Seems every time VA Secretary “Battlefield Bob” McDonald or
his Deputy “Slow to
Combat” Slone Gibson open their mouths, they earn
Four (4) Pinocchios from the Washington Post Fact Checker and every day there
is another article where they are
caught doing nothing to fix the VA or fire “bad apples” in the department! Seems
they are not only consummate liars but have gone native becoming part of the VA
bureaucracy they were appointed to reform.
The problem is NOT money, it’s ineffective leadership at the top! It appears “Battlefield Bob”
suffers from “Clinton Syndrome” (The psychological disorder
rendering the sufferer incapable of being truthful).
Almost two years on the job and with expedited disciplinary action authorized yet neither have done anything to fix the VA problems and are more interested in protecting the VA workforce than rooting out evil. That’s what you get when you select faux-Vets like "Battlefield Bob" and “Slow to Combat” Slone as VA Leaders. Both are West Pointers that bailed out of uniform the very second they could after the payback time for their free education - without ever even serving in a combat zone let alone hearing a shot fired in anger. Neither even bothered to remain in the Reserves as doing so might someday subject them to danger! So much for "Duty - Honor - Country!" and “a Cadet does not lie, cheat nor steal!” Both faux-Vets have demonstrated they possess the requisite detachment to continue the VA’s absolute indifference towards Vets.
It’s time for both of them to Go! At least GEN Eric Shinseki, “Battlefield Bob’s” predecessor who was fired, was at least a well decorated combat Vet who was seriously wounded in action so had something in common with us real Vets. The only thing these two clowns now there have demonstrated was their ability to avoid combat under any circumstances.
So what keeps earning “Battlefield Bob” the coveted Four Pinocchios, he keeps lying about how many people he's fired....
Remember on NBC Meet the Press back on 15 Feb 2015, “Battlefield Bob” uttered this lie: “Nine hundred people have been fired since I became secretary. We’ve got 60 people that we fired who have manipulated wait times.”
Thankfully, within days the WaPo Fact Checker blew the whistle on “Battlefield Bob” and awarded him the prestigious 4 Pinocchios for wildly inflating his “firing” statistics. Then in the 6 Aug 2015 article Fact Checking a statement by Jeb Bush that Only Two people had been fired for anything related to the scandal, the Fact Checker found he was absolutely correct when he made the statement although as of 6 Aug that number had risen to THREE!
Back then I posted on this Blog my take on this incident and the actual Washington Post Fact Checker article (if you’re interested) at: http://old-soldier-colonel.blogspot.com/2015/02/ineffective-veterans-affairs-secretary.html
Now doubling down on his previous lie, “Battlefield Bob” told this whopper on 6 November 2015 during his speech at the National Press Club: “We have proposed disciplinary action against 300 individuals for manipulating scheduling.”
During this speech he even had the audacity to bemoan the lack of fact-checking of his assertions by saying: “I just wish that there would be more fact-checking on some of the numbers that are used, because there are a lot of myths out there.” Obviously, the biggest myth turns out to be “Battlefield Bob” is capable of telling the truth, even under oath! Maybe “Battlefield Bob” can file for VA benefits as he does suffer from “Clinton Syndrome."
Unfortunately, the Washington Post Fact Checker took “Battlefield Bob” up on his challenge and guess what, he again got his figures on wait-time manipulation disciplinary actions WRONG!
Seems the VA provides weekly updates to the House and Senate veterans affairs committees about proposed and completed employee disciplinary actions taken since June 3, 2014, “on any basis related to patient scheduling, record manipulation, appointment delays, and/or patient deaths."
Seems “Battlefield Bob” says he was citing numbers in the VA’s 29 Oct 2015 which listed 306 disciplinary actions but that number contained 20 probationary employees as well as cooks, food service workers, voucher examiners and transportation supervisors, none of whom had anything to do with what was required to be reported! Hence, the real number was 27 employees (one was a senior executive) had disciplinary actions proposed against them for patient wait-time manipulation and only three were successfully fired. The Senior Executive which was marked as successfully removed was actually fired for accepting improper gifts and not for “wait-time manipulation.”
This is the second time this year that the Washington Post Fact Checker has called “Battlefield Bob” out for inaccurately cited the disciplinary actions taken against VA employees for manipulating wait-time data and finding “a disturbing discrepancy” between the figure “Battlefield Bob” cited during the speech and the figure his agency is reporting to Congress.
It’s time for Faux-Vets “Battlefield Bob” McDonald and his Deputy “Slow to Combat” Slone Gibson to “hit the bricks” and hopefully President Obama can find a real Vet who actually cares about his fellow combat Vets to replace him and Fix the VA!
If you want to see what the Washington Post Fact Checker actually said, here is her entire article.
Almost two years on the job and with expedited disciplinary action authorized yet neither have done anything to fix the VA problems and are more interested in protecting the VA workforce than rooting out evil. That’s what you get when you select faux-Vets like "Battlefield Bob" and “Slow to Combat” Slone as VA Leaders. Both are West Pointers that bailed out of uniform the very second they could after the payback time for their free education - without ever even serving in a combat zone let alone hearing a shot fired in anger. Neither even bothered to remain in the Reserves as doing so might someday subject them to danger! So much for "Duty - Honor - Country!" and “a Cadet does not lie, cheat nor steal!” Both faux-Vets have demonstrated they possess the requisite detachment to continue the VA’s absolute indifference towards Vets.
It’s time for both of them to Go! At least GEN Eric Shinseki, “Battlefield Bob’s” predecessor who was fired, was at least a well decorated combat Vet who was seriously wounded in action so had something in common with us real Vets. The only thing these two clowns now there have demonstrated was their ability to avoid combat under any circumstances.
So what keeps earning “Battlefield Bob” the coveted Four Pinocchios, he keeps lying about how many people he's fired....
Remember on NBC Meet the Press back on 15 Feb 2015, “Battlefield Bob” uttered this lie: “Nine hundred people have been fired since I became secretary. We’ve got 60 people that we fired who have manipulated wait times.”
Thankfully, within days the WaPo Fact Checker blew the whistle on “Battlefield Bob” and awarded him the prestigious 4 Pinocchios for wildly inflating his “firing” statistics. Then in the 6 Aug 2015 article Fact Checking a statement by Jeb Bush that Only Two people had been fired for anything related to the scandal, the Fact Checker found he was absolutely correct when he made the statement although as of 6 Aug that number had risen to THREE!
Back then I posted on this Blog my take on this incident and the actual Washington Post Fact Checker article (if you’re interested) at: http://old-soldier-colonel.blogspot.com/2015/02/ineffective-veterans-affairs-secretary.html
Now doubling down on his previous lie, “Battlefield Bob” told this whopper on 6 November 2015 during his speech at the National Press Club: “We have proposed disciplinary action against 300 individuals for manipulating scheduling.”
During this speech he even had the audacity to bemoan the lack of fact-checking of his assertions by saying: “I just wish that there would be more fact-checking on some of the numbers that are used, because there are a lot of myths out there.” Obviously, the biggest myth turns out to be “Battlefield Bob” is capable of telling the truth, even under oath! Maybe “Battlefield Bob” can file for VA benefits as he does suffer from “Clinton Syndrome."
Unfortunately, the Washington Post Fact Checker took “Battlefield Bob” up on his challenge and guess what, he again got his figures on wait-time manipulation disciplinary actions WRONG!
Seems the VA provides weekly updates to the House and Senate veterans affairs committees about proposed and completed employee disciplinary actions taken since June 3, 2014, “on any basis related to patient scheduling, record manipulation, appointment delays, and/or patient deaths."
Seems “Battlefield Bob” says he was citing numbers in the VA’s 29 Oct 2015 which listed 306 disciplinary actions but that number contained 20 probationary employees as well as cooks, food service workers, voucher examiners and transportation supervisors, none of whom had anything to do with what was required to be reported! Hence, the real number was 27 employees (one was a senior executive) had disciplinary actions proposed against them for patient wait-time manipulation and only three were successfully fired. The Senior Executive which was marked as successfully removed was actually fired for accepting improper gifts and not for “wait-time manipulation.”
This is the second time this year that the Washington Post Fact Checker has called “Battlefield Bob” out for inaccurately cited the disciplinary actions taken against VA employees for manipulating wait-time data and finding “a disturbing discrepancy” between the figure “Battlefield Bob” cited during the speech and the figure his agency is reporting to Congress.
It’s time for Faux-Vets “Battlefield Bob” McDonald and his Deputy “Slow to Combat” Slone Gibson to “hit the bricks” and hopefully President Obama can find a real Vet who actually cares about his fellow combat Vets to replace him and Fix the VA!
If you want to see what the Washington Post Fact Checker actually said, here is her entire article.
Colonel, I've only met one West Pointer who was a decent human being. I don't know what they do to those cadets in Fantasy-Land-On-The-Hudson, but they come out with a massive sense of entitlement and a firm belief that West Pointers own the Army, and that the rest of us should just stand back and cheer.
ReplyDeleteWhen I finished with my enlisted service I thought I was done with those jerks. No chance. I had a West Pointer [and son of a general] in my law school class, and he confirmed every stereotype I ever had. However, in fairness I should mention that I also had an Air Force Academy grad in my law school class as well, and he was a fine man.
Lest you think I am an officer hater, I had some exceptional commanding officers in the Army. The best was a company commander who went to OCS because he needed more money to support his growing brood of children. He'd been an enlisted man long enough that there was nothing - absolutely nothing - that any soldier or sergeant could get past him.
On the other hand, there were others, such as the Lt. Colonel at the National Security Agency who gave me my exit interview from the Army Security Agency . He wanted me to stay in, which was entirely reasonable since the government had invested so much money in me. But he himself was retiring to avoid going to Vietnam. Needless to say, I didn't take our little chat very seriously.
A grizzled old infantry sergeant who had spent most of his career with the 82d and 101st Airborne divisions once schooled me on officers. He didn't like OCS graduates, although he allowed that they really knew how to conduct an inspection. "But they just don't know anything, and they think they know everything" was his judgement.
He advised me instead that ROTC officers were the best, because, although they didn't know anything, they were smart enough to ask questions and then LISTEN to the answer. Besides, he said, if they were smart enough to get through college, they were smart enough to get through the Army. I have to say I think he may have been right, as I dealt with a large number of excellent officers who came into the Army via ROTC.
As far as criticism of the DVA is concerned, I've been getting my medical care at VAMC Minneapolis for thirty years. In fact, I just had both of knees replaced there last year. The care I've received has certainly been satisfactory to me, and the administration of the Medical Center there is first-rate. So not all VA facilities are mismanaged.
Finally, I owe you my thanks for writing about the shamefully unknown sacrifices of Task Force Faith at the Chosin Reservoir. The Army, unfortunately, is much too modest for its own good and, unlike the Marine Corps, it doesn't do Hollywood style publicity campaigns. I wish more Americans knew of the sacrifices and the devotion to duty of Colonels Faith and Page.
I'm afraid that our soldiers in Afghanistan and those who fought in Iraq will be forgotten just as surely as those who fought in Korea and Vietnam have been. What a tragedy!