Veterans Day

Eighty-nine years ago today The War to End All Wars officially came to an end.

The Great War did not end all wars. Today the United States is manufacturing Veterans at a prodigious rate, and like most aspects of Bush's Discretionary War, there really is no long-term plan for them.*

A recent report stated that veterans make up 26% of the homeless population, though they only make up 11% of the overall U.S. population. Existing Veterans Administration resources are overtaxed. While the care that is given in VA hospitals is often excellent - my father spent several weeks in "respite care" at our local VA, and I was quite impressed with the care he and the other vets I met received - requirements for admission to a VA hospital are quite stringent and require a high degree of physical or mental disability. The existing system simply is not capable of dealing with the number of physically and mentally wounded veterans returning. Yet in discussions of the continuing costs of the war, veterans' care often is not even taken into consideration.

Whoever inherits Bush's mess on January 20, 2009 will need to deal with this problem. Is anyone even talking about it? Does anyone have a plan to deal with it?


*I honestly believe that the plan as originally conceived by the President and his inner circle involved Jesus showing up some time ago and leading the Forces of Light to victory in Babylon. The fact that this has not yet happened has probably led to some consternation in the White House.