Discussion for article #223521
It’s about goddamned time!!!
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Hmmm… February 2014-now where was John McCain?
Oh yeah, on Anderson Cooper’s show explaining why he would support the exchange for Bergdahl:
MCCAIN: Well, at that time the proposal was that they would release – Taliban, some of them really hard-core, particularly five really hard-core Taliban leaders, as a confidence- building measure. Now this idea is for an exchange of prisoners for our American fighting man. I would be inclined to support such a thing depending on a lot of the details.
[…]
COOPER: So if there was some – the possibility of some sort of exchange, that’s something you would support?
MCCAIN: I would support. Obviously I’d have to know the details, but I would support ways of bringing him home and if exchange was one of them I think that would be something I think we should seriously consider.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/06/03/cnn-lets-john-mccain-off-the-hook-for-shifting/199561
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no wonder st johnnie the maverick has been dogging obama re bergdahl… anything to distract from st johnnie’s failure to do something about the va’s failure…
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Hey! Go easy on the Oldster! He was busy trying to get ti the bottom of Benghazi
BENGHAZI!
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It isn’t that McCain was just slow, he was completely uninvolved. How many times did he actually visit the VA facility here and talk to the employees to see what help they could have used? A good leader always does that. It is all talk about supporting the troops. And now, Bergdahl. Failure all around.
GOP trickle-down management theory, like their failed economics experiments, continue to ignore the foundations that makes any structure sound.
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This story is very misinformed and unfair to Congresswoman Kirkpatrick, who has been a leader in not only investigating the problems, but getting solutions for veterans.
When Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick’s office received word from a retired doctor about hidden delays in care at the Phoenix Veterans Administration hospital, they responded immediately, reaching out to the doctor and triggering investigations by both Congress and the VA.
This is in sharp contrast to the allegations being made by opponents who continue to attempt to make cheap political points rather than resolve problems to get veterans the care they need.
Recent news stories reported that Congresswoman Kirkpatrick’s office did not respond to Dr. Foote, but this is incorrect and it’s important to set the record straight. On June 4, after reviewing email archives, Kirkpatrick chief of staff Carmen Gallus produced emails confirming that she had responded to Dr. Foote and offered him a conference call with staff to discuss the Phoenix VA allegations. Immediately after responding to Foote, Kirkpatrick’s staff contacted the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and learned that the allegations were under investigation by the Inspector General. Kirkpatrick’s inquiry into the Phoenix allegations was noted by the Inspector General as the first from any member of Congress and it was elevated as a priority. Because of the open investigation, our office recognized that the committee was the appropriate point of contact for Dr. Foote. Our office is grateful to Dr. Foote for his relentless efforts to expose horrific and heartbreaking practices at the Phoenix VA. His commitment to our veterans is unquestionable. Unfortunately, there are others who have politicized the Phoenix VA issues, but now is the time to stop the politics and focus on fixing a broken system, holding people accountable and getting our veterans the care they deserve.”
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HEY, the Arizona Republic(an) FINALLY took jonny mc fool to task!!
It is about time, I might add!
Jonny “do nothing” mc fool, spends decades in our senate and does absolutely nothing!!
What does the state of Arizona get for having jonny mc fool as our senator? Besides being one of the Keating five? NOTHING!!
OH, wait. There is one thing. He lobbied to open the grand canyon lands to open pit uranium strip mining…so there is that!
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Well no matter what any “time line” suggests its obvious if McCain kept in touch with his veteran constituents and had the passion for them he claims to have he would have interdicted this long ago.
It happened in Az…his state. He does not deny being notified about it 2 months before it became a national shame but he can show nothing done by him during that time. Where does he get off being critical?
But if any of this can be made to stick to McCain we will see it disappear from the galaxy most scosh. No one gives a crap about the vets…that includes most vets. Its Obama they want to get. That is all this is about…a head fake to poke at Obama.
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Three weeks ago I emailed McGrumpy concerning the VA and its slow pace of scheduling vets here in AZ. To date I have received exactly zero response after asking for one. I also emailed Se. Flake and my Congressman Ron Barber. Flake acknowledged getting the email. But no direct response from any of them.
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McGrumpy stays in the Senate mainly to make the rounds of the Sunday talk shows and travel to dust ups to exclaim “We are all (insert name of country here).” That’s about all he does that I can tell.
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Priceless.
That’s going into the save file.
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Wow. TPM needs to update this article.
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Are you quoting from an article because I see an end quote in the body of your post in the last sentence, but no beginning quote anywhere? Can you provide the link so that we know where your source is coming from? Or are these your own words? I’m confused.
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Slow draw McCain with his jackass gang.
Well, you can’t argue with the paper. People knew back when W was president that the VA was screwed up and not processing people, but no one seemed to care. As one of the veterans spokesmen said on Rachel’s show, people knew about problems for years and just swept them under the rug. Now maybe something will happen, but since the right wing has its scalps (Shinseki), they aren’t about to actually do anything to help the situation.
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Are these emails published on the web? Citations would help.
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This article doesn’t track exactly with what Eric said, but definitely goes into more detail on Kirkpatrick’s efforts to bring the issue to the attention of the committee and the IG.
Every single member of Congress has been aloof to the VA, really, for 40 years. It’s sad that it took a scandal of this proportion to get people to react. Next is to get folks to act. Doesn’t seem like politicians will do more than just lay blame.
Wonder how many vets and their families had contacted McCain, Flake or any US Arizona Rep. office, long before all this became news?
A FOIA would loosen up those requests from the vets and their families!