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GOP 'outraged' over VA mess?

Jon Talton is a former colleague — and current friend — of yours truly.

He writes a blog that is at times biting and always insightful.

His link here discusses the resignation of Eric Shinseki as head of the Department of Veterans Affairs, but it contains a single sentence relating to Republican outrage over what’s happened at the VA.

http://www.roguecolumnist.com/rogue_columnist/

Jon’s point about the GOP’s phony outrage is spot on.

Granted, Shinseki needed to take the fall for what’s happened at the VA health care system. Much of this mess happened on his watch, but not all of it.

Perhaps just as outrageous, though, has been the reaction by congressional Republican leaders over Shinseki’s departure. They’ve said it’s not enough that the VA secretary leave office. They want more heads to roll.

And this is all coming from the same do-nothings who have refused to give financial support to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Let’s remember this. The stingy lawmakers, those who express their undying support for our veterans while refusing to authorize the expenditures needed to give them the help they deserve, now are seeking to channel every shred of blame to the individuals they have hamstrung with their stinginess.

As my pal Talton notes in his blog, “The episode is full of irony and hypocrisy.”

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Seliger may be in a bind

Texas state Sen. Kel Seliger just might find himself in a tough spot as the general election campaign gets going full blast.

He’s an Amarillo Republican who’s already beaten back a stout challenge from his right. Former Midland Mayor Mike Canon lost narrowly to Seliger in the GOP primary in March. One of Canon’s top back-room advisers is a guy named Michael Quinn Sullivan, an arch-conservative activist who is believed to have talked Canon into running against Seliger.

The senator has no love — or even a modicum of “like” — for Sullivan. He’s said so publicly.

So, who do you think is one of Sullivan’s top stable horses this year? State Sen. Dan Patrick, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, the guy who wants to preside over the Texas Senate where he and, oh yes, Seliger serve. Patrick faces a probable slugfest this fall running against Democratic nominee, another state senator, Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio.

Here’s the quandary.

Suppose Patrick ventures to the Texas Panhandle this summer and fall to look for votes. Who will appear with him on a stage, at a dinner dais, at a Labor Day picnic or a political rally at, say, Dick Bivins Stadium? Will it be the senator from Texas Senate District 31, who has a known disdain for one of Patrick’s main backers?

I tend to think not.

Whatever support Patrick gets from the Panhandle — and it will be substantial, given this region’s strongly Republican leanings — he’ll likely have to acquire it without Seliger’s help.

Unless, of course, Seliger changes his heart and mind and climbs aboard the Patrick bandwagon.

Don’t laugh. Politicians of both parties have been known over many years to have these “awakenings” when the spirit — and the thought of choice committee assignments — moves them.

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Russia pulls back

It turns out Russia is backing away from its border with Ukraine.

The Russians have pulled back all but 2,000 of the 40,000 or so troops it had massed on its Ukraine border after the Ukrainians elected Petro Poroshenko as their next president.

The Russians said they would respect the Ukrainians’ vote.

Gosh, that’s big of ’em, don’t you think?

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/nearly-all-russian-troops-ukraine-border-withdrawn-u-s-officials-n118846

I’ve been cautiously optimistic that the Russians might come to their senses and avoid invading Ukraine if the vote didn’t go the way the Russians wanted. Many critics of U.S. and European Union policy toward this crisis have suggested the Russians weren’t cowed at all by economic sanctions imposed because of their interference with Ukraine’s sovereign affairs.

I am believing the sanctions have brought enough pain to the Russians that they are thinking twice about their previous intentions to muscle their way into Ukrainian domestic politics.

It’s hardly time to lift the sanctions, even though the Russians are pulling troops and heavy arms away from Ukraine. I trust the United States will continue to take a dim view of Russians’ bullying.

Have the Russians possibly blinked in the face of pressure? It’s quite possible. Their Soviet forebears did it during the Cuban Missile Crisis, remember?

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Retirement in name only

Let’s call Mike McGee’s departure as head of the Amarillo Animal Control operation what it is: a “retirement” in name only.

McGee didn’t “retire” the way most of us understand the term. He was shoved out, asked to leave, perhaps told to hit the road.

By my way of seeing things, he should have gotten the boot when allegations erupted over mistreatment of animals that were being euthanized at the shelter.

City Manager Jarrett Atkinson put McGee and his chief deputy, Shannon Barlow, on “administrative leave,” meaning they were getting paid while letting someone else do their job — and while a Randall County grand jury investigated whether to indict anyone for criminal wrongdoing.

Well, McGee is gone. His “retirement,” announced Thursday, is effective today. Interesting, eh?

The fact that the city implemented serious changes in the euthanasia methods for unwanted animals carries the implication that the former way was wrong, if not illegal. Who was responsible for that? The guy in charge … McGee. Let’s throw Barlow into that category as well.

And when the guy in charge is running a publicly funded operation in a way that cries out for change, that suggests he isn’t doing his job. Isn’t that correct? Thus, he and his top assistant both should have been canned.

Now he’s “retired.” McGee’s troubles might not be over. The grand jury is supposed to decide perhaps by June 11 whether to indict anyone for crimes involving the Animal Control Department. McGee and Barlow appear to be the individuals on the hot seat.

This story appears to be far from over.

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Next VA visit will be, um, interesting

They had to schedule my next visit to the Thomas Creek Veterans Medical Center in Amarillo amid all this turmoil.

They just had to do it.

I’ll be there Tuesday morning, just as the sun is coming up. It’s a routine visit, but it comes in the midst of all this national discussion/debate/quarreling/backbiting over the care veterans have been getting.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has quit as the scandal keeps roiling over the deaths of vets in Phoenix, Ariz. The system is a mess. Wait times are unacceptably long, so long in fact that it cost those Phoenix vets their lives … allegedly.

I’ll go in early Tuesday and will sit in a waiting room with other vets. Gosh, I wonder what they’ll be talking about. How it’s President Obama’s fault? How the system has been messed up for decades? How they’re happy with the care they’ve gotten? How they hope the Creek medical center here in Amarillo isn’t among those where patient care is being delayed beyond all reason?

You know, that last item — the status of the VA center here — has been on my mind.

I’m a fairly new VA enrollee, having just gotten into the system a year ago.

So far, I’ve been deliriously happy with the treatment I’ve gotten. It’s been prompt. My wait times for routine visits have been minimal. The staff has been respectful — and they have expressed thanks for my service to the country, inconsequential as it was.

I’ve also been blessed with excellent health. I have no serious medical issues. My visit Tuesday will be routine, or so I am presuming.

Thus, none of the issues plaguing the system apply to my own health needs.

It is my sincerest hope that it will remain that way after I leave the VA hospital.

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House cleaning begins at VA

Eric Shinseki had to go.

Of that there was zero doubt. The decorated retired four-star Army general served his country with honor on the battlefield, but his new assignment — as secretary of veterans affairs — became too bloody a political battle for him to continue on.

He quit today.

Let the overhaul commence in earnest.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/barack-obama-to-talk-eric-shinseki-veterans-affairs-va-scandal-live-kelly-ripa-michael-strahan-107245.html?hp=lh_b2

Shinseki has left a department in absolute chaos. The VA has been scandalized by reports of veterans dying while awaiting health care and by allegations that staffers drafted bogus wait times to cover up their mistakes. This happened on Shinseki’s watch as a Cabinet secretary.

He had to quit.

The next veterans affairs secretary will inherit an agency that will have commenced a thorough top-to-bottom review. There needs to be an accounting of what happened, who did it and there ought to be criminal charges brought if it’s proven that their negligence resulted directly in the deaths of any of those estimated 40 veterans.

Every official in Washington — from President Obama down through the chain of command — keep saying they honor the service our veterans perform for the country. The VA health care system has let many of them down. The system has let down an entire country that has talked the talk, but failed to deliver on all those expressions of gratitude.

I am saddened that Gen. Shinseki has taken the hit on this one. However, someone has to be accountable. He came to office vowing to take care of our veterans. His agency hasn’t kept its promise.

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Guns and booze

Jeff Swanson is going to require the baddest bouncer on Earth when he starts serving alcohol at the gun range he operates in Oklahoma.

Swanson operates the Wilshire Gun Range, which recently received permission from the Oklahoma City Council to serve alcohol on the premises.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bullets-booze-oklahoma-gun-range-awarded-liquor-license-n117976

Someone needs to explain this one to me.

He’ll be serving alcohol, but once someone buys the beverage, they’ll be disallowed from going onto the firing range itself.

Guns and alcohol don’t mix, Swanson said. True enough.

The council vote as 6-3. One of the “no” votes came from Larry McAtee, who said, “Alcohol is legal and guns are legal. I have a problem with mixing the two.”

Still, Swanson said anyone who orders a drink will have his or her driver’s license scanned, it will be flagged and the individual will be disallowed from going to where they’re firing weapons.

The proprietor had better hire people with the sharpest eyes and ears possible to enforce the rules at his gun range. This decision makes me nervous.

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Kerrey can fix VA

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of bringing in a decorated former Navy SEAL to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs out of a major scandal.

Bob Kerrey’s name has been floated as a possible replacement for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, whose days as head of the massive agency clearly are numbered.

Shinseki isn’t saying he’s going to quit. President Obama isn’t saying he’s going to fire the retired Army general and former Army chief of staff. The writing on the proverbial wall needs no translation: Shinseki cannot stay on.

The VA has been shown to be negligent — perhaps criminally so — in its treatment of veterans. There have been deaths because of too-lengthy wait times for health care, fabricated records and what’s been called a “systemic” breakdown all along the way.

Bob Kerrey is a former Democratic senator from Nebraska. He fought in Vietnam — as did Shinseki. The one-time naval officer received the Medal of Honor for valor and heroism and lost a leg on the battlefield.

Kerrey is a bona fide war hero with many friends still in the Senate. He would be confirmed almost unanimously.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is in dire need of an extreme makeover. No one near the top of the chain of command can do it. They’re all tainted now by what’s been revealed.

Some fresh ideas, new sharp vision and some kick-butt attitude are what’s needed at the troubled Cabinet agency.

Why not give Bob Kerrey a chance to repair the damage?

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Another retirement milestone reached

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This is the latest in an occasional series of blog posts commenting on impending retirement.

I love it when decisions make our paths a little clearer.

My wife and I made another key retirement decision the other day. It’s a tentative one, but we made it nonetheless.

I am reluctant to divulge the details of the decision, because circumstances might force us to change our plans. The decision involves when we plan to sell our home in Amarillo and move southeast, to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Why there? I believe I’ve mentioned our granddaughter, her two big brothers, our son and daughter-in-law, correct? Well, there you have it. They live there. We want to be nearby.

OK, why not spill the beans? I don’t want to go on record — just yet — on our intentions. Plans have a way of changing suddenly, depending on a lot of matters relating to health and finances — or a combination of both. We intend to inform certain family members of our plans upon request.

We’ve already decided when I’ll start drawing Social Security retirement. My wife already is drawing her Social Security income. I’m going to soon begin receiving a monthly pension from a newspaper company where I worked for nearly 11 years before coming to Amarillo. I’ve got these two part-time jobs, one of which I’ll be able to continue doing after we make our move.

The stars are lining up pretty well for us — at this time.

We’ve learned, though, never to take life for granted. Unforeseen things happen. Neither of us is clairvoyant, so we cannot know what the future — immediate or longer term — holds for us.

Suffice to say that if certain things remain stable, if we maintain our excellent health, if se are able to sell our home in a reasonable amount of time — and at a reasonable price — then we’re out of here.

Our baby granddaughter already is growing up too quickly.

Knowing, though, that another key decision is now — more or less — out of the way, we’re looking ever more happily toward the future.

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Thornberry to hit talk-show circuit?

I cannot help but wonder about the exposure U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry of little ol’ Clarendon, Texas is going to get now that he’s positioned to become the next chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

This is a major committee assignment. It involves funding for our troops, the men and women who defend us against bad guys. It involves deciding which weapons to finance and what levels of related financial support Americans will pay.

Thornberry is going to lead a critically important committee when the next Congress convenes — assuming, of course, he’s re-elected this fall. He’ll win re-election. Bet on it.

For almost all of Thornberry’s nearly two decades in Congress, he’s been a proverbial “back bencher.” He doesn’t make much news. He doesn’t hog the spotlight the way, say, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Peter King and Chuck Schumer do.

That might change now that Thornberry prepares to take the gavel from retiring Chairman Buck McKeon.

Those Sunday news talk show hosts are going to want to know the particulars of what the Armed Services Committee is planning for the next Congress. The military has been in the news, as President Obama has announced plans to end our combat role in Afghanistan. There’ll be plenty of discussion of redeploying our military assets. There’ll be talk about a probable reduced military footprint abroad.

These topics will be right in the wheelhouse of the Armed Services Committee chairman. That means you, Rep. Thornberry.

The veteran Republican lawmaker has been sitting on the back bench long enough. It’s time to step up, tell us what you think and where you intend to lead this critical congressional panel.

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