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| Homeless U.S. Vet |
Since Barack Obama assumed duties as US president and commander-in-chief, at least 30,137 veterans and military members have died from suicide. (source: US Dept of Veterans Affairs, US Center for Disease Control)
Obama certainly isn't responsible for each of these deaths, but he is as responsible for the growth of this tragic epidemic as is anyone. Now that he has been re-elected by Americans, will he do something about it?
I doubt it.
How about you?
Here's something to think about - combat and other campaign deaths from some of our mostly fucking useless wars:
War of 1812 - c. 20,000
Mexican War - 13,283
Great Sioux War (including Custer's Last Stand) - 314
Spanish-American War - 2,446
Phillippine-American War - 4,196
Korean War - 36,516
Gulf War - 258
Afghanistan and Iraq combined - 6,518
Essentially, these suicides add up to almost as many recorded deaths of U.S. service members as the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War combined. Almost as many as in the Korean War. And far - FAR - more deaths than all our other campaigns beyond the Civil War and the two world wars combined.
There's something wrong here, and before Obama gives another entitlement to the wealthy, he should address this comprehensively.
8 comments:
As per usual, Phil pushes a false narrative in regards the president's record in the case of military suicide.
As is usual, Phil's false narrative isn't credible and his wish to score cheap 'points' on the backs of the unfortunate service members and their families is truly despicable.
But then we know Phil is all about his own false creations when they serve to boost his versions of unreality, he prefers them to actual reality and/or addressing the issues impartially.
Phil is a hack. You can do better than exposing yourself to his hackery.
Somehow the failure of Congress to address this is not the fault of the President. I remember Keith Olbermann reporting these suicides back in the Bush days...when vets were being ignored by everyone. But sure, blame Obama instead of your 'elected' representatives. Because we all know that Presidents write legislation.
Presidents have the ability to set agendas and to raise national awareness of situations congress should remediate. Teddy Roosevelt called it "the Bully Pulpit."
As a disabled vet, I sort of resent anonymous jerks claiming I'm out "to score cheap 'points' on the backs of the unfortunate service members and their families." You have NO IDEA what I've done over the 44 years since I've been out of the Army, regarding veterans.
We know what you haven't done, and that is to properly portray the president's initiatives and executive orders in regards to this issue.
Contrary to your false narrative, the current president is and has been taking an unprecedented stance on this issue.
Whatever you 'resent', it does not absolve your hackery.
Obama has been using that 'bully pulpit' and much more besides.
It matters not one whit what you may or may not have been doing for however many years you may whinge about, that isn't addressing the fact that you created a false narrative in an attempt to smear the president and you held up the unfortunate fates of military suicides in your uncredited attempt.
The 'jerk' in this instance clear. Your hackery and your juvenile response makes that all too clear.
Yeah, it's Obama's fault that unstable veterans are killing themselves.. OK...that makes no sense.
You know, I've known several veterans from Vietnam who came home and built successful businesses, careers, etc. Quit blaming the war. Some of these 'people' were unstable to begin with.
Do they suffer some hardships? I'm sure many of them do, but there have always been programs to help them re-adjust. Some people in our society want to be professional victims.
The US suicide rate (2009) was 12 suicides per 100K population.
30K military suicides over four years is 7.5K per annum. There are around three million US military members if you include active, guard, and reserve components.
That's a rate of 25 suicides per 100K military per year.
Anonymous, I'd say a suicide rate of double the national average is at least a little troubling and hints at some sort of more-than-typical distress. Then again, the comparison isn't as bad as it initially looks; men commit suicide at a higher rate than woman, and the military has more males than females on duty, so the rate adjusted for gender is not double the national average. Still, it is a tough statistic well above the rates seen in the rest of the population.
However one might choose to fine tune the numbers, there isn't any disagreement those statistics constitute a very real tragedy.
The obvious trouble with Phil's hackery is his false narrative that attempts invent and tie his fabricated and wholly fictitious 'presidential indifference or inactivity' to the issue. Especially considering this president is and has been farther out front of this issue than any other president has shown.
Phil's hackery is despicable and his using the issue in his hackery is inexcusable.
The issue of military suicide deserves to be publicly acknowledged and very publicly addressed with an aim to solving the problem.
It shouldn't be co-opted for fabricated ulterior motives.
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