SUPPORT THE TROOPS...REALLY

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) is spreading the word that Republicans defeated a Democratic attempt to address the $1 billion shortfall in this year's VA budget for veteran health care.

This is disgraceful, but they keep getting away with it. Just let them shout, "Support the troops!" and that's sufficient to cover a multitude of sins: failure to provide sufficient armor and ammunition for our soldiers, slashing veterans' benefits. If veterans, and current military, would just think about it, it's evidence of a huge disrespect on the part of the Rethugs. They obviously think the military is so uber-patriotic (or moronic) that they'll offer their bodies as sacrifice no matter what...so doing right by them doesn't matter. They can apply themselves to more important, and urgent priorities, such as tax cuts for billionaires, legislation to restore Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, and constitutional amendments forbidding gay marriage and the burning of flags.

I'm sick of the spectacle of hypocrites wearing yellow ribbons on their lapels and weeping great crocodile tears over our fighting men and women even as they decry the Democratic Party as "appeasers" who are undermining our military's morale and putting our troops in jeopardy. Then they go out and say, "Tough luck, kid, but we lost so much revenue from our tax cuts and spent so much on our missile defense systems that don't work that there's nothing left to spend on your health. And so sorry, by the way, that you lost your legs because you had to use sandbags you scrounged to armor your Humvee."

This should be an issue tied around the Bush administration's neck and weighted down with an anchor.

UPDATE: This subject is today's "Daily Outrage" at The Nation.