I hate to say we are in a winter storm situation. This will impact outside persons comming to the event I am sure. Thankfully we have 250+ units in our facility, so there will be no travel involved for most. I am still looking forward to a reasonable turnout.
It is a bit of a shame however. I was in hope of providing the opportunity for all those around the area that could not attend such community meetings due to lack of space. Perhaps another community gathering could be scheduled for when the weather is more accomodating.
We have also incorporated the Obama-Biden Healthcare initiative into this community meting. While we did have healthcare incorporated into the agenda, the healthcare will be getting some additional attention during the meeting. I am sure there will be few to object.
I do wish there were some sort of additional feedback from the Obama organization for this project. I appreciate the automation, but some of the materials provided on the links were a bit dated. As an organizer, I do feel a bit in the dark. We have not even heard from our local Obama PAC. We do plan to press on however.
Greetings all and thank you for reading this blog. At this time we are creating an event we hope many will come to participate in. We have been fortunate enough to secure a facility for 150 people to have seats but we can squeeze a few extra into the space if needed. We have noticed many of the small gatherings can facilitate perhaps 20 persons, and they have been turning people away. Now we have the space for meaningful numbers, so if you are in the Portland area, then come on and sign up for the event.
As our soon to be President said, we have the person in the White House to facilitate change, but we still need the people to make it happen. He cannot do it himself, and we all know how Congress and the Senate are rife with special interests and agendas for the status quo. Change HAS to come from US. We have to be prepared to voice our desire for change from the grass roots level. We HAVE to participate in this change, instead of leaving it for others to do for us. We have to be ready to let the career politicians who would stand for the ststus quo, know that we will not stand for obstruction to the plan we are developing here in the trenches of our neighborhoods.
I'm an old vet. Not too old, but old enough to remember what it was like for the Viet Nam vets that came home after their tour of service. No I didn't kill any babies, or wipe out any villages. It wasn't always pleasant. Not everyone appreciated that many if not most vets were drafted. My draft number was 280 something, so I cannot claim that I was drafted into the war. I did however feel that many of the people that did serve, did so out of a commitment to the country. A service that was not popular, but none the less necessary. For many of us it was the necessity to respond to the needs of the country, even in a time, when many saw the country as being in the wrong. Right or wrong, it was still the United States of America. Few thought to support the vets in that day. I am well pleased that the times have changed, and the new vets are recognized by people that don't even like the current war we are in.
"My country right or wrong" was a slogan bandied about in the day. It still holds true for many of us from that era. I do get to chat with some of the "old timers" from that era, and frankly it rings odd for me to call ourselves old timers. I hear of a few that were in the Korean conflict. Now they ARE old. I get to see the new vets too. It is a shame to see such young people in the VA system. A shame to see their lives changed by war. To be sure I do welcome the new vets, and wish there was a more pleasant reason we get to meet.
As for the VA, you couldn't find a better group of people working at the facilities. For some unfortunate few, that is the only world they have now. It is quite fortunate that the dedication of the VA staff is quite remarkable. It truly is a remarkable team of people, and they really make one feel proud to have served, no matter when that service to the country was rendered.
Now I have rambled a bit to get to my point. I wanted you to have a context for what I am about to say. Something has happened to the VA. Not something that the staff of the VA does, but what they have been told to do. For all of the older vets triage has been suspended. What this means is that the already over worked medical people in the VA system, has been told that whenever a new era vet shows up at the VA facility, no matter how simple the problem that may have brought them there, they take priority over older vets, even if triage dictates the older vet get care first.
I don't know of many older vets that are in any particular hurry, but a head cold in a new vet can knock out an older vet from care, no matter how serious or urgent the condition. A sort of "what have you done for me lately" policy has been inflicted on the VA system from on high.
We thought there would be problems when Bush cut the VA budget a few years ago. It did hurt the system, but the dedication of the VA staff was incredible. Then, after the cuts came down, the VA was opened up to the new veterans, that would have normally still been in the active duty system. They were welcomed by the staff, just as warmly as any could be. Us older vets even came to know many of the new people with their share of new stories.
Now this suspension of triage hasn't just hurt the older vets for the most part. It has sparked a trend in our area, that many of the good staff has been migrating out of the system. It seems that people in the medical field, don't like being told to suspend triage, for any patient. I have had occasion to talk with a few of the medical personnel. Some struggle against the system, but some have left, never to return. This hurts not just the "old timers" but it also hurts the new vets, as now staffing couldn't get any lower, and still be able to operate well enough to cover the needs of all of the patients.
I have come to believe there is a new war. It is here in America no less. There is a war waged against the VA, by an administration that wants to do the absolute minimum necessary for the VA. I am sorry that the Patriot, Senator McCain is on the very committee, that oversees the VA. I am sorry to see his being one of the people with pen in hand to cut down an organization that serves the veterans of this great country. I am sorry that us "old timers" haven't "done something lately" to curry the political favor of Washington.
Many of the staff at the VA has seen times when the budget has ebbed and flowed. It is a cycle that recurs as politics has changed over the years. This just didn't seem like the time for such cuts, then the additional demands that were then shoved upon the staff, have been incredible. I have seen the morale of some of the VA staff, cut in two. Right along with the budget cuts and now with the suspension of medical triage services for the "older vets".
I can only hope an administration of "change" can change what has happened to these good people of the VA. As far as I am concerned, the staff of the VA serve this country, just as much as the vets themselves. I have seen where some of the staff has been shuffled from one area to another to try to fill needs of the VA service. Much like military people are shuffled around for the needs of the service.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
