By now, I think that any Republicans caught driving with a "Support our military" ribbon on their cars should simply be dragged from their vehicles and clubbed like baby seals:
Wounded Soldier: Military Wants Part Of Bonus Back
The U.S. Military is demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments.
To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses up to $30,000 in some cases.
Now men and women who have lost arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and can no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back.
At this point, I'm surprised that returning wounded American vets aren't just taken out behind the barn to meet Dick Cheney and his shotgun.
(Wag of the tail to TPM, whose commenters enumerate how many ways the American military has been thoroughly fucked over by that chickenhawk administration.)
15 comments:
I think you have to be a lawyer for that honour...
I just heard on NPR that Bush 'pardoned' a turkey. (I won't even go there.) Then they announced that the turkey would be flown to Florida! Absolutely F*ing unbelievable! Paying to send a turkey to Florida to be in a Thanksgiving parade. Priorities, I guess.
Actually I believe a turkey is given a presidential pardon every year - you can't blame Bush for that one.
no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back.
What!!?
Mother fucker. Time to get out the writing to those assholes in Congress pen again. Good fucking grief. It's particularly sad to note that I'm hearing this on a Canadian blog and I've yet to hear anything from these rubes down here.
I just heard on NPR that Bush 'pardoned' a turkey. (I won't even go there.)
By Southern Quebec, at 7:16 AM
Eh.. they do that shit every year. It's stupid but it's one of those traditions that doesn't really make any sense or have any meaningful purpose but they keep doing every year anyway. Like chopping down a gorgeous 100 foot tall tree just so they can decorate it for the Presnit.
I do find that this year the annual 'pardoning of the turkey' has a particularly amusing irony to it given the Bush regime.
I'm feeling conspiratorial today, and I can't help but feel that the plan is to make the military as unattractive as possible in order to claim that the Government has no other choice but to rely increasingly on private sector mercenaries like Blackwater.
The point I was trying to make (on the turkey pardon story) was -- they are spending money to send the bird to FLORIDA! To a PARADE!
ti-guy - Spot on. That's not conspiracy theory, that's a Grover Norquist wet dream made real. Grind down any government system until it's so broken that privatizing is the only attractive option. It makes it easier for the plebes to accept Eric Prince and his highly paid Pinochet-trained goons as the new privately owned US forces.
Looks like a tempest in a teapot.
Too bad, boys, it was fun while it lasted.
http://kdka.com/kdkainvestigators/Iraq.veteran.bonuses.2.592432.html
abuabasabat:
I'm sure you have a point buried in there somewhere. Feel free to explain what it is.
Read the link and learn. Must everything be spoon fed to you?
Um ... and because the followup claimed that the original letter was a "mistake" ... you believe it? Seriously, is that the position you're taking here? I really want to know that that's what you're suggesting before I hold you up for ridicule in front of my entire readership.
So ... that's your story, is it?
Going back to the turkey story, I don't really mind the whole thing, it's a silly little thing to make folks happy. Not enough of that, really.
What got me the moment I read the story was, the turkey is about the only death row convict Bush has ever pardoned.
1. Making the US Army look bad is a mistake. I learned that the hard way.
2. Scooter only got a commutation.
3. It's a simple matter of contract. To qualify for the bonus, you have to perform. The fact that, through no fault of your own, you are unable to complete performance protects you from liability in tort, but the fact remains that where there is a failure of performance there is a breach of contract.
Seriously, do we get bent out of shape when a pro football player gets injured and has to drop out of football? What makes disabled veterans more important the pro football players? Or some guy who gets injured on the assembly line and can't do his job anymore? We're talking "ownership society" here where each person assumes responsibility for his own welfare rather than looking to the taxpayer for a free lunch.
You don't "support the troops" by pampering them and thereby depriving them of their dignity. You support the troops by supporting the commander in chief.
What makes disabled veterans more important the pro football players?
By The Seer, at 8:40 PM
The fact that they were willing to risk their asses and take a bullet on the off chance they might actually be put to a good use like defending their country.
We're talking "ownership society" here where each person assumes responsibility for his own welfare rather than looking to the taxpayer for a free lunch.
You're not talking about someone with 15 kids in a 'welfare Cadillac'. You're talking about someone who gave up a limb in honor of their nation. They deserve better than to be used up and tossed aside like a used condom when they can no longer 'perform'. Especially since their inability to perform was caused directly by the job they agreed to do despite the fact that it pays shit. They could just have easily joined Blackwater and made 5 times the amount of money and had better benefits.
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