam. My mother spent her career at a defense contractor. I grew up with these patriotic, pro-military people.  

    I have been wondering for several years when we would reach the tipping point.

    Eventually, even the strong kool-aid drinkers have to run into this brick wall of reality--we are screwing our service personnel and veterans eight ways from Sunday! We screw them when they enlist. We screw them when we send them to Iraq--longer than they are supposed to go, more times than they are supposed to go, on-the-cheap, without life-saving equipment. We screw them when they re-up. We screw them when they are wounded and recovering. And we screw them as veterans for the rest of their lives.

    Never in the USA have so few (who never served) done so much to fuck over so many who have honorably and faithfully served their country.

    WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?

    by homogenius on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 09:21:27 AM PDT

•  I hate the sound of Chris Shays voice n/t

  by strengthof10kmen on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:12:00 AM PDT

  •  I hate politicians' opening statements.

    Those soldiers providing testimony today shouldn't be subjected to more bullshit than they already have.

    by turnover on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:13:24 AM PDT

    •  My thought too.

      Shut up with the politics and get on with business.  These people have been through enough.

      by tobendaro on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:44:09 AM PDT

    •  I hate that and the time limits on Q and A

      Too much time taken up by long questions with seemingly little point, and too much time taken up by answers that only want to run out the clock.

      Bring back the old ways.

      by littlesky on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 09:00:33 AM PDT

      •  that is by design.

        Condi Rice style.

        by Glic on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 09:40:08 AM PDT

  •  Word in CT is he's "likeable"

    Could never see it.

    by bumblebums on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:15:22 AM PDT

•  Rep. Tierney's opening statement

  includes the suggestion that the problems go way beyond Walter Reed.

  by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:12:30 AM PDT

  •  duh given the WAPO story of this morning does

    he really think it goes farther? I diaried the WAPO story earlier  thanks for doing this live blog

    by testvet6778 on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:15:29 AM PDT

  •  It goes way beyond Walter Reed

    This is about barracks that housed soldiers before and after they deployed to Iraq, including wounded soldiers.

    This is definitely about what privatization has done to our military.

    by thefos on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 08:50:07 AM PDT

•  Tom Davis (VA-11)

  Calls the fiasco a problem at the institutional level.

  Looks like he's trying not to blow his stack, unlike Tierney ... he sounded like he was about to jump out of his chair.

  Oh, now it's getting good--he blames the problems on a "Byzantine" process not designed for increased casualties.

  by Christian Dem in NC on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:13:33 AM PDT

  •  This line of speech makes me nervous ...

    I'm not watching the hearings, but on the news, I keep reading and hearing "Bureaucratic snafus."  This, IMO, reinforces the image of a bungling government office that can't do anything right.  A government office that could, of course, be made more efficient by privatization ... or so goes the faith-based reasoning of free marketeers.

    They have to get out of this mode of speech.  It is NOT bureaucracy that caused this; it is, in fact, privatization that caused it.  Privatization is, in many ways, the opposite of bureaucracy.

    Once again, I fear the Dems are on their way to losing the language battle.  When the enemy is allowed to define words, we lose.

    Congress -- please do NOT blame bureaucracy.  Blame the insane Norquistian motive to privatize everything.  That is what is at fault here.

    by I on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:45:21 AM PDT

    •  Exactly - kind of like the "intelligence"

      Blamed on the CIA as a failure.

      NO this is not a failure from the buracracy it is how the LEADERS - implement the processes.

      Again - like the meme that the CIA had the intelligence wrong - or we all had the same intelligence is just a LIE!

      They had it right - the REPUBLICANS - NEOCONS choose to ignore it.

      Just as the higharchy of the military / VA choose to ignore the problems by saying it is a buracracy problem.  Gates has it right - that is no excuse for not knowing issue - and more important when you know the problems you cannot ignore them.

      by totallynext on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 08:24:53 AM PDT

    •  Sound Bite: Bureaucracy

      Exactly.  I heard this on ABC news this morning (I usually try not to watch their propaganda).  They were talking about the Walter Reed scandal and said something like:  "This scandal unites Democrats and Republicans in their outrage over bureaucratic ineptitude."

      I thought, wow, is that how ABC is going to absolve this Administration?

      by Five Thirty on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 08:46:18 AM PDT

    •  I agree, it is the POLICY of privatization

      that causes this kind of crap, not the bureaucracy.  

      We really need better PR people.

      by littlesky on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 09:05:18 AM PDT

•  I hope it's rough they need to turn over all

  of the rocks and bring the filth and abuse of these outstanding Americans who "volunteered" for this, and did not expect to be treated this way, nor do they deserve to be treated this way  they have paid for their treatment with their blood or mental wounds

  by testvet6778 on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:13:45 AM PDT

•  Just turned it on

  Tierney gave his opening statement.  Showed Dana Priest's video clip from the Washington Post website.  Horrible conditions at Building 18.

  Tom Davis on now.

  by On The Bus on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:15:19 AM PDT

•  Someone needs to ask why.........

  Someone needs to ask why this happened in 2004

  Group Says Visits to Hospital Blocked
  21-Mar-04
  Veterans

  "Officials from Disabled American Veterans, a nonprofit service group that counsels wounded veterans and tells them what government benefits they are entitled to, say that since Iraq war veterans began returning to the United States last year, Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington has limited their access to patients, citing privacy and post-Sept. 11 security concerns. The group has challenged the Bush administration on its support for various veterans' benefits, including payments to retirees and the size of the Veterans Administration budget...DAV leaders stop short of accusing the administration of blocking their access to veterans for political purposes, but said both the hospital and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld have yet to explain the change to their satisfaction...A White House official yesterday dismissed the notion of any connection between limited access for DAV and the group's criticism of the administration

  ."

  ..and ask about this in 2003

  Wounded Troops Denied Benefits?
  GIs Back From Iraq May Have To Battle For Medical Benefits At Home
  from CBS Evening News WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2003

  "I think that the military wants to get them off their hands," says David Gorman, who lost both legs in Vietnam.

  Gorman is executive director of Disabled American Veterans, a group he says normally has easy access to wounded soldiers; but not this time.

  "I don't know if it's a clouded secret about who's coming back, who's there, the nature of their disabilities, the nature of their wounds or not but there is not the kind of unfettered access that we used to have at Walter Reed," says Gorman.

  A spokesman for Walter Reed Army Medical Center says the restricted access is the result of post 9/11 security concerns and new federal guidelines protecting patient privacy, which by coincidence took effect just as the war in Iraq was starting.

  "We can't do our job which means in many cases, I believe personally, that there's just an outright denial of benefits coming to these young men and women because they simply don't know about it," says Gorman.

  by Zwoof on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:15:28 AM PDT

•  Davis blames problems in part on base closures

  Building 18 is just the most visible sign of the problem ... soldiers have been abandoned by a "faceless bureaucracy."

  Sounds like Weightman better be prepared to duck ...

  by Christian Dem in NC on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:16:19 AM PDT

  •  I would not want to be one of the Army hacks...

    ...sitting on the panel this morning.

    by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:18:08 AM PDT

    •  wait until General Kiley shows up he's in for it

      all of these Congress critters want to look good back home, they all have veterans at home

      by testvet6778 on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 08:44:52 AM PDT

•  Staff Sgt. Daniel Shannon

  Lost his eye to an AK-47 in Iraq.  He was sent to the Malone House for outpatient care--but nobody would direct him there, just gave him a map even though he was badly disoriented.

  by Christian Dem in NC on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:19:34 AM PDT

  •  Two years after his process began...

    ...the same things are happening to others at Walter Reed.

    by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:20:50 AM PDT

  •  Ugh

    no words

    by joanneleon on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 08:06:57 AM PDT

•  Shannon: "Soldiers would sign anything

  to get on with their lives."

  System can't be trusted ...

  SOunds like it was all he could do to keep from busting out crying while reading his statement.

  by Christian Dem in NC on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:22:00 AM PDT

•  John Daniel Shannon

  suffered gunshot wounds to the head; brain injury and loss of left eye.  

  talks about being at Walter Reed; given a map and told where to go (Malone House).  Was disoriented at first in trying to figure out where to go.  

  Evaluation board wouldn't go forward "until his face was put back together" and his "PTSD was medicinally controlled".  Then, his information was lost and this further delayed the board.

  Two years after being admitted to WR was hearing the same story that he heard when he was first admitted.  Have almost no advocacy to speak on their behalf.

  "The system can't be trusted."  Surviving vets from every war can tell the same basic story.

  by Ellicatt on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:22:12 AM PDT

•  Annete McLeod, wife of Cpl. Wendell McLeod

  Talks about how her husband got shuffled around by the bureaucracy after coming back from Iraq.

  Her voice is already breaking ... sheesh, this is gut-wrenching.

  by Christian Dem in NC on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:24:59 AM PDT

•  Annette, Wife of Dell McLeod statement next

  Dell was fit for deployment but now his problems are being blamed on learning disability?  

  Using Title I classes in high school against him, basically to say his problems were pre-existing.

  by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:25:44 AM PDT

  •  And high schools get how many extra dollars

    per student in special ed?

    by Ice Blue on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 08:33:28 AM PDT

•  Annette McLeod

  Wife of Cpl. Wendell McLeod

  Husband was seriously injured; medvac'd to Germany, then to WR.  back, shoulder injuries and "mental problems".

  Army refused to acknowledge he suffered a brain injury.  They have taken information and used it against him.  Said he had "learning disabilities".  He was in the National Guard for 16 years.

  by Ellicatt on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:25:46 AM PDT

•  Here's what Freeperville and Redstate have to say

  about the hearings:

  (sound of crickets chirping)

  I could be wrong here, but a quick perusal of those sites revealed nothing about this hearing.

  If they are talking about it there, I apologize in advance.

  by Christian Dem in NC on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:27:28 AM PDT

  •  Still crickets at Redstate

    Freepers have a small thread with few comments.

    by funluvn1 on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:54:03 AM PDT

    •  What a shocker!

      They don't want to address neglected veterans?  I'm shocked, I tell you.  ;)

      by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 08:23:02 AM PDT

  •  All their heads have exploded.

    At least I hope so.  I hope their heads have finally exploded from the irony of being the party of "Support the Troooooops" and THIS is what they call support??

    There's no escaping this.  The squalid situation our veterans find themselves in after all their sacrifice is fully 100% the fault of Republicans and conservative ideology.

    There is no getting away from it.  Hopefully this is the anvil for conservatism once and for all.

    by Loquatrix on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 09:00:20 AM PDT

    •  it will be the soldiers' fault

      for expecting the government to solve their problems.

      by Glic on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 09:42:19 AM PDT

•  Specialist Duncan

  deployed in samarra

  on patrol came across IED and was blown up

  factured his neck, almost lost his left arm, titanium jaw and lost the sight in one eye

  On Building 18--

  unforgiveable for anyone to live like that

  by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:27:48 AM PDT

  •  After WaPo article~Specialist Duncan

    Spec. Duncan was moved from the moldy room the day after the WaPo article and renovations on his old room began.

    by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:29:08 AM PDT

•  More questions to be asked

  why?

  from a letter to:

  Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld
  Secretary of Defense
  1000 Defense Pentagon
  Washington, DC 20301
  January 2, 2004

  From:
  DAVID W. GORMAN
  Disabled American Veterans
  Executive Director Washington Headquarters  

  At one facility in particular-Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) in Washington, D.C. -- our efforts to visit with wounded patients have been severely restricted. For example, all requests to visit patients must now be made through the WRAMC headquarters office, which then selects the patients we may visit and strictly limits information about the patients, even the patient's name and the nature of the injury is withheld without express permission. The DAV's representatives also are escorted at all times while in the facility, and all contact with patients is closely monitored by the escort. This is particularly unnerving and inappropriate as all conversations between a representative and client are confidential in nature.

  I believe these overly broad restrictions on patient access inhibit the ability of our professional accredited representatives to help ensure these wounded servicemembers have the vital information they and their families need in order to obtain the medical care and benefits many of these veterans will depend on for decades to come.

  The 1.2 million-member Disabled American Veterans, a non-profit organization founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932, represents this nation's disabled veterans. It is dedicated to a single purpose: building better lives for our nation's disabled veterans and their families. For more information, visit the organization's Web site http://www.dav.org.

  by Zwoof on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:28:37 AM PDT

  •  That's horrible.

    I know certified peer visitors with the Amputee Coalition of America. I don't know what our experience has been with Walter Reed or other facilities with returning wounded, but this stinks.

    The DAV are the good guys and they've been an integral part of the recovery of our personnel with disabling injuries for decades. If they are being radically constrained like this, then there is a cancer in our military hospitals.

    by homogenius on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 10:12:58 AM PDT

•  Duncan

  Was in Samarra.  Injuries suffered from an IED attack.

  Building 18 - conditions were unforgivable; not fit to live in.  Black mold; wouldn't live there even if he had to.  Contacted building manager; told to put in a work order (2-3 times).  

  He contacted WaPo; after that he was removed from the room (for repair work to be performed...).

  by Ellicatt on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:29:36 AM PDT

•  Ms. McLeod got stonewalled

  whenever she wanted to find out what the hell was going on with her husband--at least one person got tired of hearing from her.

  by Christian Dem in NC on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:29:56 AM PDT

•  Jeremy Duncan

  Living in a filthy room.  Put in a work order to get the mold taken care of multiple times. Totally ignored until he contacted WaPo.  Day after the Post story he's moved to a new room.

  by On The Bus on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:30:01 AM PDT

  •  That says it all.

    This fucked-up administration cares about nothing and noone unless they might get caught.  Bastards, all of them.

    Let's see Bush's poll numbers drop to single digits.  I am so sick of these assholes I can't even be civil anymore.

    by Miss Blue on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:32:06 AM PDT

    •  Watch that

      Broder will say mean things about you.

      by bumblebums on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:33:45 AM PDT

      •  Fuck Broder too

        ;)

        by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:35:36 AM PDT

        •  Ew.

          Here's a four for making me smile, though.

          by sanrand on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:38:15 AM PDT

•  Dell's wife went to Generals

  First general (missed his name!) had no time to talk to her

  General Weightman met with her and she doesn't believe he had anything to do with conditions at Walter Reed.

  by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:30:48 AM PDT

  •  She defends Weightman

    or at least doesn't blame him -- goes out of her way to make this clear.  She says that this situation was dumped into his lap (my words).  Says he answered her questions and didn't avoid her, unlike other generals.  She was told that (Farmer? Not sure if I have the right general here) was aware of her situation but could not help her, after multiple visits to her office when she was turned away without being able to talk to him.

    by joanneleon on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 08:12:06 AM PDT

    •  Yes, thank you

      You described it much better than I did --  I can't keep up with the speed of the comments and testimony.

      She definitely wanted to make clear she didn't blame General Weightman.

      by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 08:14:59 AM PDT

      •  You're doing a great job

        I'm just filling in where I can.

        by joanneleon on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 08:19:54 AM PDT

•  This is a feature, not a bug

  of neoconservative's near religious infatuation with privatization.  They outsourced abu Ghraib, Tora Bora, and want to do it to your local schools.  They want to do it to social security and medicare.

  The only thing they don't want to privatize is religion, but want that to be a bigger party of government.

  Totally backwards, totally wrong.

  by Mark Adams on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:34:00 AM PDT

  •  It IS their religion

    They click their free market prayer beads from dawn to dusk, mumbling and hallucinating, seeing nothing, denying reality, and checking their automatic bank deposits.

    by bumblebums on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:37:23 AM PDT

    •  Yet they cannot understand

      Outsourcing government activities doesn't work.

      You can be like Mitch Daniels who leased the Indiana Toll Road for 75 years because he was too dishonest about taxes and too gutless to raise toll rates himself. He sold the revenue stream, gave up control of a major undertaking of the state, and then committed to spending the money so there is no practical way to undo the transaction.

      Of course, this is bipartisan irresponsibility: Mayor Daley did the same thing with the Chicago Skyway to plug a budget imbalance and Penna. is considering the same thing. It's nice of politicians to sell the assets of the state so the tax allergy can be indulged, isn't it?

      The other way is to contract out services rather than do it in-house. Of course that doesn't actually save money, it often costs more, but you can talk about how you've cut the number of government employees. Sorry, but there is no excuse for rewarding your political backers with contracts for their business (again, this is unfortunately a bipartisan problem).

      It only gets worse when the people who are outsourcing don't actually care if the government does its job right or not. That leads to the epitome of corruption: more cost with worse, or nonexistent services. It's even worse if we're talking about law enforcement or military.

      by freelunch on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:50:09 AM PDT

  •  [furiously banging the 'Recommend' button]

    This is exactly what needs to come out of this hearing.  Bureaucracy is NOT at fault.  Bureaucracy, with all its ups and downs, performed a million times better than the profiteers in charge now.

    PRIVATIZATION is to blame.

    by I on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:49:35 AM PDT

    •  Then recommend this too

      My Chenyburton diary is falling right off the side.  give it some love.

      No seriously, I couldn't believe how involved this was.  At least three Halliburon executives spin off a company that can't even deliver ice to Katrina victims -- and yet they are still hired to run Walter Reed into the ground.

      You can't expect people who fundamentally hate government to run it well instead of running it into the ground.  They don't want any new administration to have the ability the fix this.  

      Kinda like whey you're playing a bad hand in poker, but are "pot committed" so you keep on throwing money in the pot on a bad had, praying for a miracle.

      Talk about "Feith" based government.

      BTW, Sgt Shannon really hit the nail on the head when he talks about simply firing the head honchos does nothing to fix the system, but is merely indicative of a system trying to protect itself.

      by Mark Adams on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 08:21:50 AM PDT

    •  This is a Policy Problem

      The Republicans and Bushco are deliberately trying to destroy government.  They privatize it, then when things go horribly wrong as they must they blame government.  This is all about trying to destroy the federal government.  It's not incompetence.  It's a feature of their policy which is to destroy the government.

      by hockeyrules on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 08:23:02 AM PDT

•  Pffft--Here comes Shays

  Oh Jesus

  He wants to know what happened when Shannon went to an office 5 minutes before it opened.

  by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:34:16 AM PDT

  •  Shays wants to know whether McLeod's wife

    wants VA treatment vs. Walter Reed.

    McLeod wants VA.  They get along fine with the VA.

    Shannon will take help wherever he can get it.

    Shays wants to know what Shannon's biggest concern is.

    Shannon got a bit upset and wants to make certain good care is given.

    Shays is a douche.

    by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:39:00 AM PDT

•  Shannon

  Talks about administrative problems with paperwork lag when patients went to outpatient status in the Malone House.  Seems he was very helpful in dealing with the problem, and it looked to me that he took responsibility on his own to help do whatever he could do (going to wards everyday to check, getting additional personnel to help him).

  Not enough staff; talks about "attitude problem" with one staff member who angered him when he asked her a simple question regarding if a medical specialist was at the facility.

  by Ellicatt on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:36:16 AM PDT

  •  Love that guy

    He's a real advocate. Taking care of his fellow soldiers.  Cursed a blue streak when the staffer told him to come back in 5 min when the office opened.  Smashed the printer? Did I hear that right?

    by On The Bus on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:38:34 AM PDT

    •  I'm not sure if he said he

      smashed the printer, or if he wanted to smash the printer.  

      It just disgusts me that our vets have been treated with this much neglect and that they are in a highly emotional state due to the neglect in addition to the hardships of the physical/mental trauma/recovery they are going through because of their injuries.

      by Ellicatt on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:43:06 AM PDT

      •  This is criminal and what's worse is

        how the "troops" are being exploited, by the Administration, as the reason to continue this war of lies for profit.

        by Friend of the court on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:47:15 AM PDT

•  That one soldier sounded PISSED.

  I don't blame him, and I'm glad he's being forthright about his experiences. He is not mincing words or playing "diplomatic" at all, and for that I am glad--gets the point across better.

  by boofdah on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:37:50 AM PDT

  •  He is

    with very good reason.

    Shays is being a pompous asshole.

    by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:39:31 AM PDT

•  Waxman

  The formidable Waxman.

  Hooray for him.

  by bumblebums on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:38:58 AM PDT

  •  I have a feeling he smells blood

    and isn't going to let this thing go until somebody goes to jail and Halliburton is broken up into spare parts.

    by Mark Adams on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:43:19 AM PDT

    •  He better get something done.

      I am sick of being encouraged because they look into things and then....nothing.  It seems that they show outrage and make promises then the matter is dropped.  I am becoming enraged and am beginning to withdraw from the information highway.  I can't take it.

      by tobendaro on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:51:34 AM PDT

      •  If Waxman doesn't run with this...

        Then he's not the person I think he is. This is his moment. I can't think of a better issue for him to go with. Nothing has the potential to tip a lot of conservative voters/red staters/middle America than wounded vets.

        About the only worse thing I can think of would be footage of Cheney and Halliburton execs personally drowning kittens and puppies.

        by homogenius on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 10:05:58 AM PDT

•  Shannon's biggest concern

  (as asked by Shays - Shannon acts like Shays has just asked him the stupidest question on earth.)

  "My biggest concern is having the young men and women who have had their lives shattered taken care of."

  by Ellicatt on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:39:18 AM PDT

  •  Shannon says it all n/t

    by boofdah on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:39:56 AM PDT

  •  Shannon is fabulous

    He's a remarkable advocate for the wounded.

    by Buckeye BattleCry on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:42:59 AM PDT

  •  The guy just wants