Upon reading the excellent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article by Jim Towey: The Death Book for Veterans; I could only think of one thing. Why isn’t anyone drawing the next logical conclusion? It seems apparent with Congresses inclusion of senior death counseling in the Democrat drafts of the health care overhaul bills that the Department of Veterans Affairs is reinstalling the military’s version of the counseling, albeit with less heart and compassion then the Democrats heartless design.
The text of this 52-page nightmare, if read in a courtroom to a witness, would instantly draw an objection from opposing counsel for leading that witness. When a wounded vet is asked if “I can no longer contribute to my family’s well being,” or “I am a severe financial burden on my family” if his situation “causes severe emotional burden for my family” the only desired outcome by the government is for the vet to agree.
When the vet agrees that they are a burden, that they are a financial strain. They lose hope. They enlisted to serve the country they love, and those who are running the country are not returning that emotion.
I like to think we all know that hope is one of the most powerful motivators we have as a species. The desire to overcome and endure that which is before us sets us apart. When deprived of this singular emotion, you shut down, become depressed, and give up. Without question this seems to be the desired result by this administration.
The government has no qualms about pumping our brave men and women full of drugs to save them; they balk at personal care and interaction, but they’ll give you a drug for anything, even if you’re fine.
As a viewer of television, I’m sure you’ve seen the ads for anti-depression medication. The most telling fact these commercials give you is in the warnings. After the once sad man, is no longer sad and the depressed woman “can get on with her day” the ad warns of an increase in suicidal thoughts.
It would seem that the solution to the governments problem of veterans health care is now a two part attack. Push the vet into depression by filling their head with hope destroying thoughts, while filling their hearts with guilt for not being able to help their families. Then attempting to treat the depression with a class of drugs that warns you upfront that one of the potential outcomes of depression, suicide, can in fact be made worse by the “treatment” designed to fix the problem.
I don’t mean to imply that the government has this malignant thought process, I mean to draw the logical conclusion between what the Congress is trying to do and what the military is already doing. Granted, the process was paused between the Clinton and Obama administrations, and we still saw a rise in veteran deaths.
Since the Obama administration took over, Salon.com reports that already 91 soldiers have taken their own lives, almost 75% of the total for all of last year. It now forces you to consider a link between the “Death Book” and veteran suicides, from all past conflicts, not just the current Iraq/Afghanistan War.
Beyond this number, an article from the Portland Tribune on August 21, 2008, drops an even more startling number; 153 Oregon veterans from all conflicts committed suicide. The article does not say how many were being treated by the VA. One can only guess at the number this year.
