For instance, Did you know that Vietnam Vet Max Cleland is currently being treated for Post traumatic stress disorder brought on by the invasion of Iraq? I didn't.
Is Iraq reawakening shell shock in other war vets?
Max Cleland, former Democrat Senator from Georgia and Vietnam War veteran, is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which he claims is related not to his own service in Vietnam, but to the war in Iraq. Cleland has always opposed the war—except when he voted for it—and he has never been shy about mentioning his Vietnam service and the injuries he sustained there.
Let’s make no mistake here. Cleland served his country honorably, and he is owed a great debt of gratitude for his service and for paying such a high price for that service. (For the record, Cleland lost both legs and one arm not in combat, but by mishandling a live hand grenade.) As with fellow anti-war Demos John Murtha and John Kerry, the liberals want to believe that Cleland’s military service puts him above reproach for his views. Frankly, it does not.
It is not clear whether viewing television coverage of the Iraqi conflict causes delayed post-traumatic stress disorder in Vietnam or Korean War veterans. Demos have embraced the theory that is does, pointing to the steep increase in the number of cases that have been reported between 1999 and 2004. Psychiatrist and author Dr. Sally Satel, in the 21 August Weekly Standard, pointed out that this increase is not necessarily triggered by the Iraq war. For starters, Vietnam veterans are reaching retirement age, a time filled with anxiety about their identity, their future, their mortality and the mortality of spouses and loved ones. Also, there is a tendency among Veterans Affairs workers to assume that depression and anxiety among veterans must automatically be related to war service, when these symptoms could be a product of civilian life or may have been with the veteran prior to military service.
Let us be clear: We have nothing but the utmost respect for the men and women who have served in combat to defend this great nation, and we’re inclined to give even highly partisan Democrats like Cleland the benefit of the doubt in matters of wartime service. However, if this former U.S. Senator is using PTSD merely to make a political statement before a midterm election, shame on him.
This is a great site with a wealth of information and deserves our support.
buddy,
ReplyDeletere: Major Jill Metzger, USAF
She has been found!
No report yet on the particulars.
I hope the government of Kyrgyzstan did not resort to strong-arm tactics to gain intelligence. That would really ruin my weekend.
Several months ago, I reviewed some research predictive of service connected disabilities, PTSD included. I will see if I can dig it up for general consumption. As I recall, however, the conflicts in both Afghanistan and Iraq appear to be on a normative track. Of course, the probability of PTSD increases with the extent of combat experiences, in general; consequently, the current multiple deployments, increase greatly that potentiality.
ReplyDeletehabu_3,
ReplyDeletere: Jill Metzger
I didn't mean to be trite; her release IS truly good news and the answer to prayer, I am certain.
My venom goes to those who could seriously doubt the efficacy of whatever means necessary to affect her release.
Semper Fi
One for all, and all for one!
Any objection to “ilia capitolina” coming aboard? Could be interesting, the writer is a bright bulb.
ReplyDeleteIf “yes”, how to finesse it without offending Wretchard.
whit,
ReplyDeleteIs ilia capitolina a femina?
habu,
Auto da fé, say?
Cantwell helped lobbyist's clients
ReplyDeleteSen. Maria Cantwell helped arrange more than $11 million in federal money in the past year for projects benefiting clients of a lobbyist who is advising her re-election campaign and still owes her money from a personal loan.
rufus,
ReplyDeletere: Harold Ford, Jr.
You may recall that several months ago I proposed a 2008 Dem ticket of Bayh and Ford. Some people said, "Who?"
Since his coming to Congress, I have taken every opportunity to see Ford interviewed, for personal reasons. He is a Rep. nightmare; the guy is a fiscal conservative. Worse yet, he writes:
“I support our troops and our goals in Iraq. But I will not support a resolution praising a government that wants to grant amnesty to terrorists fighting our troops. There is only one option for such people: we should hunt them down and punish them. Amnesty is not an option.” 6/6/06
You might say Ford is the much desired Scoop Jackson Democrat.
I will grant, his old man is a certifiable nut.
rufus & habu,
ReplyDeletere: Harold Ford, Jr.
Ford benefits greatly from the three-way Repub primary bloodletting, where a guy with little major league political experience but deep pockets won. Ford started hammering the Repubs during that brutal primary, for childish petulance. Further, the Corker has had various stances on abortion and refuses to debate, for example. And, as Rufus indicates, Ford picks his battles carefully.
Sorry, meant no disrespect to Mr. Corker; I should have written Corker, not "the" Corker.
ReplyDeleterufus,
ReplyDeleteAs I said, the guy picks his battles carefully. It doesn't hurt that his family has a combined political life of, what, 200 years?
habu,
ReplyDeletere: Iran strike
It is hard to see how the President will get the cover he needs from his own party for a strike on Iran. The only exception that comes to mind would be some incomprehensibly stupid provocation by Iran. Not being fools, I think the Iranians will ground the ball and run out the clock, hoping for a Demo victory in the mid-term. But, as you know, the Muslims never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, so there is always hope.
Looking at Gitmo, I think the proposed legislation is about five years and a dollar short. Even if the President can herd the Repub cats in the Senate, something he has not accomplished easily for a while, the judges are going to tie things up forever and a day.
Where does that leave us? Hell's bells, I haven't a clue. Maybe another glass of vino will stimulate the flow of creative juices. Can't hurt, right?
possumtater,
ReplyDeleteCan you hear Ford, now: James Earl, who? Yes, I will have more orange juice, please. Tiger Woods and I are buds, didn't you hear?
This dude is the real deal. Gonna be harder to shake than a possum up a simmon tree.
whit said...
ReplyDelete"I cannot tell a lie.
I lifted the entire piece on Cleland from the Patriot Post website"
You really should post it in such a way that one doesn't think you are engaging in wholesale plagerism.
In addition, might I suggest that the esteemed members here indicate which one of the towering intellects actually made the post. i.e. Omar or Mohammed puts their name at the bottom of each post to identify the author. You guys should do the same.
habu,
ReplyDeletere: mid-term
If you are asking if there is some advantage to the President in striking after the mid-term, there might be.
A strike so close to the election would give the Dems an excuse to claim a Clintonesque wag-the-dog. That could blow back badly on the Repubs.
After the mid-term, the President will be a lame-duck. It is usually rough sailing, even for guys like Reagan. Consequently, he has no real downside, nor does his party, assuming a Repub victory.
Even if the Dems carry one or both houses, what are the chances of the whole party going pacifist, given a war against a belligerent like Iran, especially since so many Dems are on record criticizing the President's failure to deal with this "real" threat to American security. Just as in 2003, no Dem will want to go into 2008 failing to support "our heroes". In short, they will vote for the war before voting against it.
The administration is in need of a major personnel overhaul. That cannot come mid-stream. I see the possibility of both Rumsfeld and Rice leaving. I just can’t see the President starting a new season with the same coaching staff. Fair or not, Iraq carries too much unclaimed baggage. (Bad metaphor alert!)
Personally, habu, it could be sooner than latter for my taste. There is a whole lot of payback coming to those mothers. I will never forget nor forgive Beirut.
rufus,
There was a time when I would have agreed with the brilliance of the President's move. Either I'm just too damned old and intolerant or the SOBs in the Senate are more shameless than ever. So, I don't know.
habu_3 wrote:
ReplyDeleteyou don't understand the basic nature of this blog..plagerists, liars, theives, drunkards,drug abusers,cat and dog owners, old Corvair drivers,hippies,bikers, biker babes,nudists,granola eaters, etc can all come here and chat,chat,chat.
The chairs are old,you can throw your peanut shells on the floor, the dartboard is usually occupied,and there's a 16" lava light on the bar ..it don't get no better
Not my kind of place. The men's room should be a second ladies' room.
On another site, ilia capitolina said,
ReplyDelete"Ilia Capitolina said...
The legacy media has acquired its power through corporate advertiser money and a generally uncritical audience. This is no longer to be. The legacy media will soon be living exclusively off borrowed pension accounts and Jihadi donations. Its audience is no longer there. Its relevancy is marginalized daily. It has nothing to sell except sordid political depravity and distortions, and even that will grow old with what audience it has left."
Before being rudely interrupted, Allen tried to say,
ilia capitolina,
re: legacy media
Sorry, I lost you on another thread.
Your point was well taken, although it did not contemplate the necessity of the concurrent demise of the political elite that is its Siamese twin.
What in the world is a Cuban drive-by? As to the remainder of your comment to buddy, that will be left, for the moment to ugly conjecture. :-)
Some people make it very hard to be civil.
teresita said...
ReplyDelete"The men's room should be a second ladies' room."
This is, Madame, the first authentic thing you have said all day. I congratulate you.
While others have roundly attacked your sexual proclivities, I have demurred. You see, what I find most offensive about your personal taste is your obsessive need to share it with me. I have my needs and you have yours. Who gives a rat's ass?
Lorenz found homosexuality to be a common trait in any number of species. For example, some geese exhibit a consistently measurable percentage of homosexual males. And while Lorenz's work would seem to strongly suggest the case for genetic predisposition, were I you, I would avoid modeling my life on the behavior of a goose. As you may have heard said disparagingly, "He hasn't the sense G-d gave a goose.
Prior to the big chill,
ReplyDeletestumbley said...
Teresita:
When the Islamic Rommel (and the other conspiring generals) get together to attempt to whack Ahmedinijad, I will believe that there are "moderate" Muslims who want to live in peace with the rest of the world.
When I see hundreds of thousands (that's just a fraction of your 90%, by the way) marching in the streets of Damascus, Teheran, Jiddah, Riyadh, and Mecca saying "these fanatics do not represent us or our faith", I will believe that there are "moderate" Muslims.
I don't see this happening. There IS no great percentage of "moderate" Muslims.
What we need is the Islamic Martin Luther. Only then will Islam be able to co-exist with the West.
Whereupon,
allen said...
stumbley; 09:39:58 PM
re: Martin Luther
With respect,
OBL was that man. He sought to reform a corrupted Islam.
What Islam needs is a Copernicus or a Galileo.
allen said:
ReplyDeleteWhile others have roundly attacked your sexual proclivities, I have demurred. You see, what I find most offensive about your personal taste is your obsessive need to share it with me. I have my needs and you have yours. Who gives a rat's ass?
Allen, I think only once on the Belmont Club have I said anything about my "personal taste" as you put it, and only then very obliquely. The little blurb here was just some light banter. What you are perhaps finding offensive is the need for other posters to divine certain things about me at certain other sites and bring them back to the Belmont Club to share (which is fair). At any rate, as I said also to habu_3, I feel we got off on the wrong foot and we ought to bury the hatchet (but not in my head!)
Habu_3 said...
ReplyDeleteI leave the keyboard for a minute to visit the "library" and P-Tater becomes Dic-Tater. I'm sending him to possum obedience school. I've tried everything else I know. I caught him the other day with a dvd called PossumGirls Gone Wild..I thought they were all wild til I looked at a few hours of the DVD,
10:15:26 PM
LOL
"sacrificing their family on the alter of "no pain for terrorists,"
ReplyDelete---
What the Hell is wrong w/those people, including, evidently, Wretchard?
doug,
ReplyDeletere: What's wrong with those people?
As our friend teresita could tell us, they have confused the priest with the warrior.
Two Tennessee farmers, Jim and Bob, are sitting at their favorite bar, drinking beer.
ReplyDeleteJim turns to Bob and says, "You know, I'm tired of going through life without an education. Tomorrow I think I'll go to the Community College and sign up for some classes."
Bob thinks it's a good idea, and the two leave.
The next day, Jim goes down to the college and meets the Dean of Admissions, who signs him up for the four basic classes: Math, English, History, and Logic.
"Logic?" Jim says. "What's that?"
The dean says, "I'll show you. Do you own a weedeater?"
"Yeah."
"Then logically speaking, because you own a weedeater, I think that you would have a yard."
"Well that's true, I do have a yard."
"I'm not done," the dean says. "Because you have a yard, I think logically that you would have a house."
"Yes, I do have a house."
"And because you have a house, I think that you might logically have a family."
"I have a family."
"I'm not done yet. Because you have a family, then logically you must have a wife."
"Yes, I do have a wife."
"And because you have a wife, then logic tells me you must be a heterosexual."
"I am a heterosexual. That's amazing; you were able to find out all of
that because I have a weed eater."
Excited to take the class now, Jim shakes the Dean's hand and leaves to go meet Bob at the bar. He tells Bob about his classes, how he is signed up for Math, English, History, and Logic.
"Logic?" Bob says, "What's that?"
Jim says, "Well listen up and I'll show you. Do you have a weedeater?"
"No." Bob says.
"Then you're a queer."
doug,
ReplyDeleteI]m sorry, you are a VERY bad man!
;-)
Aristides do get tedious,
ReplyDeleteI mean that.
Welcome teresita. I am in Montpellier, France. Just lurking. Au revoir,
ReplyDeletePosted at BC earlier, much earlier, in the morning.
ReplyDeleteModeration
allen said...
While totally, completely, inexcusably off-topic, some things just have to be said:
Yes, dear friends, where there is will there is a way. While American’s warriors fight to bring life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to the unwashed, America’s civilians are doing their part.
Businesses maneuver to buck smoking bans
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
20060908/ap_on_re_us/smoker_
havens
Sex toys contain dangerous chemicals says Greenpeace
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
20060908/od_afp/netherlands
environment_060908185927
Indeed, as Mama Gov works to protect us, some of her unruly children say, “F*** Off, Bitch.”
Remind me, where are the Taliban, again?
Hey, 2164, if u make it to Italy, tell Harry Badurchi "hello" for me--
ReplyDeleteIt's getting very difficult to find the working comment streams anymore. Dead ends everywhere, scattered across multiple URLs. Not sure if i can cope.
ReplyDeleteSpace Shuttle just took off, burning its 11,000 lbs of fuel per second, exiting the atmosphere @ 7,000 mph. jeeeez...!
Meat at the TOP.
ReplyDelete' Not sure if i can cope.'
ReplyDeleteI don't have to worry - never could anyhoo.
For some reason, I cannot get the Belmont Club.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to Aristotle,
ReplyDeletea little'll do as a lot'll.
That stuff doesn't come easy, y'know. It costs a lifetime of weird sound-patterns running around loose and uncontrolled inside yer head. The opportunity cost (that is, the value disconnect between input and output) is disgusting, repulsive, sickening.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I liked Joyce:
ReplyDeleteYa get your kicks at the same time.
But I don't smoke much anymore.
Dr. Joyce Brothers? Oh, she's a cutie!
ReplyDelete