Support the Troops? Then Senator Reid is the only option

I hope most of my readership understands that I try to keep this blog as apolitical as possible. I dislike dividing people in that way, and not just because some of my best friends from high school, college, and the Army disagree with my politics. I'm a liberal, sure, but I love God, guns, and freedom as much as the next American. (I'm being 100% serious about all of that.)

So why am I posting this? Because Sharron Angle scares me that much.

It's not her politics. Nor is it her cultivated persona. I simply don't find her to be a person of substance, and that infuriates me as a Nevadan and as an American citizen. Being a United States Senator is a BIG deal. Whether we send our best and brightest to Congress is a different issue altogether, but that's what we should aspire for. And after watching her hollow, shallow, and yes, tacky, performance tonight at the debate with Senator Reid, I decided to post this piece here. I expect some ugly "discourse" in the comments section between anonymous assholes, because hey, that's what makes the Internet great. Just do me a favor, and read this piece understanding the perspective of the person who wrote it - a young veteran from Nevada who wants those that govern him to be for something, rather than against everything.

One last note: I submitted this to every major newspaper in the state of Nevada, and it is structured for such a format. I never heard back from a one of them. Maybe it's because I'm no longer living there (though still voting there!), maybe it's because their editors hate Irish people, or maybe it's because the piece exceeded the maximum word count for a letter to the editor by 800 or so words. Who knows.

     Like most Nevadans, I’ve observed our Senatorial race between Harry Reid and Sharron Angle with great interest and concern. Inevitably, most media outlets chronicle this race in terms of national impact; for Nevadans however, the results of this election will be felt far more locally and personally. As an Iraq War veteran who served in the U.S. Army in Baghdad Province from 2007-09, I’ve paid particular attention to each candidate’s handling of veterans’ issues. And though I’ve had occasional misgivings with Senator Reid’s body of work over the years, I’ve come to realize that his support of military veterans and their families has remained steadfast and clear, while Angle’s understanding of the concerns of a modern all-volunteer force – specifically her recent suggestion that we should privatize the Department of Veterans Affairs, a statement she subsequently backtracked from – leaves much to be desired. As both a voter and as a veteran, it seems clear that if one supports the troops, casting a vote for Reid – and against Angle – is the only viable option. 
     I’m no Reid mouthpiece. I’ve argued heatedly with various Reid supporters on our Senator’s stances over the years, particularly when Senator Reid criticized General Petraeus and the Surge in Iraq in 2007, something I ended up participating in as a scout platoon leader. But though Senator Reid’s opinion on this strategic maneuver differed with mine, his positive impact on the lives of Nevada’s veterans cannot be ignored. His support and cosponsoring of the Post-9/11 GI Bill in 2008 provided a new generation of combat veterans educational opportunities in line with those provided the World War II and Vietnam veterans; it’s easy to say that veterans deserve more education benefits, but Senator Reid, as the majority leader, made it happen. Further, his campaign to bring a new, state of the art veterans’ hospital to southern Nevada will be complete in 2012. This VA facility will ensure that Nevada’s physically and mentally injured veterans will receive more timely and accessible care. Again, it’s easy to say such platitudes, it’s quite another to produce a pragmatic solution for such. Senator Reid did so.
     Conversely, Sharron Angle claimed she wants to abolish our current VA system, before then stating she had never said such a thing at all. Just to be clear, getting rid of our current VA system would include the aforementioned new facility. When I first read her quotation on privatizing the VA, I was shocked that any serious candidate for political office would ever say such a thing, let alone say such a thing in a time of war. So I sought out the interview and studied the context of her statement. It does appear that her statement was made in passing, and the question of whether or not she has actually given this careful thought lingers. But she broached the topic, nonetheless, so I began to think what such privatizing of the VA would mean. On the surface, it satisfies vague, pithy catchphrases like “big government is bad” and “private healthcare is better than public healthcare.”  But I’m not sure what such a proposition would accomplish beyond that. If Angle's "plan" were to actually go through, standardized treatments and definitions for things like TBI (traumatic brain injury) and PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) would be left up to subjective interpretation. Veterans at a VA clinic in Reno might not receive as good of treatment as veterans at a VA clinic in Las Vegas, even though the have the same issues, because some local bureaucrat ordered the wrong equipment. And mental health counselors wouldn't all be keyed into a unified community, to swap experiences of what works and what doesn't work - something beyond vital given the rising suicide statistics of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
     The VA is clearly not infallible. Its reputation as a slow-moving institution is well chronicled and deserved. But it does a lot of wonderful things that often get overlooked – I’ve seen it firsthand with some of my former soldiers. When the goal of an organization is to make money, I understand the call for privatization. But while the VA should strive for efficiency, that's not why it exists. One of the greatest benefits of VA hospitals is the veterans’ community it creates; it's well documented that healing in a group environment is vital for vets' recovery processes, be them for physical or mental wounds. Further, regular hospitals aren't necessarily equipped to deal with the unique conditions war veterans bring, while VA doctors, nurses, administrators, and mental health counselors deal with nothing else. I can't imagine how isolated a vet would feel if he went to a local hospital, run by and surrounded by civilians, seen by doctors who may not have any background or expertise with veteran treatment. And that’s exactly what would happen if the Department of Veterans Affairs were privatized.
     I’m sure Sharron Angle has no ill will toward Nevada’s military veterans, and supports the troops in her own way. I’m also inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt and think that her call for VA privatization was either a misstatement or rushed. But she said it, and her subsequent assertion that she hadn’t is both misleading and confounding, considering the interview in question occurred on the record. Even in the best of light, her statement comes across as reckless and dangerous to the veteran community of Nevada. For us, these policies are our lifelines, and why Senator Reid will be getting my vote come Election Day.