Don't take me to Walter Reed

Walter Reed Army Medical Center is in very hot water and justifiably so. It's been treating wounded U.S. soldiers quite horribly. From CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Witnesses told a House panel Monday that wounded U.S. soldiers are forced to struggle against a nightmarish and untrustworthy Army medical system that leaves veterans stranded in unfit conditions.

Two Iraq war veterans and the wife of a third gave heartbreaking, at times stunning, tales of neglect at the now notorious Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The panel was convened in the wake of a scandal triggered by The Washington Post's detailing of problems at the hospital. (Full story)

And the president learned about it in the Washington Post. That's odd. He's admitted that he doesn't read the papers.

So they send soldiers into the meat grinder and call anyone who questions the war a traitor. The soldiers come back wounded and with shell shock and get crappy treatment. Very nice.

Reminds me of two things. One, an interview with a Republican candidate for president. As his party is wont to do, he kept saying "all life is sacred." Apparently this doesn't apply Iraqis or soldiers. (I know, I know it's not his fault but all the same!)

It also reminded me of Michael Penn's song, Walter Reed. It's not overtly anti war but you get the point (see/hear at YouTube):

Count the cases piled up high
For the 1:15.
For platform and for passerby
It's the same routine.
I'm ranting while I'm raving,
There's nothing here worth saving.

Tell me now, what more do you need?
Take me to Walter Reed tonight.
Baby I've lost the will for fighting
Over everything.
Well there's a few things I gotta say
And make no mistake, I'm mad...
'Cause every good thing I've had
Abandoned me.

All I want to do is hide.
It's graduation day
And everything I learned inside
Didn't seem to pay.
I've had my fill of palm trees
And lighting up Grauman's Chinese.

I'm the walking wounded
And I'd say it to your face
But I can't find my place.