Rich Laughlin – 3/25/07

This page was last updated on March 25, 2007.

Put the blame on Bush; Rich Laughlin; Beaver County Times; March 25, 2007.

In previous letters, Mr. Laughlin told us how bad Ronald Reagan was and another was a name-calling rant from beginning to end. This letter is of similar quality.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“As a veteran, I have to disagree with the opinions stated in Tuesday’s letter (‘The price of silence’) by Gary Wink, the commander of the Center Township VFW.

“Wink absolves President Bush, the Army generals and the VA of responsibility for the appalling conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital and points blame instead at other veterans.”

[RWC] As a reminder, “the appalling conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital” were in outpatient facilities. No one has accused the hospital of not giving proper medical care to veterans.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not trying to downplay the situation. I’m just making sure everyone knows what we’re talking about.

“He contends that those of us who don’t join veterans’ organizations and who don’t remind government officials of their duties are to blame.

“Go figure. I thought for sure that Army and Pentagon officials would already be aware that wounded soldiers should rate proper care without having to be prompted by the public and without being exposed for negligence and incompetence in the newspapers.”

[RWC] As noted above, the soldiers received proper medical care. The problem is with the physical condition of the outpatient facilities.

“Who would guess this outrageous lapse could happen under the watch of the self-proclaimed ‘War President?’

“The blame here should go where it belongs, not to the VA, which still provides excellent care for veterans, despite Bush-initiated budget cuts and hospital closings in time of war, nor to other veterans.”

[RWC] As I’ve covered in numerous critiques, there have been no “Bush-initiated budget cuts” for the VA. The last I checked, President Bush’s budgets increased VA spending every year and at a rate faster than Bill Clinton’s budgets.

“The blame for this disgrace goes to the Bush administration where so many epic screw-ups have been committed in the past six years. The only public to be blamed, be they veterans or otherwise, are those who still support this gang in the White House.

“I think it’s ironic that so many veterans and veterans’ organizations remain loyal to this administration, which has done such harm to our military and which has ignored the needs of veterans.”

[RWC] Blah, blah, blah.