The GOP and Lassie

Recently after listening to yet more blatant lies from Fox “News” and Republican Congressmen, my wife asked me, “Why do they do that? Why do they say things that are so easily shown to be false?” Easy question, I told her, “Because it works.”

I borrowed Duane Campbell’s words from his letter of May 29 to illustrate the Republican tactic of asking rhetorical questions as a pointless attempt to make a point. In his letter, he asks multiple questions from the GOP playbook on Benghazi, not seeking answers, but merely to sound serious. Benghazi has been thoroughly investigated and the conclusions from multiple investigations over 20 months were that there was no cover-up or conspiracy. To show that Campbell was not looking for answers, in the on-line comments section of the Review’s letters section, answers to Campbell’s questions were thoughtfully and respectfully presented by a writer who goes by “subscriber2”. Campbell’s on-line reply was “I love to engage on issues, and I almost never do this, but ... you are simply too misinformed to bother with.” (Note that the ellipsis are his, not mine. I left nothing out.)

His reply would be the same regardless of the answers to his questions. In the old TV show “Lassie”, when Timmy got in trouble, Lassie would go to Timmy’s mother or father and bark until he got their attention. They would ask something like, “What is it Lassie? Is Timmy in trouble? Did he fall in the well again?” Campbell’s tactic, and that of the GOP, is similar to Lassie’s barking, except that there is no Timmy, there is no trouble, and there is no well -- only noise.

Recent GOP noise (and from their propaganda arm Fox “News”) is mostly about Benghazi, making the poor suffer so they stop being poor, and helping the rich and powerful. Obama Care and the IRS non-scandal dropped off of their radar because Obama Care is doing just fine, and the IRS non-scandal is, well, not a scandal. The latest noise will still be mostly Benghazi, but will include the Veterans Administration scandal.

The VA has been an issue over many decades and administrations, from decomposed bodies in 1992 near a Virginia VA Medical Center to a 1977 report by the National Academy of Sciences that VA services were “inefficient and often in poor quality.” The turnaround started in 1989 when Ronald Reagan elevated the VA to cabinet level. The New England Journal of Medicine (in 2003), and the Annals of Internal Medicine (in 2004) both reported that VA patients appear to receive higher-quality care than those in other health systems.

What happened to the Veterans Health Administration over the last decade? In 2003, George Bush invaded Iraq based on manipulated intelligence and blatant lies, and wasted between $1 trillion and $2 trillion dollars with thousands of U.S. forces killed, and tens of thousands wounded. Yet the Bush administration cut taxes, went to war with inadequate armor, and with inadequate manpower. The GOP then failed to provide for the care of the men and women that they sent into Bush’s war of choice, thus overwhelming the VA health care system that was supposed to provide this care. Also, according to VA inspector general reports, federal officials were aware of VA record falsification in 2005 during Bush’s 2nd term.

Recently, the GOP led cuts to food stamps affecting 900,000 veterans.Twenty-four Republican-controlled states refused to expand Medicaid affecting 258,000 veterans. In February, 41 Republican Senators filibustered a bill to enhance health, education, and training for veterans, affecting 22 million veterans. Any attempts to increase funding for care of veterans will be derailed by the Republican policy to obstruct anything that would help this Democratic administration.

So when you hear Benghazi, think Lassie. When you hear about the VA scandal, think about how the GOP refuses to care for American men and women when they return home broken. No Timmy, no trouble, no well -- only noise.

(Link to letter)

JLF