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Topic: BillO's comments on Veterans
| Author | Message |
| frielpaco | Posted – 1/24/2008 6:57:06 AM | show profile I was absolutely outraged watching BillO's segment on homeless veterans last night. He acted like a complete elitist, first class citizen, uncompassionate jerk. He doesn't care about the well being of our troops and veterans. John Edwards is absolutely right on this issue. This should not be a left v. right issue. This should be an American issue. But BillO's hate for the democratic party has blinded him to seeing the truth. He should be praising John Edwards for his work to bring this to the public's attention. But considering its BillO, I'm not suprised. I am calling on every veteran in America to condemn the comments of BillO. We as Americans should be outraged about this. First there was the comments that Shawn Hornbeck, who was abducted at the age of 11 and suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a sexual predator (someone BillO claims to fight agianst), "liked... his circumstances." Then there was the comments that he was shocked African American citizens can behave in a restraunt. And now this. This man should not have a TV show. We as Americans, wether we be on the left or right, should be outraged. |
| Iron Eagle | Posted – 1/24/2008 12:59:18 PM | show profile Tom Baldwin in Washington More American military veterans have been committing suicide than US soldiers have been dying in Iraq, it was claimed yesterday. At least 6,256 US veterans took their lives in 2005, at an average of 17 a day, according to figures broadcast last night. Former servicemen are more than twice as likely than the rest of the population to commit suicide. Such statistics compare to the total of 3,863 American military deaths in Iraq since the invasion in 2003 - an average of 2.4 a day, according to the website ICasualties.org. The rate of suicides among veterans prompted claims that the US was suffering from a ?mental health epidemic? ? often linked to post-traumatic stress. Related Links Government ?gave public false hopes? on Iraq Saving the soldiers we neglect 'Virtual Iraq' helps US troops overcome trauma CBS News claime |
| UncleArthur | Posted – 1/24/2008 1:31:52 PM | show profile "As mentioned by the experts over 90% of the homeless (including the vets) are in their situation due to severe drug/alcohol issues and/or mental health issues." Frank, do you honestly believe that the drug/alcohol/mental health issues are unrelated to being deployed to Iraq? IE that the vets who have these problems would have had them if they had been, say, state-side school teachers? Honestly? |
| jazzreport | Posted – 1/24/2008 1:40:14 PM | show profile All this is going on while the Democrats do nothing.I thought they where elected to make change. |
| UncleArthur | Posted – 1/24/2008 2:09:32 PM | show profile well, Frank, either way, it's still Bush's fault. |
| chucho | Posted – 1/24/2008 2:30:12 PM | show profile Who cares what BillO said or not. Bush cut Veteran benefits, even reducing the monthly checks for wives of soldiers abroad. So instead of debated what some cable news opinion-monkey says how about discussing why wounded vets were paying for their won meals at Walter Reade until some congressman's wife (if I recall correctly a Republican wife of a congressman) raised a stink about it. This how pathetic the discourse has become in our country. We're arguing over the provocative things a ratings-whore said or didn't say or what he meant or didn't mean. Who gives a damn bedsides the 22 Percenters and old farts that BillO panders to? |
| jazzreport | Posted – 1/24/2008 2:36:01 PM | show profile Its a shame how the democrats acted during the Vietnam War. They didn't take care of our Vets,instead they burned flags and spit on our Vets. Now they act like they really care.Theses Democrat cowards will do anything for a vote. |
| jazzreport | Posted – 1/24/2008 3:22:08 PM | show profile I wish the Democrats would help "theses people".I voted Democrat because i thought they would change the direction of this country.They have done little or nothing. |
| chucho | Posted – 1/25/2008 5:53:50 AM | show profile Frank: We already established that BillO's most watched program is the 8 p.m. (or 7 p.m. -- I can't remember) timeslot and that a vast majority of his veiwers are 60+. The same source that says BillO beats KO in 24-54 also points out that most of his viewers are 60+. We already discussed this with links in another thread. You are correct that BillO also beats KO in other demographics. I never argued that -- as I've said a few times: progressives are less likely to watch opinion-affirming programming and more likely to draw news from things they READ rather than from ratings-obsessed teevee opinion-and-character driven news programming. Furthermore, progressives are more likely to criticize their leadership than conservatives. And finally: we live in a LIBERAL WESTERN DEMOCRACY founded by agnostic humanists. If you want to live in a CONSERVATIVE NON-WESTERN OLIGARCHY then move to Saudi Arabia. |
| frielpaco | Posted – 1/25/2008 12:15:07 PM | show profile I do not appreciate you referring to Mr. Obama as "B. Hussein Obama." I think its racist and I think your doing it to try to equate him with a terrorist. Be above that kind of politics. |
| chucho | Posted – 1/25/2008 12:40:15 PM | show profile >> ...I just wanted to point out how veterans overwhelmingly vote republican. << According to a poll by Peter Feaver (Duke Univeristy) I recall reading a few months ago, veterans are like 36 percent Republican to 32 percent Democrat (I'm working from memory, so the numbers might be a little off, but certainly not "overwhelming" in favor of the GOP) while the rest are Independents and affiliated with smaller parties. (Certainly you find a lot of Vietnam vets joining libertarian and MIA polticial groups or not participating, and are usually pretty cynical about either the "Tide" or the "Cheer" parties that have both cut Veteran benefits). What you mean is that enlisted soldiers vote Republican almost 2-1 over Democrats. (Ironically, the Democratic recently discharged vets seem to be far more politically active, though, with WAY more Democratic vets running for elected office. Gee! I wonder why!!) And the fact we're working with an all-volunteer army MIGHT, JUST MIIIIGHT have something to do with why the enlisted men are voting Republican. Like, gee, I don't know, maybe they volunteered to fight because they're Republicans (with principles, I might add, rather than these chickenhawk jerks attending Young Republican conferences). DUH! As usual, once you do a little research, the curtain is pulled away and suddenly the over-simplified statements are revealed for what they are. |
| jazzreport | Posted – 1/25/2008 12:45:18 PM | show profile Barack Hussein Obama, Jr is his full name.So why is it racist to call him by his full name?? This is why i say liberalism is the same has fascism.. Liberals try to tell you what to say and think.Can't say this, can't be for that,can't do that. |
| jazzreport | Posted – 1/25/2008 1:04:32 PM | show profile We like to think we're in a free country.We like to think we have the right to free speech. If you believe in this than Bill O' should be debated and the subject should be talked about. There shouldn't be any double standards. But they are. The double standards come from the Democrats and liberal MSM . BOR,John G., FNC are the ones you go after. No one ever goes after Air America,Daily Kos, and other sites. It scares me to see the way Imus was taken off the air,all the attempts to take BOR off the air , and the way others are treated. I don't like Imus, Don't agree with BIll O' alot, but they should be debated not taken of the air cause you disagree with what they are saying. Democrats talk about how Bush is creating a fascist state ,but they ingore how they are attempting to silence those they disagree with. |
| Iron Eagle | Posted – 1/25/2008 1:24:18 PM | show profile This is not the original jazzreport - this is another Olby tactic that isn't going to fly. Scrap this name for eternity. It's been used and discarded. |
| chucho | Posted – 1/25/2008 1:44:22 PM | show profile Frank, you said "veterans overwhelmingly vote republican." So I was reply to that. I don't deny that people inclined toward authoritarian-type positions (particularly in security and military) are less likely to vote Kucinich. But when you talk about veteran it's a completely different deal. Veterans often get sick of the whole political process, so to lump them in and say they vote "overwhelmingly" for a political party that has undeniably cut benefits (whether the Dems do it too or not is irrelevant here: you're the one that lumped them in as overwhelmingly Republican). So if you mean something else, just say "sorry, I meant the military". Also, I have no idea how policemen tend to vote. I'd be interested in knowing how you know that they are "overwhelmingly" Republican. The military is different deal: because it's a volunteer army. Cops are a pretty diverse set of people. I doubt a Georgia HiPo officer can be so easily lumped in with a black Brooklyn street cop. I think you're just making a "common knowledge" assumption and I would like to see some sources for that. |
| chucho | Posted – 1/25/2008 2:26:33 PM | show profile How delightfully jingoistic of you. |
| chucho | Posted – 1/25/2008 2:32:54 PM | show profile PS: Veterans Face Consecutive Budget Cuts By Andrew Taylor The Associated Press Monday 12 February 2007 Washington - The Bush administration plans to cut funding for veterans' health care two years from now - even as badly wounded troops returning from Iraq could overwhelm the system. Bush is using the cuts, critics say, to help fulfill his pledge to balance the budget by 2012. After an increase sought for next year, the Bush budget would turn current trends on their head. Even though the cost of providing medical care to veterans has been growing rapidly - by more than 10 percent in many years - White House budget documents assume consecutive cutbacks in 2009 and 2010 and a freeze thereafter. The proposed cuts are unrealistic in light of recent VA budget trends - its medical care budget has risen every year for two decades and 83 percent in the six years since Bush took office - sowing suspicion that the White House is simply making them up to make its long-term deficit figures look better. "Either the administration is willingly proposing massive cuts in VA health care," said Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas, chairman of the panel overseeing the VA's budget. "Or its promise of a balanced budget by 2012 is based on completely unrealistic assumptions." |
| newyorker | Posted – 1/25/2008 3:02:10 PM | show profile Bill O is very anti-homeless. I remember a few years ago on his show, he kept ranting about how unfair it is that he is walking down the street with his kids and to see a bum sitting on the corner of the street or in front of a church. Im not sure if he is aware that he is living in NYC, but whatever. Whether vets or not, Bill O just wants all homeless to disappear. He doesnt care how or about the problems associated with shelters or with the public mental health care system. |
| chucho | Posted – 1/26/2008 10:17:29 AM | show profile Frank, have you been to Syria? Damascus is really pretty. John The Baptist is buried in a mosque there. I have a friend - a white American who has written some pretty major stuff on ME politics who would disagree with your crass and jingoistic characterizations. As I suggested in another thread: you should step back from the teevee wonkery and stop parroting the talking points being poured into your skull. Nobody here agrees with Syria channeling arms to Hezbollah, and to siggest that progressives support this is not only condescending but and outrageous insult -- far more offensive than any name calling; the equivalent of calling Ameirca an "enemy state" because some Republican neo-cons channeling arms to right wing dictatorships in Latin America in the 70s and 80s. A little perspective (rather than racehorse blinders) is necessary to understanding complex geopolitical issues, especially in the Middle East. You can't lean anything by listening to the bloviating and oversimplification of the complex that you see on FNS, CNN OR MSNBC. I have three Syrian friends, and I find it racist, condescending, elitist and ignorant for you to label them the enemy of freedom, whatever the heck that means. At the very least you can begin to understand that Syria is not a LIBERAL WESTERN DEMOCRACY (that you apparently oppose since you hate liberalism so much) and therefore to label the people there as the enemy with your obscene reductionism is pretty pathetic, in my opinion. Either that or your just being provocative in an immature attempt to raise the hackles of the evil liberals on this board by calling them Hezbollah supporters. Which is it? |
| chucho | Posted – 1/27/2008 5:33:22 AM | show profile You mean facts like this? Republicans support the troops - not thier enemies. In other words "Liberal support Hezbollah"? If you accused me of supporting the enemy in a bar I'd ask you step outside and tell it to my face so I could show you how wrong you are. There's is absolutely no justification for accusing liberals of supporting terrorism. You need to clarify this. Do you agree with the following statement: "I do not think that people who do not agree with Republicans are supporters of terrorism." Do you agree with that statement, or are you a jerk and beyond redemption? You see, people like you who say things like "Republicans support the troops - not their enemies" are a genuine part of the problem. And the day will come when my fellow progressive will not longer tolerate this crap. You see, the thing I don't like about board censorship, is that accusing me of supporting terrorism is well within the boundaries (supposedly) of civilized dialogue. But it isn't. It's far more insidious when 22 percent of America feels this way. It;s the kind of thinking that leads to fascism, and then, as usual, as history has shown, whenever fascism starts to rear it's disgusting head, the progressives have to rise up with guns in hand and start shotting the fascists. Both sides end up with blood on their hands, but eventually progressives win and fascists are pushed back into their little holes. Then it starts all over again: starting with labeling other citizens as the enemy. And here we go again. . . Are you really that kind of tool? |
| stvj57 | Posted – 2/4/2008 5:42:06 AM | show profile frielpaco Posted ? 1/25/2008 12:15:07 PM | show profile I do not appreciate you referring to Mr. Obama as "B. Hussein Obama." I think its racist and I think your doing it to try to equate him with a terrorist. Be above that kind of politics. no, calling him "buckwheat" obama in any context other than to try to get under your skin or to prove a point would be racist. vote obama and osama in '08. lmao. |
| chucho | Posted – 2/4/2008 8:41:11 AM | show profile >> said that the reason we have so many homeless vets is because of BOOOOOSH and the "bad" economy. BOR featured guests from both homeless advocacy and veterans groups to dispell this L-I-E. As mentioned by the experts over 90% of the homeless (including the vets) are in their situation due to severe drug/alcohol issues and/or mental health issues. << Wow, just when you think Frank can't be any more offensive and vile (like saying Democrats sympathize with terrorists) he comes out to say that that the substance abuse of war veterans are the cause of their problem rather than their symptoms. Meanwhile the BOOOOOOSH Administration has proposed charging some veterans a $250 annual fee for access to medical services provided by the Veterans Administration and more than doubling the copayment for prescription drugs from $7 to $15. The new fees would apply to single veterans making more than $26,000 annually and married veterans making about $30,000 annually. In addition, the Bush administration budget would significantly reduce federal support for state-operated veterans homes and impose new limitations on who can be admitted. NOT TO MENTION the $15 BILLION cut in I think 2003 (it might have been 2002 or 2004, as I am wokring form memory) and trying to make veterans in the hospital recuperating from their wounds pay for their own friggin meals. He's also reduced monthly payments to war wives. It is absolutely appalling for Frank to defend BillO by saying the vets are responsible for their own problems because they're drug addicts and alcoholic. This is a truly, nauseating and vile thing to say in defense of some stupid opinion program. |
| jazzreport | Posted – 2/4/2008 8:42:54 AM | show profile I think it's racist that you don't say his full name Barack Hussein Obama ,Jr.. Why are democrats scared of his name?? |
| chucho | Posted – 2/4/2008 8:45:01 AM | show profile In fact, I get enough of a kick out of it that I will be forwarding it to my college friend who just saw his PTSD medication get more expensive recently. He was "stop lossed three times" in Iraq. Now he's out, and is haivng trouble finding work. I'll see if he wants to respond to Frank vile perspective that veterans' drug addictions are the problem not the underlying psychological issues that, perhaps, LED TO THE F**KING ADDICTIONS IN THE FIRST PLACE. God, that is really vile, no matter how you look at it. I'm curious what an actual Iraq vet thinks of this as he's waiting in line for counseling. I really get pissed when these chickenhawks like Fank make comments like this especially when I'm seeing a college buddy crash and burn because of whatever happened to him in Iraq. |
| Iron Eagle | Posted – 2/4/2008 9:15:40 AM | show profile Great clip of veterans trying to present Billo with a list of 17,000 signatures against his remarks denegrating homeless veterans. The guy is such a coward he wouldn't even meet with them. |
