The VA Scandal is Different: This One Will Stick

Commentators often called President Reagan the “Teflon President.” Nothing would stick to him. The mainstream media is an avid supporter of President Obama so they do not let scandals attach to him. They usually ignore, or downplay them. VAGate is different. Fast and Furious – ATF gun running to Mexican gangs with a Border agent killed. No big deal – it’s just a partisan Republican attack on the Attorney General. IRSGate – what’s wrong with the Administration and Democratic Senators colluding with the IRS to silence the Tea Party? The media abhors the Tea Party and indeed, all conservatives. One of the grounds for impeachment against President Nixon was that he attempted, but failed, to use the IRS against political enemies. The Obama Administration succeeded, but for a “good purpose.” Benghazi – that’s old news. Everyone in D.C. knows both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton failed the 3:00am phone call test, and then blamed it on a video, which no one had ever seen. The media response was to collectively dump on Governor Romney for attempting to make an issue out of it during the 2012 Presidential Election. NSA - It had some traction, but disappeared. ObamaCare - The Obama Administration has declared the enrollments as a success. Therefore it must be a success. And now comes VAGate with regional offices cooking the books and wait times for appointments, and then the Phoenix office receiving bonuses for their efficiency. Phoenix is, at least to date, ground zero of the VA scandal. Phoenix, Fort Collins, Cheyenne, Austin, San Antonio, St. Louis, Columbia, South Carolina, Gainesville, Florida. It’s contagious. Criminal behavior has occurred. VAGate is different. Every politician understands that you don’t mess with our veterans. It’s bipartisan, non-partisan, Democrats and Republicans. They understand you don’t kill the veterans. It doesn’t matter the politics of the patient, nor the race, religion, ethnicity, or gender. A vet is a vet. The Veterans Administration has a checkered record with providing services to our veterans. Medical care has sometimes been spotty. But now it’s the VA bureaucracy keeping our vets from obtaining medical care, and then covering it up. They are more efficient at covering up than providing services, but you can’t dig a hole deep enough to cover this one up. The stench is too great. Veterans Secretary, General Eric Shinseki, today tried to defuse the growing scandal by firing Dr. Robert Petzel, Under Secretary for Health. The “firing” fueled the flames once it came out that Dr. Petzel announced last year that he was retiring this year. The VA has spent almost $500 million on furniture in recent years, but deliberately, systematically concealed its inability to treat our veterans. Government healthcare in action!