we care about the mental health of our returning soldiers… unless we don’t.

astonishing institutionalized disconnect in the army strikes again; psychiatrists finally tell prosecuting attorneys they’re full of shit. who knows if it will make a difference.

Military psychiatrists at Walter Reed who examined Whiteside after she recovered from her self-inflicted gunshot wound diagnosed her with a severe mental disorder, possibly triggered by the stresses of a war zone. But Whiteside’s superiors considered her mental illness “an excuse” for criminal conduct, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.

At the hearing, Wolfe, who had already warned Whiteside’s lawyer of the risk of using a “psychobabble” defense, pressed a senior psychiatrist at Walter Reed to justify his diagnosis.

“I’m not here to play legal games,” Col. George Brandt responded angrily, according to a recording of the hearing. “I am here out of the genuine concern for a human being that’s breaking and that is broken. She has a severe and significant illness. Let’s treat her as a human being, for Christ’s sake!”

it gets better. general schoomaker, now the surgeon general of the army, was of the medical opinion that

“This officer has a demonstrably severe depression which manifested itself . . . as a psychotic, self-destructive episode…

and yet, military bureaucrats in the warrior transition brigade (mission: “to facilitate warriors’ transition and healing process“) maintained that

“Although the sanity board determined that at the time of the misconduct she had a severe mental disease or defect, she knowingly assaulted and threatened others and injured herself.”

and

her “defense that she suffers from a mental disease excusing her actions is just that . . . an excuse; an excuse to distract from choices and decisions made by 1LT Whiteside.”

read the whole article. it’s pretty sick.

gates promises to fix military mental health system.

troops’ one-month breaks blocked.

ah-huh.

i cannot help but wonder if now these words taste of ash in colin powell’s mouth.
 

a slideshow of one patrol’s search for the missing soldiers.

per their ‘aye’ vote on the war funding portion of HR 2206. they should all be required to watch this NewsHour report. it’s time to spread the cost and bring back the draft.

Altmire (PA)
Andrews (NJ)
Baca (CA)
Baird (WA)
Barrow (GA)
Bean (IL)
Berkley (NV)
Berry (AR)
Bishop (GA)
Boren (OK)
Boswell (IA)
Boucher (VA)
Boyd (FL)
Boyda (KS)
Butterfield (NC)
Cardoza (CA)
Carney (PA)
Chandler (KY)
Clyburn (SC)
Cooper (TN)
Costa (CA)
Cramer (AL)
Cuellar (TX)
Davis (CA)
Davis, Lincoln (TN)
Dicks (WA)
Dingell (MI)
Donnelly (IN)
Edwards (TX)
Ellsworth (IN)
Emanuel (IL) (note: emanuel was chair of the DCCC for the ‘06 elections. illinois: time to vote him out.)
Etheridge (NC)
Giffords (AZ)
Gillibrand (NY)
Gonzalez (TX)
Gordon (TN)
Green, Gene (TX)
Herseth Sandlin (SD)
Hill (IN)
Hinojosa (TX)
Holden (PA)
Hoyer (MD)
Kagen (WI)
Kanjorski (PA)
Kildee (MI)
Kind (WI)
Lampson (TX)
Larsen (WA)
Levin (MI)
Lipinski (IL)
Mahoney (FL)
Marshall (GA)
Matheson (UT)
McIntyre (NC)
Meek (FL)
Melancon (LA)
Mitchell (AZ)
Mollohan (WV)
Moore (KS)
Murtha (PA)
Ortiz (TX)
Peterson (MN)
Pomeroy (ND)
Rahall (WV)
Reyes (TX)
Rodriguez (TX)
Ross (AR)
Ruppersberger (MD)
Salazar (CO)
Schwartz (PA)
Scott (GA)
Sestak (PA)
Shuler (NC)
Skelton (MO)
Snyder (AR)
Space (OH)
Spratt (SC)
Stupak (MI)
Tanner (TN)
Taylor (MS)
Thompson (MS)
Udall (CO)
Visclosky (IN)
Walz (MN)
Wasserman Schultz (FL)
Wilson (OH)

note: the house needs to standardize its URL conventions. having www.house.gov/congresscritter as well as congresscritter.house.gov, not to mention www.congresscritter.house.gov, is really annoying.

so they’re scared of another veto? it would be on bush’s head, not theirs. morons. cowardly, spineless, political morons. and lots of other words i’d be likely to spell with asterisks.

the blood of our soldiers is on the democrats’ hands.

i’ll be watching the votes. moran, this means you. i’m still irritated your office hasn’t returned any of my phone calls.

p.s. the army is demoralized and the national guard is out of town. maybe it’s time to put the second amendment to use.

7 may 07
Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, as we continue our debate on funding for Iraq escalation, I want to share a new version of a well-known poem entitled Humpty Dumpty:

Bush, Cheney and others had a great call–
Remake Iraq , it will be such a ball.
Now all Bush’s troops and all daddy’s men
can’t put Iraq back together again.
Our soldiers keep dying, day after day.
So why put up with more endless delay?
Let’s just acknowledge what everyone knows:
Bush didn’t and doesn’t have any clothes.
He broke it, can’t fix it, doesn’t know how;
Mission impossible: out of Iraq now.

the commentary on the now-vetoed iraq supplemental bill amounts to this:

This legislation, which you worked to pass, sets a timetable for surrender. It pulls the rug out from under our troops. That is shameful and wrong.

on a serious note, i have a feeling that this sort of simplistic “analysis” carries the news cycle. because lefties, with their nuanced arguments and lofty ideals, are just way too complicated for the catchy sound bite system of today’s rapid-cut media.

ow, my balls.

yesterday the senate agreed to the HR 1591 conference report, sending the iraq supplemental spending bill to the president for, according to all news reports, his assured veto.

the washington post reports that “bipartisan negotiations have already started on a compromise to cool the red-hot war debate, at least on the funding front.”

this may be the stupidest question i’ve ever asked, but bear with me. i went to law school and have only the most superficial acquaintance with political machinations and maneuverings.

what if bush vetos, and congress simply shakes its collective head and says, “oh, well. we tried.” no attempt at a veto override, no attempt at a compromise with the white house. it’s not the yearly appropriations bill we’re talking about here; the government won’t have to shut down because it’s unable to pay employees. it’s a supplemental. it’s not absolutely necessary.

sure, the white house would try to spin it as dems not supporting the troops, yadda yadda yadda. but c’mon - the dems have their own press machine. they should be able to spin it right back into the administration’s face.

Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors. (more…)