Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Perhaps I'm not being fair.

Perhaps my opinion of what constitutes authentic support of our troops differs from that held by our Vice President. One look through his speeches and remarks, we quickly learn that he sure does talk a lot about supporting our troops:

No lack of found articles there. So, supporting the troops appears to be as important to him as it is to me. Why then the silence on PTSD? If we advocate for better diagnosis and treatment of PTSD for our troops (along with the funding of the Veterans Administration (VA) to be able to meet its soaring needs), isn't that one way we can show our honest support of them?

Apparently, Dick Cheney doesn't think so.

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OK, fine. I don't want to beat on a guy who's already down - even if it's Dick Cheney.

Let's take a look at other leading political figures. Are they as silent as our Vice President -- this administration -- is on this issue? Or do others speak out more on PTSD? Maybe we'll find there's an across-the-board silence on this issue -- that should go a ways towards absolving Dick Cheney, won't it?

How about Senator John Kerry. Is he silent on this issue?

Nope. 67 articles found including:

• Kerry Pushes to Provide Full Benefits to Vets Exposed to Agent Orange, Gulf War Syndrome, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, 04/18/2003
  
• John Kerry Says America Must Stand By Our Military, 02/14/2005
  
• Kerry Calls for Investigation into Department of Defense's Treatment of U.S. Troops, 03/06/03
  
• John Kerry and Senate Vets Pressure White House To Support Disabled Veterans, 12/02/02

And there are 63 more to choose from. So, John Kerry doesn't seem to have a problem talking about PTSD. Why does Dick Cheney?

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Now, John Kerry's just one man.

Are there other examples of Democratic officials unafraid of talking about PTSD, too? You bet there are. Feel free and take a look over at ePluribus Media where I've collected a number of choice quotes. One examination of them, and you'll see that the Democratic party walks the walk vs. just talking the talk when it comes to supporting our troops. Because if we're not willing as a nation to support those troops that are hurting the most, then who are we exactly protecting?

Oh, I think I can guess who we're protecting when we refuse to speak those 4 horrible letters: PTSD. It certainly isn't the troops. Our silence on the plight of our soldiers and marines returning with post-traumatic stress disorder only protects the very people who sent these people into battle.

So, if Cheney and Bush aren't talking about PTSD, what are they talking about?

1,422 speech and remark results for the search term: Terror.

And that's just for Dick Cheney.

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Many of you are familiar with my coverage of returning veteran PTSD. Inspired to increase exposure on this topic I've created a new blog called PTSD Combat: Winning the War Within.

I invite you to bookmark it and share it with others who may be returning from service overseas.