Jimmy Carter’s second term
To say that I’m disappointed in the results of the election is probably a bit of an understatement. What is most disappointing is to see my “friends” on Facebook who are veterans celebrating a second term of the President. I can’t figure out what they’re celebrating about. Retirees in five western states are being forced out of Tricare Prime and into Tricare Standard which means that, unless they live near a military treatment facility, their healthcare are going to skyrocket. What’s to celebrate?
And I put the blame for this loss of veterans squarely on the shoulders of the Romney team. When I brought the above subject up to John Noonan, Romney’s defense advisor, he responded that he hadn’t heard the Obama camp mention it in the campaign – so I guess he thought it wasn’t going to happen. It’s going to happen in April, whether Noonan has heard about it or not. A moment’s Google would tell him that.
The Obama Administration has raided our healthcare premiums to pay for other defense projects. If a corporation had done that to it’s retirees, the Obama Administration would be crawling up their ass with a microscope.
And what about the most egregious decision of the Afghan war? The one that forbade US troops from having loaded weapons when they were in the company of our “allies” just to make them think that we trusted them. That bit of brilliance cost us more than 50 young lives this year before they finally reversed the decision this summer. And let’s not forget that this Defense Department ignored a report last year that predicted an increase in “insider” attacks this year.
While we’re talking about the war, how about the overall strategy – what is the overall strategy if it’s not solely to withdraw? It’s a rush for the exits and a dependency on drones. The lowest infantryman understands that an Army doesn’t control anything that doesn’t have a soldier standing on it. Air attacks from several thousand feet above the battlefield doesn’t win anything, and this administration was unwilling, for purely political reasons, to put the number of boots in Afghanistan that a winning strategy required.
But the troops are coming home. If Desert Storm taught us anything, it was that if you don’t complete the mission, you’re going to end up fighting the war all over again.
While we’re at it, let’s talk about the Veterans’ Affairs Department which has squandered it’s increased funding. the rolls of veterans awaiting a decision on their claims for service-connected relief has grown despite the promises of the Department. They promised to end homelessness among veterans and they’re not really any closer than they were when they assumed office. Veterans are loosing money everyday when ever a college term begins because the VA can’t pay them in a timely manner.
All of that without even mentioning sequestration, which the Obama Administration claims won’t happen. I’m not sure how they think it won’t happen because it’s a law.
And then to top it all off, folks in Afghanistan wrote yesterday to tell us that TAH has been blocked in Regional Command (South) because we’re “extremist”. I guess it’s extremist to point out the things that no one else will, the failings of the Big Army leadership. The fact that the Defense Department is screwing over veterans and the troops and blaming them for the failures of their own leadership.
So yeah, your guy won, but who is going to pay for your jubilant celebration? It’s not American Idol or a sports contest. There is a real cost to real people out here in the real world.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Big Army, Military issues, Veteran Health Care, Veterans Issues
Oh and let’s not forget the $3,500 to $4,000 per household tax increase/refund loss we’re going to have to endure in April because the Bush Era tax cute will expire AND the the hit we’re all going to take from the Alternative Minimum Tax not being covered by the govt going forward.
We are all going to see a *significant* kick in our wallets.
The Tax implications are so huge, and these people have no fucking clue. Word on the street is that voting was down 3.5 million people and overall 23 million didn’t vote. Dems didn’t re-elect but reps didn’t show up. People in PA, WV, VA who voted for O have voted themselves out of jobs. Ignorance is bliss.
I truly don’t think the American people know what they have done. I expect they will figure it out when he slashes defense to the point that Red Dawn actually comes true, but, at least we have four years to regroup and hope that Biden is the democratic nominee in 2016, easy pickings…
TAH is not blocked in RC south…otherwise I would not get my daily dose!!! So grateful it isnt blocked and I can view this site daily. Thanks from the big ole pooh pond
Meh. I voted Bush, I voted McCain, but this time I’d rather have Obama (I did not vote for him) than Romney. While the Republican candidates this year were some of the worst ever, I’m not sure Romney was even the best turd to choose to go up against the douche. Either way the next four years were going to be shit, my only hope was that we’d get 5% of the vote to Gary Johnson so then in 2016 we’d have a third option that could possibly force the other two retards to stop being so divisive and maybe start being productive.
Oh well, maybe people will realize after four more years of socialism that we have an option other than religious extremism to choose from if we want true fiscal responsibility.
They will soon realise that the Bush tax cuts “for the rich” are for all tax brackets when theirs goes up in Jan.
As for being blocked for being extremist, I think that it is just a glich. I tried getting on TAH from my AR net and it said it was blocked for being extremist. All I did was hit refresh and then there was no problem.
We survived a Civil War,Two World Wars, The Great Depression, The Great Influenza Outbreak, the Dust Bowl,,,, 4 more years of another jackass polishing the chair in the Oval office isnt going to end us.
Fox News mentioned the Virginia military vote split 50/50… thats incredible – who would have thunk it?
TAH is not blocked on USAF servers…yet. Michelle Malkin has been blocked as “extremist” for a few years now, at least in AFMC.
It will be interesting to see who Obama blames for the last four years…
And as far as those VA increases go? Yeah, look at the budget projections for the next few years. Enjoy.
Christ what a dick head. What mission? You SOF assholes LOST in Afghanistan. A decade there and you can’t teach a raghead to shoot and do a bounding overwatch? Run a police force, let alone an infantry unit? Time to get out. Afghanistan NEVER was the threat, they just were stupid enough NOT to give up Bin Laden when we asked for him. Bush played with it while he went off into Iraq thinking he was a ‘war president’. He wasn’t. And a lot of political O-7s and up went along with him. And the poor fucking infantry died. This is something the fucking Brits do, not the US Army.
Romney would do NOTHING for the military. Except get you in another war in Iran. And you thing Afghanistan was bad, Iranians know how to shoot and build missiles.
And by the way, you probably didn’t hear, Iran shut down its nuclear program and want to discuss sanctions. Diplomacy worked.
As far as medical care, time for universal health care and get the fucking insurance companies out. We have the best system in the world, its how we pay for it that’s a cluster fuck. We had a good military medical system but its been dying on the vine for the past 40 years thanks on the most part for the GOP.
I hear ya, Jonn. People choose to be blind to the shortcomings of obama and his fellow democrats and our country will suffer for it. Tens of millions of voters sold their votes for more government handouts and the dems were glad to pay them with taxpayer dollars. I fear for the future of my young children and our once great country.
I just went and got coffee at the DD this morning, thought I was watching Idiocracy. People in uniform hugging and cheering. Majority were younger enlisted and officers, guess they are completely clueless about the outcome of their job. One even stated that he is going back home to Colorado and smoke a few bowls because it’s legal now.
If Jesus hasn’t came back yet, he better do it soon and bring the Founding Fathers with him.
@11 – Iran shut down its nuclear program? Cite credible sources, please. Interested in how the GOP was responsible for the decline in military medical, too… thought the big cuts were under Clinton (and don’t even try to claim Carter was anything but miserable for the military).
I got this in an email a while back. It was written by a law student. Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al: We have stuck together since the late 1950’s for the sake of the kids, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right for us all, so let’s just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way. Here is a model separation agreement: –Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a similar portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes. –We don’t like redistributive taxes so you can keep them. –You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. –Since you hate guns and war, we’ll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military. –We’ll take the nasty, smelly oil industry and you can go with wind, solar and bio diesel. –You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O’Donnell. You are, however, responsible for finding a bio diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them. –We’ll keep capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street. –You can have your beloved lifelong welfare dwellers, food stamps, homeless, home boys, hippies, druggies and illegal aliens. –We’ll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO’s and rednecks. –We’ll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood . –You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we’ll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. –You can have the peaceniks and… Read more »
Ah yes, explaining once again why the Chair Force is the red-headed stepchild of the military. “What? The cable is out? Oh, FUCK!”
I know military and contractors that voted for Obama in the NOVA earlier.
I now cannot wait for the sequester to hit. Hopefully some of them choke on it.
@Whitey- Let them go back to CO to toke a bowl. It’s still against FEDERAL law to do that, and they’ll be out on their ass with NO access to benefits at all for a BC discharge. So I’d encourage that if they are so inclined, light ’em up.
In uniform? Wanna bowl? Come to CO- we got free hemp coming. Free samples if you’re in uniform.
Just don’t bitch when you piss hot and find yourself on the street in 90 days… and no one will hire you.
@17 Exactly, they’ll are going to find out that maybe they should have paid more attention to what he truly was standing for and not who was supporting him, heard one say he voted for Barry because Katy Perry endorsed him.
The Joint Base was supposed to be here to stay, but with sequester happening it won’t be a joint base much longer.
@18 Not a single person in the area stopped to correct him. I made one comment before I left, “If that’s the direction you want to take your career.” Now would be a great time to bring back wall to wall counciling if you ask me.
I do not have the words to express how I feel about it. But I will figure them out.
Sparky, WTF is wrong with redheads? Lol
@14-he can’t provide a link because he just pulled that out of his ass.
@whitey,
In addition, I know somebody in uniform with four kids and a wife who’s thrilled about the election too. Can’t wait to see how they react when their bennies start getting hit or if he get’s cut.
@21- You didn’t hear that gingers have no soul? At least that’s whats coming out of the grapevine.
Mmmm… If President Obama is Jimmy Carter and Jimmy Carter then wouldn’t this be Jimmy Carter’s third term?
@Army Sergeant, I have words. I went looking for something on the most recent recovery update from the March 2011 quake and tsnunami in Japan that wiped out most of the seacoast of Fukushima prefecture. Japan has a multi-trillion yen fund for recovery and rebuilding, which means that most of the people who were affected should be back at work and back in their new homes by now. Right?
Wrong.
This is from an Oct. 31, 2012 AP article:
More than 325,000 of the 340,000 people who had to flee tsunami-hit areas or the evacuation zone around the nuclear plant remain homeless or away from their homes, according to the most recent figures available.
The entire article is here if you want to read it:
http://www.wvnstv.com/story/19951378/japans-rebuilding-money-spent-on-unrelated-jobs
Now, considering that the Japanese are pretty good at handling disasters, this is a surprise to me. It’s nearly two years later, and in some cases nothing has happened.
Put this kind of disaster on the east coast of the US. Oh, wait! Hurricane Sandy got into a king mixer with a nor-easter last week and wiped out large portions of the our east coast. And winter is coming on. Entire neighborhoods were destroyed by fires that started when transformers blew up. How much will you bet that a year from now, it’s still a mess? And who will get the blame?
I hear another storm is coming, and we can expect more bad weather this winter. In fact, we may get three more bad storms btween November 22 and December 31.
I’m just saying try to see past the immediate idiocy.
Ex-PH2, The President won’t get blamed. Hurricanes only get blamed on Republican Presidents.
@Spade
These are the same individuals who always complain that they don’t get enough as it is from the military.
Twist, you’re too funny.
Like I said somewhere else, you guys four more years to make fun of the Demobrats and their Big Cheese. Go for it!
Try to look at this as your wurst nightmare.
Anyone for beer?
All hail the Nanny State!
Obamaphones and food stamps for all!
Twist it’s not Obama we all know the military is behind the weather problems because of the HAARP weapon in Alaska….(sarc)
That’s my nod to the conspiracy fans…
@Ex-PH2
You said the magic word. I’ll take a tall glass of PBR please.
@Twist, aren’t you forgetting that Dubya Bush got blamed for the FEMA mess and poor reponse to Katrina? He’s still getting blamed for that.
Whitey, you got it. PBR and Foster’s, smoked sausage w/all the trimmings, really big dish of extremely crisp curly fries, and comfy beach chairs.
@Ex-PH2 Hooah!
Dubya will be blamed for as long as people are brainwashed to believe it.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom — go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!
Nuff said.
Sparky? Wealth? Whaddaya think I’m workin’ for?
You’re working for everybody else to get an Obamaphone.
I hear that wealthy Americans do not pay income tax in Macao or Singapore — one of those places — and are welcomed with open arms.
Hey, Obama’s house is on Greenwood Avenue near 52nds Street, southside of Chicago, if anyone wants to go visit him while he’s in town.
When bin Laden’s buddies planned on making Joe Biden president, I knew we were screwed. If the enemy can tell how weak our leadership is…
DJIA has dropped 272 points this morning.
If Biden runs and becomes the primary candidate for the Democrats…two words: Allen West.
The debates would be hilarious.
At this point it won’t matter who the Democrats run for office in 2016 they will win. The lesson we learned yesterday is that the Looters are now more populace than the Produces in this country. My only wish is that the Republicans had lost the house so the country would well and truly feel the pain we so rightfully deserve.
When you vote for the impossible, reality has a way of smacking you in the face.
Twist: I am a Ginger, and I know that I have no soul, in fact, I embrace that aspect of my Gingerness. I just don’t like being insulted by being compared to the Chair Force is all….
@Lucky
I’m in the Chair Force, but I’ve been told I should have joined the Army or Marines.
Just sitting here smiling at all your rationalizations, excuses, recriminations. You seem to need to contort logic to avoid the unavoidable conclusion – your ideas, such as they are, suck, and the majority of Americans know it.
Can someone point out where I can find the conservative take on this ‘Obamaphone’ stuff? From what I know, the programs in question started under Reagan, and were clearly land-line focused then, and morphed under Bush, then again under Obama. Nowhere did they change in some massive way, though, as far as I know.
I don’t really agree with the program regardless of the President who started or updated the program, but ‘Obamaphone’ seems like a distortion of things.
Whitey, I’m in the Army, and I should’ve gone Marine!
@48, I don’t know if anyone ever called it the Obamaphone until the youtube video of the woman going apeshit over the fact that she had an Obamaphone. I could be wrong though.
@Joe, This election is hardly a referendum against the Republicans and their ideas. To quote Green Thumb “turd”.