Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

44 Years Ago: Death Of Lyndon B. Johnson; Abortion Becomes Legal; End Of Engagement In Vietnam War–We Must Learn From These Events!

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44 years ago, on January 22, former President Lyndon B. Johnson died at the age of 64, and the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in the case of Roe V. Wade, that women had a right to abortion in the first two trimesters.

44 years ago on January 23, announcement of an agreement to end US involvement in the Vietnam War was announced in Paris, therefore denying LBJ the ability to know of the peace agreement before his death, in a war that had forced him out of the Presidential race in 1968.

Looking back 44 years and to today in 2017, we can reflect that the Great Society of LBJ is under attack in a massive way, as is the New Deal of FDR. We are going backwards in so many ways under President Donald Trump.

Also, abortion rights are being taken away in many areas and by government policy, and the danger is that Roe V Wade could be reversed in a future Supreme Court decision, once a Trump appointed Justice is added to the Court. So women’s rights to control their own bodies will now face new restrictions, and will lead to more deaths, and abuses.

And our engagement in Vietnam, a massive mistake, has not been learned from, as now there are hints that Donald Trump is ready to send troops to fight ISIL (ISIS), committing us to a massive war in the Middle East, and with Trump asserting yesterday that America might just seize the oil of Iraq for ourselves, which would be a war crime, and a continuation of US imperialism overseas.

This is why we have intervened so much since World War II in other nations in the Middle East and in Asia, as well as Latin America.

And do not be surprised by a move to engage in war with Iran, in support of the right wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, and more warfare in the West Bank and Gaza Strip areas of the Palestinians.

This is not to endorse Iran, the Palestinians, or anyone else, but to point out, it looks as if we are on the way to another major military conflict, that will cost American lives and make tons of profit for the war industry. And we are likely to see a new generation of American military personnel who end up having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and are unlikely to gain proper medical treatment for that condition.

In many ways, America has learned nothing from our historical experiences, and we are reverting to past mistakes in domestic and foreign policy.

Empathy Important Trait For Any Political Leader, Particularly A President Of The United States, Missing In The GOP And Donald Trump!

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Empathy is one of the most important traits that any political leader needs to govern effectively.

Sadly, the Republican Party and most of its leadership totally lacks empathy, and instead is very harsh and judgmental toward those who are not fortunate enough to be born wealthy.

They fail to have concern for poverty stricken people, blaming them for their own plight.

They fail to have concern for those who are sick and or disabled, and wish to cut benefits, including ObamaCare, which has given millions of Americans their first health care.

They fail to care about the tragedy of veterans who often have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from their experiences fighting in America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the basic stresses of being in the military.

They fail to care about discrimination, racism, nativism, and misogyny, and often encourage rhetoric and actions, which further alienate large sections of population within America.

They allow religion to be utilized in a way to promote hate and division, and look the other way as they endorse hypocrisy.

The candidacy of Donald Trump only emphasizes ever more these terrible traits, as Trump is totally clueless and uncaring about the American people, often insulting, denigrating, demeaning, ridiculing, bullying, and showing total disdain for anyone who dares to challenge his disgraceful behavior and rhetoric.

Instead of taking responsibility for his own shortcomings, Trump lashes out at the news media for exposing his actions and words, thereby attempting to turn the American people against the news media and the concept of Freedom of the Press.

The Republican Party has been complicit in this kind of attack, even before Donald Trump emerged as a significant political force, and they represent a threat to our Bill Of Rights.

The last time this happened, the Federalist Party attack on the Bill of Rights under John Adams, with the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798-1801, resulted in the demise of the party over the next generation.

A Disturbing Reality: Military Suicide Rate Of 22 Per Day Is Primarily Due To The Bush-Cheney Wars In Iraq And Afghanistan!

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The alarming statistic that 22 military personnel commit suicide every single day is clearly tied to the Bush-Cheney wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,

Not all veterans or military personnel who kill themselves come from these recent wars, but a very high percentage do, and it is because the Bush-Cheney Administration was too loose and easy to send troops to war, and not concerned enough about their treatment when they came home scarred from their war experiences.

It is important to realize that it is not just combat situations that have caused Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but also the growing evidence that the torture and abuse of detainees in both Iraq and Afghanistan was part of the requirement given to many of these military personnel, beyond the day to day combat.

One could conceivably fight and kill in a war and learn to deal with it, as a concept of “us or them”.

But making many military units, including those not in combat, torture and abuse detainees in the most heinous fashion, of which we had only a hint of what happened at Abu Ghraib in 2003, is the real culprit, as it is clear that Abu Ghraib is just the tip of the iceberg on this matter of torture and abuse.

It is much harder to justify in one’s mind the use of torture and abuse, when compared to actual combat situations, where one can rationalize the horrors that occur. For anyone to engage in torture and abuse and NOT feel guilty would require someone of very strong mental and physical constitution, or else demonstrate that we have troops that have major mental illness which allows them to enjoy and bask and prosper in hurting other human beings in the most despicable ways.

So Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld et al are indeed, as the New York Times has declared, guilty of war crimes, and rightfully should be charged in international courts, but that will not, of course, ever happen.

But each time after just a little more than an hour, when a soldier or former military personnel sees his life destroyed and has tremendous guilt and chooses to end his life, the guilt and burden of this reality falls on our government leaders who allowed such torture and abuse to go on, and have worked to keep as much of it secret as possible.

But over time, the truth shall come out, as it is starting to emerge now on news stories on National Public Radio and elsewhere, and it will condemn the Presidency of George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and many others to the conclusion that we have had true war criminals in charge of our government.

They have used the September 11 attacks to justify actions and motivations that have poisoned our reputation as a nation for the long haul, and for that, they will never be able to be forgiven!

Obama And The Anti War Cabinet: First In American History In Modern Times!

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This week, when President Barack Obama spoke before journalists about his wish for a Congressional resolution to give him limited authority to expand war against ISIL (ISIS), he surrounded himself with two former Democratic Senators and one former Republican Senator, who made up his top cabinet advisers in the past two years—Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, and outgoing Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.

As Senators from Delaware, Massachusetts, and Nebraska, these three former Senators were clearly skeptical about war resolutions. Biden voted against the Persian Gulf War Resolution in 1991, and all three were critics of the Iraq War and how it evolved. Also, Kerry and Hagel were Vietnam War veterans who were always skeptical about war prosecution by different Presidents.

In many ways, one could say that the four men, including President Obama, make up the most anti war group ever to govern together, and this is refreshing, as all four, while seeing the need to fight against ISIL (ISIS), do not wish to send combat troops back to the Middle East, after failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have caused 6,500 deaths combined, over 30,000 wounded veterans, and a reality that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has become a major problem, with 22 veterans every day committing suicide, and hundreds of thousands of homeless veterans.

The American people have made clear in polls that while they are ready to fight ISIL (ISIS), they have no desire to become engaged in a long, drawn out war with American troops fighting and dying, when it should be the people of the area to fight to protect themselves, with appropriate American financial aid and weapons, but not large numbers of American troops committed to a ground war that goes on endlessly!

Meanwhile, there is the pro war element in the Republican Party, led by Arizona Senator John McCain and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, with much of the party joining their war chants, but with Kentucky Senator Rand Paul representing the anti war group, that wishes to avoid major ground troop involvement, setting up a major conflict within the GOP for the next Presidential election.

Republican “Chicken Hawks” And The Reality Of The Stress Of Military Service!

Ronald 13 Comments

Very few members of Congress or the executive branch have served in the military, so they have no real understanding of the stress of military service, and how it can affect one’s reaction to combat conditions.

But it is Republican “chicken hawks”, and conservative talk show hosts who spout their mouth without any facts, all just to make more money and promote more hate, who have been in the lead in condemning Bowe Bergdahl.

So we have Dick Cheney and many others in the GOP, who avoided service, and talk show hosts who never considered volunteering for military service, who are now being shown up, with the revelation that Bergdahl was tortured, beaten, put in a cage, and has gone through hell in captivity with the Taliban, after wandering off the military base in Afghanistan, without a weapon or any real way to keep contact with the base.

It is clear that Bergdahl had a mental and emotional breakdown, and this can happen to anyone under stress. And now, as a result of captivity for five years, and horrible mistreatment, he has been victimized enough already, but leave it to the hypocrites to do more to destroy whatever peace of mind and sanity he might have left, at the young age of 28!

Any decent human being should denounce the Republicans and conservative talk show hosts on radio and Fox News Channel, as they have demontrated no common decency or concern, but simply have this compelling need to destroy a soldier who volunteered, and obviously, has suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

We should pray that this young man be given a chance to come back into American society, and his parents stop being sent death threats, and the exaggerated accounts by fellow soldiers should be taken “with a grain of salt”, as they are NOT the judge of another person’s mental stability! There is already much evidence from the New York Times that much of what fellow soldiers say is far from accurate in reality!

The Persecution Of Bowe Bergdahl By The Right Wing: Poisoning America,With Purpose Of Destroying Barack Obama!

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The case of Bowe Bergdahl is shocking in the intensity of the right wing attack on this soldier, who may have gone AWOL in Afghanistan, and was held captive by the Taliban for nearly five years.

The furious reaction to his release, in exchange for five top Taliban leaders who were at Guantanamo Bay Detention Center has led to death threats against his mother and father, and the decision to cancel the welcome home party planned in his small home town in Idaho later this month.

Meanwhile, Bergdahl remains in the hospital in Germany, and faces an impossible sitation when he returns to the United States.

He will be dogged by critics, threatened with assassination, and will have the worst case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that any soldier has ever had, and it would not be surprising that he might become a statistic, one of 22 former soldiers who commit suicide every day!

If Bergdahl has committed acts that he should be held accountable for, so be it, but the right wing has built up such a furor, including Oliver North, who participated in a similar action dealing with an enemy in the Iran Contra affair under Ronald Reagan, but now is a total hypocrite, not unusual for the right wing!

Face the facts, that the real purpose of this furor is to move to impeach President Obama, and the racists and fascists are out there with their knives looking to assassinate him, figuratively, and really, literally, if they had the chance!

We live in very dangerous times, and it is scary what is going on, and being encouraged by media unwilling to stand up to the right wing, including CNN and the major networks, minus MSNBC, the only channel that has any guts at all!

Shameful National Figures On Single Mothers In Poverty, And Veterans Who Are Homeless!

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Many conservatives love to claim that America is an “exceptional” nation, ignoring the facts that demonstrate just how backward we are, as compared to many European nations and Japan.

For instance, one third of single mothers are in poverty, doing minimum wage jobs that cannot support their children in an adequate fashion. The effect on their children of poverty is not easily measurable, but cannot be dismissed as insignificant. It promotes a sense of inferiority and depression in children at a very young age, and impairs their physical and mental health.

Also, veterans of our wars are horribly mistreated after their military service, with about 60,000 homeless on any single night, and double that total being homeless over a year’s time. Many are victims of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or are connected to substance abuse (alcohol and drugs). Forty percent are African American or Hispanic. Veterans who are homeless range from World War II, through the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the Afghanistan War, and many are younger veterans, who did their duty for their country, but are now being ignored and dismissed as having any claim on government services in return for their sacrifices.

Not only is this unconscionable and unethical, but it is also a danger to the nation, when people trained in firearms develop a feeling of hopelessness, which can lead to bloodshed and violence against fellow Americans out of desperation and mental illness.

If we continue to mistreat our veterans, as well as make victims of single mothers and their children, we are losing our long term future of peace and tranquility, and the pursuit of the elusive “American Dream!”

Educators Should NOT Be Responsible For Security, Or To Carry Guns!

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As an educator, it is clear to this author that it is totally insane to expect or suggest that educators, whether teachers or administrators, should have as part of their responsibility, to carry guns, and be ready to use them against someone who is violent in a school situation!

Educators are not paid enough, and are mistreated and disrespected enough as it is, and particularly in Republican controlled states, and now they should become security guards as well?

Many educators would object to the concept that students would be aware that they have deadly weapons on their person or nearby, as that is NOT the proper educational environment, whether elementary school, middle school, high school or a college or university!

Education is designed to reach reason, humanity, thoughtfulness, consideration of the value of human life, It is not designed to act as police officers or military personnel. And many teachers and administrators might over react in a crisis, and lead to the death of more people as a result, including themselves!

Under no circumstances would I ever consider learning about guns, as I have no desire to do so, and no educator should be expected to do so!

Hire uniformed police officers, full time, and military veterans as well, as long as they have been fully investigated as to whether they might have psychological problems, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from combat!

The job of educators is to educate, not be a crime fighting force!

So Texas Congressman, Republican Louie Gohmert, himself a certifiable whacko lunatic, should be totally dismissed as reckless and dangerous, with his ridiculous suggestion of the arming of educators!

Shocking Figures: Every 80 Minutes, A Military Suicide!

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New information reveals the shocking statistic that every 80 minutes, 18 times a day, 6,570 times a year on the average, a person in the military, or a veteran, commits suicide due to depression, caused by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Some shoot themselves; others take pills; others stab themselves; others drive their car into an accident; others set themselves up to be hit by auto traffic or a train or truck; others jump to their death.

Our reaction to this wave of suicides is inadequate, as the military attempts, while a soldier on duty, or when he is a veteran, to avoid the responsibility to help these people, as it is costly.

And there is supposed to be the attitude of dealing with mental problems on one’s own, as to admit psychological or mental problems is seen as a weakness, particularly among males, part of the “macho” image that, sadly, exists, in American society.

Often, these people do not just take themselves down, but also their wives, children, friends, or total strangers, as too often they go berserk in public places, such as shopping malls, work places, and college campuses.

This is a clear and present danger to the society, as well as to these unfortunate heroes who have sacrificed for their country, and are not being treated with dignity and compassion!

Allen West Goes Rogue: Calls 80 Democratic House Members “Communists”! The Rise Of A Black Joseph McCarthy!

Ronald 3 Comments

Florida Congressman Allen West, who defeated Congressman Ron Klein in 2010, and went on a rampage against Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, head of the Democratic National Committee, insulting her in the most despicable terms, is running for a new term in a newly created Congressional district in Northern Palm Beach County, as well as Martin and St Lucie Counties further north.

Holding a town meeting, the former Army Lieutenant Colonel, forced out of the military for his inappropriate behavior against an Iraqi detainee in 2003, went off the deep end literally, accusing 80 members of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives of being “Communists”, bringing back the ugly reminder of Wisconsin Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy, who ran rampant from February 1950 to December 1954, accusing everyone under the sun of being a Communist or sympathetic toward Communism, promoting the Red Scare, and in so doing, undermining the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations for nearly five years, until he was finally censured for his misbehavior after nearly five years of demagoguery!

Allen West is a literal wingnut, a whacko, a mentally ill person who has had undiagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and is behaving in a dangerous, aggressive manner, which requires complete denunciation by the House leadership of Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, as well as GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney!

But will this happen? Of course NOT, and the conservative radio talk show hosts and Fox News Channel will take advantage of his irresponsibility to spread the conspiracy theory and try to connect it to Barack Obama as well!

The lunatic fringe of the party is backing Allen West as a possible Vice Presidential nominee, with Sarah Palin and Herman Cain endorsing West for VP. Is there a need to say anything after that statement, that these two leading examples of totally unqualified political leaders would endorse someone just as dangerous and reckless as they are?

Were Romney to pick West, which he will not do, then we would have to order men in white coats to take him forcibly to a mental hospital for observation and testing!

Romney is not that impractical and crazy, but a repudiation by Romney and a censure of West in the House of Representatives, and a chorus of criticism from party members in the US Senate should be seen as a question of character and legitimacy, if the Republican party is to retain ANY respect with the American people!

Allen West needs to be silenced by the voters of his new congressional district, who have the great alternative of Patrick Erin Murphy to represent them in the 113th Congress!

Everyone, no matter where one lives, needs to contribute to Murphy to save that district and the nation any more public attention paid to this lunatic, dangerous, unstable, reckless excuse for a Congressman! The defeat of Allen West needs to be on the front burner for the next seven months!