by Duke, PolitiPorn Int’l. Bureau Chief
If you haven’t heard by now this is the most revolting thing in the world. CBS broke the story (Here).
Look at this email. The original with responses can be found here (Original).
From: Katz, Ira R.
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 11:27am
To: Chasen, Ev
Subject: FW: Not for the CBS News Interview Request
Shh!
Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1000 suicide attempts per month among the veterans we see in our medical facilities. Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumble on it?
Ira R Katz, MD, PhD
Deputy Chief Patient Care Services Office for Mental Health
The email was written after Katz reported that there were only 790 attempted suicides in all of 2007. He understated the figure by 11,210! The author is this email has the audacity to begin it with “Shh”! He titled the email “Not for the CBS Interview Request”! These people should do hard time in an Iraqi prison. It’s the cover-up idiots. How many times do we have to learn this lesson?
I can’t lay this on President Bush, he may be stupid, but he does have a soul and I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes after these people with a sack of nickels. In fact, Mr President if you’re reading this please take back my $600 tax rebate; exchange it for a $600 sack of nickels and open up a can of whoop ass, Andover Style, on these bastards.
It is these people that don’t support our troops; we cannot ignore the impact of war on our soldiers for political reasons. This is reality. Past all of the campaign bullshit and the egos and name calling and the posturing, this is the genuine article. If our politicians don’t make goddamn sure the troops coming home from Iraq and every other veteran gets treated like Brittany fucking Spears when they need medical attention we need to find a bucket of tar and a bag of feathers.
To all of you red-staters out there… this is who you should be pissed at; this is where every puss liberal and crotchety conservative need to come together and change the system. This news should have broken into the Food Network like 9/11. Email your senator and representative, call them, make them hear you. I am begging someone to give a shit about this issue. Stop paying lip service to our troops and step up to the plate. God Damn It, be an American!
I just can’t believe it. They were more concerned about TALKING POINTS than preventative care. This is just very sad.
Wow. Where have you been? Don’t you know that the culture changed during the 90’s? People became more concerned about their career than the soldier. Why? Because if you spoke up you lost your job. Big Bill didn’t want anyone criticizing him or his admin. Higher ranking individuals just didn’t get promoted. Yes, some stuck it out and made it through in the hopes that change could be implemented at a later date. Honestly, though, they are at the mercy of Congress. Have you watched any of the hearings? The same people that voted to cut spending are the same ones who complain that things are not what they should be. Well, if you re-directed military spending for more than 8 years(it started slowly under 41 – ‘peace dividend’) it takes much more money and time to make things right
MilitaryWife,
The military always gets the shaft, this has held true through Democratic and Republican presidents. Look at Iraq, here Bush has implemented a back-door draft by extending members commitments beyond their enlistments. I thought honorable folks honored contracts? You have Fort Bragg’s barracks falling apart and injured service members recouping in moldy rooms at Walter Reed. Meanwhile, Halliburton and its subsidiary KBR are raking in record profits. Where’s the equity in all that?
As I alluded to at the outset of this post, I agree with you for the most part, but we do part ways. If you are going to complain, you have to do it fairly.
You wrote, ” Big Bill didn’t want anyone criticizing him or his admin”. And George W. Bush’s administration has been friendly to military members that criticized his policies? Instead of pointing out that people are stuck in the 90’s, you should stop watching FOX and come back from Republican LA-LA land. Just a tip.
I know that the FOX-Republican mantra is “Bill Clinton gutted the military” and this partly true. It was actually George Bush the First, who started the process as it fell in line with his post Cold War “New World Order”. Again, stay away from FOX News if only for a day. Maybe read a book or newspaper. It’ll do you a world of good.
MilitaryWife/Mom
You read that email and the first thing that popped into your head was Bill Clinton? You should be ashamed of yourself.
This is truly disgusting. Wonder if Ira remembers the Hippocratic Oath he took to do No harm. Obviously just one more son of a bitch that cares more about his paycheck than the troops. He should be screaming these numbers from the rooftop, not covering them up. That email should be sent to everyone in people’s contacts so that the whole country knows who Ira is and what kind of POS he is.