I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have it.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Once upon a time there was a country where people knew that if they had to send their young people off to war they would be honored and cared for as payment for the huge sacrifice they made.

Well the contract has never been honored in the real world at least not for all the injured.

We hear stories of failures in service at Walter Reid Hospital and that seems to outrage people.

Nobody looks at the many other hospitals that are not considered showplaces of the military medical care provided to U.S. Troops when they come home.

Then again you need to take into account that the Bush administration has been cutting VA budgets since they have been in office.

Now I read that the pentagon is going to stop asking questions about mental health when investigating people for security clearances.

Gee, when I was in the military I had to pass all sorts of psychological tests before I got my highest clearance.

I would tell you what it was but you have to have a Top Secret Clearance just to know what my clearance was.

Now if you are gay you can forget about even getting a Secret clearance. Don't ask don't tell worked both ways. The worst abuses of peoples rights I ever witnessed were related to that policy

The policy was more like Don't ask but we can tell.

I have personally seen peoples cariers destroyed by an opinion.

I seem to be rambling a lot but at least I'm writing again.

The fine troops we call on to defend our questionable ideals and protect us from the bad men have always been screwed by the system and yet they still keep coming. Though that is starting to change. The Army has used every trick they can think up to increase their recruitment numbers but still fall short. Even the young rubes from the Midwest are starting to think it might not be so bad to work for WalMart. At least nobody is trying to blow you up there.

I figure it will be another 10 months before we have a draft again, but I have always been an optimist.

Meanwhile all those injured troops who don't show any wound will just have to hope for the best.

At least you didn't have to be slapped in the face by General Patton.