Caviar

We have, over the past eight years, been fed bullshit, masquerading as caviar. We have been told, as recently as during the Presidential debates, by Mr. McCain, that the economy was doing great. His pal, Mr. Bush, agreed wholeheartedly, saying that the fundamentals of the economy were sound.

We "Support the Troops." You can hear it, still, dribbling from the lips of those who have done so little. First, they sent them into a war for oil. Based entirely upon, giving it the best spin possible, cherry picked evidence. They had no plan post Baghdad. They didn't provide the necessary equipment for those whom they had placed in harms way. When those troops came back they were shunted off to places where they could easily be ignored. The story of those placed at Walter Reed is instructive.

Last week, we were told that many of those who had been in the Gulf War in the early nineties were/are sickened. How many? How about 1 in 4. Twenty-five percent of those who were sent to the Gulf by GHWB, are afflicted by Gulf War Syndrome. The VA, for years, denied that any such thing existed. Refusing to care for those who had served. Until of course they were found to be shredding files of those who would be given care.

One would expect much better of this country. Especially, those in power who put those troops into the situation in the first place. But, even with the information in the previous paragraph, it gets worse. At any one time during the year, there are between 500,000 and a million homeless veterans in the United States. When they were asked to serve, they went without hesitation. When they need help, they are given the underside of a bridge.

A very large contingency of the GOP is quite vocal about reproductive rights. They block the doors of Abortion clinics. They will smile smugly, when damage is done to one of those clinics. And, many, really don't mind all that much when the medical staff at one of these places is murdered in the name of the Rights of the Unborn. With that in mind, there would be, the utmost attention given to those who are then born. No matter their circumstance.

Oh, if that were only true. What we have instead, is 700,000 children who went hungry in the United States in 2007. Add the adults and we have 36.2 Million who struggled with hunger. But, let us forget the adults. If we can. And, return to the children. Why, if children are so important, would there be any child who could/would not have enough to eat.

For that answer, please return to the first sentence, of the first paragraph of this diary. What is so injurious, is that those of us who were fed that bullshit, either believed it, or did nothing about what we knew were lies.

With a new President. With a new Congress. With a mandate from the people. A real mandate. And, not the idiocy presented to us by Mr. Bush. We can hope that together. As a nation. We can begin the process of caring for those who we know are the most vulnerable. And, in the most need of care.