NBA Blog

(Warning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is a non-sport related rant.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) 

Congrats, Congress.  Well done, once again.  You are taking all the credit. You caught the Army.  You are getting lifelong military soldiers to resign from their posts.  You are fixing Walter Reed.  Please, just tell me one thing…

Will you take ANY of the blame for this? 

Military medical benefits have been decreasing steadily over the past twenty-plus years through Congress, while their salaries have been on the rise.  You give yourselves raises, cut military benefits, and then pat yourselves on the back for a job well done.  Logical. 

Since Walter Reed was in such bad shape, and apparently had been for sometime, why did Senator Strom Thurmond spend the majority of his final three years of life there?  I serioulsy doubt that he had to spend nights in a hospital bed in a room with mold.  Those rooms were left for the young soldiers with minimal benefits who had been injured serving their country without viable body armor (which should have been available) in a war that none of them wanted to participate in. 

This reminds me of some problems in the makeshift military prisons, read Abu Ghraib.  Take some reservists, possibly in for the extra paycheck and the once-a-month hiatus from real life, and put them in charge of military detainees and alleged terrorists, especially without any training.  Then blame military leaders for the ensuing chaos and mayhem, like they had any other form of recourse.  Of course, if previous U.S. administrations had not gutted the military to the point that there was nothing but reservists available when the U.S. military was actually needed, there may have been different results.  But no.  Obviously, the current problems stem solely from current leadership.

The level of short-sighted, unconscionably biased, so called leaders and media personnel of this nation need to look beyond the tips of their noses and realize that all problems do not start the moment they are discovered.  It takes time to screw things up this much.  And, believe me, a lot of things in this nation are seriously screwed up. 

However, keep praising yourselves Congress, we insist.  Just understand, at the same time, that you and your illustrious predecessors should take some of the blame.  Nevermind, Congress never takes the blame for anything.  Instead, give yourselves another raise, and cut military funding, bases, and positions again.  Then, when something else goes wrong, throw someone else under the bus.  That, after all, is what you do best.