Despite Knowledge Of Deplorable Conditions, Rep. Young Praised Army’s Top Medical Official
Despite Knowledge Of Deplorable Conditions, Rep. Young Praised Army’s Top Medical Official
In today’s Washington Post, Rep. Bill Young (R-FL) admits that he has known of the neglect and deplorable conditions at Walter Reed for years, but didn’t do anything because when he approached hospital officials, they made him “feel very uncomfortable.”
Young’s excuse is pathetic. From 1999-2005, he served as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, which controls all federal discretionary spending. Young could have easily subpoenaed the Army and conducted a thorough public investigation.
The real problem may be that Young was too close to Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, a key figure in this scandal, to take action. On Jan. 19, 2007 — years after Young had learned of the neglect but one month before the Washington Post revealed it to the public — Kiley testified before a House subcommittee. Young reminisced about how he had known Kiley “very, very well over the years,” and praised him as “committed to providing our war heroes with the very, very best medical care that is possible.”
YOUNG: Well, Mr. Chairman, I want to join you in welcoming our guests and our witnesses today, having known especially Don Arthur and General Kiley very, very well over the years. I thought they’d get tired of seeing us in their hospitals. And we haven’t had as much opportunity to visit with the Air Force, General. But I know that these gentlemen are committed to providing our war heroes with the very, very best medical care that is possible.
But as today’s Post shows, Rep. Young’s wife Beverly (and presumably Young himself) knew that Kiley was a key figure responsible for the neglect:
Beverly Young said she complained to Kiley several times. She once visited a soldier who was lying in urine on his mattress pad in the hospital. When a nurse ignored her, Young said, “I went flying down to Kevin Kiley’s office again, and got nowhere. He has skirted this stuff for five years and blamed everyone else.”
Young said that even after Kiley left Walter Reed to become the Army’s surgeon general, “if anything could have been done to correct problems, he could have done it.”
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Why is the system afraid to check itself and find balance? IT MUST BE BROKEN, JEEZ.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:33 pmAnd here I thought “support the troops” meant that you were thankful of their service and wanted to make personal sacrifices (financial and otherwise) so that they are as safe as possible when in harm’s way, and then give them the best care possible when they return home. Silly me! In reality, it means you wear a T-Shirt. I should have known…
March 1st, 2007 at 12:33 pmKeep digging ThinkProgress! Right into a whole!
March 1st, 2007 at 12:39 pmA whole what?
March 1st, 2007 at 12:44 pmRep. Bill Young (R-FL) admits that he has known of the neglect and deplorable conditions at Walter Reed for years, but didn’t do anything because when he approached hospital officials, they made him “feel very uncomfortable.â€
March 1st, 2007 at 12:45 pmWell, let’s say you come across a convulsing person, alone, having a grand mal seizure.
Yes, the situation may be uncomfortable, but you don’t just walk away! You friggin’ do something, even if it involves calling 911 on your priceless cell phone!
Freakin’ Idjit!!!
McCain Says U.S. Lives ‘Wasted’ in Iraq
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/03/01/politics/p074811S21.DTL&type=politics
Didnt Obama apologize for saying this not long ago?
Just another example of democrats unwilling to call out the truth and stick with it.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:46 pmKeep digging ThinkProgress! Right into a whole!
Comment by old Red Neck
Right into a whole what?
A whole mess of disaster for the republicans?
March 1st, 2007 at 12:47 pmthis kind of treatment has been going on for years. it just so happened the first gulf war vets started the process and now that bush sent the entire military to war NOONE can hide from the truth. i’ll say it again, from experience and still experiencing it. the va is set up to either get rid of you through the medical board or kill you through their shotty services. we call it the ‘chop shop’ for a reason.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:47 pmand lets not forget about our vietnam vets that have been suffering for years under these va services.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:47 pmHAHA HA!
THE DEMOCRAT PARTY SUPPORTS THE TROOPS?
I DON’T THINK SO.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070301/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq
March 1st, 2007 at 12:56 pmI don’t know about any “Democrat” party, but I do know that the Democratic Party wants the troops home, better paid, and taken care of. This “Democrat Party” you speak of sounds bad.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:59 pmwe call it the ‘chop shop’ for a reason.
Comment by bs
Yeah, they tend to try to cure a hangnail by taking it off at the knee.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:01 pmIt has gotten worst in the last 6 years, though, much worst.
HAHA HA!
THE DEMOCRAT PARTY SUPPORTS THE TROOPS?
I DON’T THINK SO.
http://news.yahoo.com/ s/ ap/ 20070301/ ap_on_go_co/ us_iraq
Comment by ballbuster — March 1, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
let me tell you something from a vet. NOONE SUPPORTS THE VETS BUT OTHER VETS and those who know them to hear the horror stories coming out of there. to hell with the dems and the repubs and the indep. and all the fricken jerk offs on capitol hill.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:04 pmTHE DEMOCRAT PARTY SUPPORTS THE TROOPS?
I DON’T THINK SO.
Comment by ballbuster
Not one comment on the way the wounded is treated from you?
March 1st, 2007 at 1:07 pmNo outrage?
This crap is happening under George Bush ( R ) you moron.
YOU do not support the troops.
You are one sick f*cking a$$hole.
It has gotten worst in the last 6 years, though, much worst.
Comment by Wayne — March 1, 2007 @ 1:01 pm
you’re absolutely right. and what is so sad is that the influx of vets is only going to put a ‘lockdown’ on the system to where they literally will get lost.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:09 pmHAHA HA!! back at you nut lover. You don’t even read your own links.
and later in the same link
So maybe your last sentence should be adjusted to be more accurate of your mental capabilities:
I DON’T THINK. SO
March 1st, 2007 at 1:10 pmNo, no you don’t understand – Kiley has been punished – he didn’t get the Medal of Honor like Bremer, et.al. Anyway, according to Sec. Nicholson, most of there are just there for dental work. (Satire)
March 1st, 2007 at 1:15 pmComment by hellinabucket
it shows the cherry picking they still do………
March 1st, 2007 at 1:17 pmHey! ThinkProgress “stole” my thunder! (Just kidding) This is what I posted on the “ThinkFast” thread on 11:30 this morning:
‘In 2004, Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and his wife stopped visiting the wounded at Walter Reed out of frustration. Young said he voiced concerns to commanders over troubling incidents he witnessed but was rebuffed or ignored. “When Bev or I would bring problems to the attention of authorities of Walter Reed, we were made to feel very uncomfortable,†said Young, who began visiting the wounded recuperating at other facilities.
Beverly Young said she complained to Kiley several times. She once visited a soldier who was lying in urine on his mattress pad in the hospital. When a nurse ignored her, Young said, “I went flying down to Kevin Kiley’s office again, and got nowhere. He has skirted this stuff for five years and blamed everyone else.â€â€˜
Shameful. While it is all well and good that Young was outraged at the deplorable conditions, he shouldn’t have let his frustrations just make him stop visiting. He should have publicly aired his concerns to the media and other members of Congress. This whole story is a national disgrace.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:19 pmComment by Exley — March 1, 2007 @ 11:35 am
He should have publicly aired his concerns to the media and other members of Congress. This whole story is a national disgrace.
Comment by Exley — March 1, 2007 @ 11:35 am
absolutely. shiiiiit. you couldn’t get swat to remove me or gag order to shut me up. so why did he? punk, coward……maybe?
March 1st, 2007 at 1:25 pmShameful. While it is all well and good that Young was outraged at the deplorable conditions, he shouldn’t have let his frustrations just make him stop visiting. He should have publicly aired his concerns to the media and other members of Congress. This whole story is a national disgrace.
Comment by Exley
Notice Young was chairman for the Appropriations Committee and did not address this in his committee at all. He put party before the welfare of the war wounded, plain and simple.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:26 pmLike I have said since I have been posting here, for all their rhetoric Republicans in reality do NOT support the troops.
oh, and TP kids, check this out. under every Democrat Party president the DOD was consistently underfunded. This per your beloved socialist PBS show NOW.
http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/defensedollars.html
CLICK ON THE CHART
March 1st, 2007 at 1:27 pmHe should have publicly aired his concerns to the media and other members of Congress. This whole story is a national disgrace.
Comment by Exley
But that would break the eleventh commandment: never speak ill of another republican — and the rubberstamps would never criticize the republican commander in chief. Young was simply being another a good republican, instead of being a good American.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:29 pmI guess this means that Bush will award this thug the “medal of honor” now??
March 1st, 2007 at 1:32 pmthen what’s all the bloviating by the democrat party about? more smoke and mirrors to make you moonbats think the democrat party is anti-war.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:34 pm#22 Barfly,
I can’t and don’t defend Young here. Quite the opposite.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:34 pmThe ole’ BIUTR….(brush all the garbage under the rug if it involves Rethuglicans….) at play – so what else is new? This is the standard MO these days in the administration, WH, and GOP. Everyone now knows their “game” so the gig is finally up for them.
The more protracted the convolutions on the war in Iraq combined with the obvious “Iraq redux” in Iran (ho hum – yawn – this game is getting old and worn out!), the less the chances are for a Rethuglican candidate to ever get into office for the next couple of decades!
Keep it rollin’ reichwingnuts! Time is on the side of the Dems on this one. The Iraq War will roll over any Rethug as though he isn’t even visible in 08! Let the good times roll!
March 1st, 2007 at 1:36 pmRep. Bill Young (R-FL) admits that he has known of the neglect and deplorable conditions at Walter Reed for years, but didn’t do anything because when he approached hospital officials, they made him “feel very uncomfortable.â€
Florida, do your duty. People like this do not deserve to sit in Congress.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:37 pmJust saw on mainstream media that McInsane is totally “tanking” in the polls – down to some new nadir of an abysmally low 28% – guess this old greatgrandpa doesn’t have a chance now. Besides, who wants another flipflopper speaking out of both sides of the same orifice? (or is it office?).
March 1st, 2007 at 1:37 pmBTW, the Rethugs have the copyright on the word “bloviators” – they’ve patented the word as a synonym for Republican.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:38 pmBill Young will become the next ’scapegoat’ for this disaster at Walter Reed – “conscious ignorance” (or is it ‘ignorant’ which aptly describes this individual) – and will definitely be voted out next time ’round.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:39 pm$85 billion more?
March 1st, 2007 at 1:40 pmThat must mean the Democrat party is Pro War. What else could that mean?
ballbuster, more like pimpleonass. What do you think operating costs for the military are. By the way, the Democrats have been pushing for a larger military to be able to better defend this country. That would mean an increase in the budget. They just aren’t going to give the Dick n Bush group any more blank checks and they are turning on all the lights on all the republican shadow crawlers that have been screwing this country while hiding behind the fake fear they peddle.
You don’t think. So there.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:47 pmSo, does the TP crowd support more defense funding or not? I’m so confused as to what the democrat party stands for.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:47 pmcheck out this link, maybe you’ll see what I’m talking about. Click on the chart and it will show you the history of defense spending per president. Cuz see, dem presidents always cut the defense budget. but now the dems want to give a republican president $85 billion more?
Makes him uncomfortable? What does he think the wounded are feeling?
March 1st, 2007 at 1:56 pmThat must mean the Democrat party is Pro War. What else could that mean?
Comment by ballbuster
It means that instead of caring about the veterans you are trying to attack Democrats at the expense of the wounded veterans.
March 1st, 2007 at 2:18 pmYou are the lowest scum
And even if we tell you, you will pretend to not get it, so we won’t, so you don’t have to.
March 1st, 2007 at 2:48 pmballbusted doesn’t think. Doesn’t link, completely stinks and his party is in the drink. Chairman for the Appropriations Committee and looks the other way about the deplorable conditions our soldiers live in at Walter Reed. No excuse. This is a Republican disaster and hangs on the head of the President on down.
Shake all you want squashed testicle, there’s no escaping it. Your party has failed this country.
March 1st, 2007 at 2:57 pmBill Young and his wife Beverly love to shed crocodile tears over the wounded vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan yet the Congressman has fully supported the illegal invasion, failed occupation and subsequent murder of hundreds of thousands of Iraquis and failed to rein in the bushchaneyrumsfeltd war machine.
The reason he failed to take action long ago is that Young is a republican who would never attempt to fix a problem if it “embarrassed” his buddy in the White House. On Veteran’s Day I went to an event in Clearwater, Florida and listened to him spew the same tired rethoric about “winning the war against the islamists…blah blah blah so we don’t have to fight them here”….bunch of hogwash. When he came off the podium I told him to bring the troops home NOW !
March 1st, 2007 at 3:02 pmHe gave me his patented smile, redolent of the old con politico that he is and moved on…….
Its time for the people of Pinellas County Florida to send this man to a well deserved retirement.
Bill Young–THE TYPICAL GOOD Bushland Uber Allies NAZI-FASCIST TOADY–”I see nothing! I know nothing!” Sgt. Schultz to a T– A TURD, THAT IS!!!!!
March 1st, 2007 at 3:49 pmWhy do Republicans hate the troops?
March 1st, 2007 at 3:59 pmFunny, but ol’ Bill wasn’t uncomfortable at all when he threw a hissy fit because his wife was asked to leave the 2006 State of the Union. He didn’t complain that Cindy Sheehan was detained for wearing a printed t-shirt, but his wife was asked to leave for the one she was wearing. Poor brave, mistreated Mrs. Young.
Guess Bill will raise the roof, if he believes in the cause…
Pathetic.
March 1st, 2007 at 4:28 pmLook at this joker. pulls out his “support the troops” t-shirt (The NeoCons Holygrail) and thinks this makes him an American, and a legislator no less!
He should be shot.
March 1st, 2007 at 6:43 pmZetaTalk: Human Condition
Note: written July 5, 1995
The human condition, on Earth at this time, is deliberately one of confusion. We will examine several situations that may help to clarify the issues at play.
First, humans desire security. The human condition is insecure. From birth, or particularly at birth, the human is acutely aware of its insecure position. Nude, tiny, unable to navigate, utterly dependent on others. The human infant wants to dominate those it is dependent upon. It is natural for the human to want to dominate its environment. The human wants to control the climate, the seasons. Homes are structured to provide summer warmth year round. Food is grown or at least provided as though harvest season were year round. Storms have no effect, nor do catastrophes have effect. There is social security, the umbrella of government aid. Floods and hurricanes are but another reason to open the government coffers. All this is evidence that the human wants to dominate its environment.
Second, the desire to dominate goes outside of inanimate factors. The human wants to dominate the other humans in its vicinity. Starting with the infant’s desire to dominate its mother, all her attention, and on to the stage of public opinion, the human desires to be the focus of attention. The infant wants its cry to bring immediate attention. The adult want its comments to bring rapt attention from others in the conversation group. No difference. Those who can command attention will get their needs met – so goes the logic. The infant displaced by a younger sibling is insecure, as it is no longer the focus of attention.
Third, love comes into play. Love, or empathy, is something felt at an early age. Empathy is not an emotion reserved for the intelligent, sentient being alone. Love and empathy are felt by all forms of life, even plant life, to some degree. It is a factor of life. It is intrinsic to life. Love and empathy pull the human into a conflict situation with its desire for security, to be the center of attention. Decisions are made to share the spotlight, to share resources. These decisions vary greatly, among humans. Some humans consider others on the same plane as the self. Other humans rarely, if ever, consider others, and never on the same plane as the self.
March 1st, 2007 at 7:25 pmhttp://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3456
————————————————————–
War Resisters — Support the Troops Who Refuse to Fight
The Army has re-filed charges against Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq, following mistrial. Find out the latest developments in his case and how you can help.
It takes courage to say that you will not fight — especially if you are a soldier. As more members of the U.S. military step forward for peace, the peace movement must step forward to support them.
Large numbers are now refusing to serve: The Department of Defense estimates that there are about 8,000 AWOL service members. The GI Rights Hotline http://www.girights.objector.org/
(800-394-9544) is currently receiving about 3,000 calls a month.
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:07 amhttp://www.vcnv.org/project/the-occupation-project
The Occupation Project
THE OCCUPATION PROJECT is a new effort initiated by UFPJ member organization Voices for Creative Nonviolence. The plan is to unfold a campaign of sustained nonviolent civil disobedience aimed at ending the U.S. war in and occupation of Iraq. The campaign begins with occupations at the offices of Representatives and Senators who refuse to pledge to vote against additional war funding.
Several UFPJ member groups, including CodePink, Peace Action, Veterans for Peace, After Downing Street, and a host of local groups from North Carolina to Alaska are all involved in this effort. United for Peace and Justice, as a national coalition, has also endorsed The Occupation Project.
Your group can find out more about this initiative, including how you can get involved, by visiting their website. Or you can contact the organizers via phone at 773-878-3815 or via email, occupationproject at vcnv.org
—————————————————————–
And if you haven’t already:
Click here and sign Peace Action’s “No War with Iran!” petition today!
http://www.peace-action.org/Iranpetition.html
This petition to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice rejects any U.S. military action against Iran and demands direct negotiations. Copies will go to Chairs of the Senate
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:45 amI never comment on these sites – but this issue makes my skill crawl. Kiley needs to fess up and retire from the military. Admit there is someone who can do the job better than he can – because apparently he didn’t do it well the first time. The politics of the Army – someone always has to be the scapegoat, and someone has to be the saver. I think this time the Army has got it in reverse.
March 5th, 2007 at 3:13 pmWait,,,, He “Knew about” the deplorable conditions ? Good citizens of Florida on this blog….please tell us your plans to impeach this piece of sh_it.
March 7th, 2007 at 11:04 pm[...] responded to Young’s complaints. Nevertheless, as ThinkProgress noted last week, Young was publicly praising Kiley during a congressional hearing as recently as January: YOUNG: Well, Mr. Chairman, I want to join [...]
March 8th, 2007 at 10:39 am