Is veteran suicide a thing?

In 2008, the Marines' 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines returned from Afghanistan. They were engaged in heavy combat the entire time they were there.

That year, the Battalion suffered 20 KIA, 160 WIA, including 30 amputees. Four Marines were awarded our nation's 2nd highest combat medal, the Navy Cross.

Since their return until 2022, 51 had committed suicide.

51. This is the story of an effort to put a stop to suicides..

I estimated it would take a week for the "All Star Game Clean-Up" to totally disappear. It didn't last that long.

As expected, with the All Star game an increasingly distant memory, Seattle resumes its position as the leading shithole in the state.

With typically incompetent leftist governments at both the city and state levels, did anyone expect anything else? There typically is/are shelters available. But relatively few take the opportunity.

I worked with homeless vets at a vet center. Imagine my surprise to discover that the majority of vets who are homeless want it that way.

Getting off the street requires rules. Cities like Seattle and Portland have adopted this "Shelter First" scam.

That is, they provide shelter, and you can continue to do drugs, blow off rehab, blow off training, blow off mental health help, blow off finding a job. Seattle and Washington State have spent tens of millions of our dollars on the program, and they point to a number of people in shelters and housing and so on.

But the vast majority of them are no better off than they were when they were homeless.

And until the homeless are forced to confront the causes of their homeless status?

It's all a waste.

That's why it was easy to figure out that anything done to put a happy face on Seattle to remove the "blight" of the homeless as if they didn't exist for the cameras, or the crimes they commit, their overdoses, the open air drug dealing would not have any permanent impact on the problem.

Government refuses to do what's necessary to address this problem.

Meanwhile, the homeless industry continues to explode because they claim they're actually "making a difference."

Are they really?

How many body bags do we need to see being taken out of these shelters that require zero accountability before somebody acts, before government does the unpleasent things that have to be done to make an impact here?

It would seem that once one is in the military, one can undergo free gender mutilation.

In 2021, the Potato-in-Chief signed an Executive Order to stick the taxpayers of this country not only with the total costs of gender butchery in the Army... COMPETE gender butchery.... but the subsequent long term disabilities that will inevitably result. 

As it is now, 100% disability pays a great many benefits, including around $3500 per month tax free... and free medical care for life, something not offered to other soldiers who have not been wounded in combat, who do not have a high enough disability rating or who were not wounded/injured during their service.

These surgeries are not trouble free. And because they took place while these people were on active duty, we, the People own them all.

Forever.

And some are taking advantage of it.

Transgender surgery is now free for military, thanks to Biden executive order

by Tori Richards, Investigative Reporter | 

 March 10, 2021 07:00 AM

Taxpayers will now foot the bill for gender reassignment surgery for active military personnel and veterans, with some treatments costing upward of $200,000 under an executive order signed by President Biden.

Tucked inside Biden’s Jan. 25 transgender order, “Enabling All Qualified Americans to Serve Their Country in Uniform,” is a clause that repeals an Obama-era policy that prohibited federally funded reassignment surgery. This was followed up by memos from both Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough specifically stating that surgery is now an added benefit.

“This revised policy will also ensure all medically-necessary transition related care authorized by law is available to all Service members,” Austin wrote.

In a VA email to employees, McDonough echoed: “Perform an assessment of the necessary steps to eliminate the exclusion of ‘gender alteration’ (gender affirmation surgery) in the medical benefits package.”

Neither official stated how much the added benefit would cost but rather pledged to undertake an analysis.

Six hours of testimony yesterday by two IRS agents on the Hunter Biden DOJ/IRS jam job

Six hours of testimony yesterday by two IRS agents (one, allegedly a democrat) laid bare what we all know: That the DOJ/IRS is weaponized against Republicans and defending the Bidens.

Look around. Where's the outrage? Where's the "statements" from local politicians like Wyden or Murray or Paypal?

I mean, the local media elements had no problem lining those same people up to spew their vitriol over, say, ending affirmative action in colleges (such as it is... as if the schools using skin color to exclude whites and Asians won't find some other way to continue that peculiar leftist practice) or applying the plain language lack of a Constitutional "right" on abortion to spew their vile and hate rhetoric at the Court specifically and Republicans generally.

In fact, I just goggled it to see if there were any public comments. Here's what I found:

Patty Murray - Nothing

Ron Wyden - Wyden's accomplishment to date?

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), a member of the Senate Finance Committee and a co-chairman of the Whistleblower Protection Caucus, is being denied access to the investigation by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the Washington Examiner has learned.

The cardboard cut-out of a congresswoman, #antifa sympathizer Marie Gluesenkamp Perez for Congress - Nothing

Senator Jeff Merkley - Nothing

Maria Cantwell - Nothing

Racist bigot congresswoman Pramila Jayapal - Nothing

But in the past, they've had SO MUCH to say.

Now?

Cricket chirps.

The evidence of criminal activity is overwhelming as is the evidence of DOJ/IRS and the media's efforts to cover it all up.

Leftist hypocrisy, as usual, reeks.

And nothing will come of any of this. If Joe Biden had axe-murdered a Girl Scout troop, these same scum would still support him... and democrats, if they said anything at all, would claim he tripped holding an axe multiple times and inflicted mortal blows as a result.

Meanwhile, the Biden Regime continues unencumbered by either the Constitution or law. And Congress does nothing except to continue their political games.

Biden's nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, who appears to be another of his affirmative action hires, also appears to be a racist.

God Knows the enemies of the United States who, given the opportunity, would destroy us as a nation without hesitation, have been given more than adequate reason to laugh hysterically at the unspeakable idiocy of our civilian leadership AND our reliance on generals promoted not so much for their military competence as they have been for their political reliability.

Not unlike the leadership of the Soviet military under Stalin.

Our country deserves the best leadership that can possibly be provided. The best policies. The best equipment. The best living conditions for the Forces and their families. The best training. The best facilities. The best of everything we can provide with the singular goal of fielding the finest fighting force in the world.

Period.

But while our enemies train to destroy us... While out enemies train with weapons and tactics...

We waste time on doing our best to socially engineer the members of the US Military to the point where we fall laughingly short of our enlistment and retention goals; primarily because of the CRT (Critical Race Theory)/DEI (Diversity/Equity/Inclusion) insanity rammed down the throats of the military, day in and day out is the order of the day.

Because we have wasted time and millions of dollars on the farce of training women for ground combat for YEARS while simultaneously refusing to ever deploy them in those roles (ever seen a woman with a Combat Infantry Badge? Why not? Women have been Infantry qualified and assigned since 2017.  Why is it none of them were ever assigned in ground combat units in Iraq or Afghanistan?) While expending additional millions on ineffective sexual harassment training and seminars as we simultaneously train our service members to believe they're misogynist and/or racist.

There can be no disagreement that Biden's last choice for the Supreme Court was nominated entirely due to her race (black) and her gender (female). She met Biden's repeated criteria for a replacement of Ruth Bader Ginsburg generally while lacking a particularly distinguished legal career particularly to support such a nomination.

Best known for being incapable of defining what a woman is, claiming she wasn't a biologist; she is, essentially, a wasted seat, someone we'd never have heard of had she been some color not black.

In that same vein, along comes Biden's nominee to (finally) replace Army General Mark Milley, whose tenure was marked by essentially admitting to committing treason with his assurances that he would call the Chinese personally if then President Trump were considering launching an attack.

That man, Air Force Chief of Staff General C.Q.Brown, signed off on a memo to the Air Force last October, stating, essentially, that the number of white Air Force officers should be reduced by 5400 (9%) and that the diversity of the Air Force should reflect a population cross section of America today.

The entire concept of the military is a color/gender-blind meritocracy. It cannot be based on affirmative action.

We need the best possible officers and NCO's leading our men and women who signed up to put their lives on the line for this country in ALL services.

Affirmative action is an anachronism that, in the military, WILL get Americans killed.

Those who hold General Brown's peculiar point of view should not only NOT become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, they should not be allowed in the military at all.

It is, IMHO, no less racist than the Klan. And in fact, imagine a General C.Q. White, claiming that the officer corps of the US military should reduce the numbers of black officers or service members by ANY amount... merely because they happen to be black.

Meanwhile, those who would destroy us have yet another reason to be rolling on the floor at the stupidity of both this leadership of the country and now, the prospective leadership of the actual US Military.

If it wasn't so utterly sickening, it would be hysterical.

Will's "Never Trumper" delusion.

Sometimes in politics, even seasoned professionals replace reality with what they want. Will is the preeminent "Never Trumper" who exited the GOP in June of 2016 over Trump, and like most Never Trumpers, he always takes the opportunity to shill for RINOs at the expense of conservatives... and anyone but Trump or Trump Light

That the uber-leftist Washington Post published this nonsense is telling by itself. But the gaping hole in WIll's harangue is simple:

He names no one else who he believes WILL be the nominee.

But is it a coincidence that Will's wife, Mari Will, is working on Sen. Tm Scott's (R-SC) campaign for president?

This, his facts-bereft screed is not a reality... its much more a hope... a wish... an outcome that he likely prays for. But 2016 proved him wrong then as well, as it did so many other allegedly Republican talking heads. 

A warning sign concerning twitter.

",,,maintain free expression and make Twitter a safe space for everyone."

Says the woman running the company with a very recent history of 1st Amendment violations/censorship.

Such a highly placed executive should know that, no matter what, some snowflake will whine about something. Thus, there's no such thing as a "safe space for 'everyone.'"

There wasn't before Elon took it over and that won't be going forward.

That's the fatal flaw for "threads." It's nothing more than another leftist censorship platform.

One of the responses to Linda's stupidity was simple and to the point:

"Twitter is safe. Words do not harm. Doxing, on the other hand, MIGHT harm."

Words are only harmful to those demanding victimization. There's something to be said about the "sticks and stones" approach.

Thus, my opposition to idiotic (and unevenly applied) "hate crime" laws.

I believe that, for example, desecrating an American flag is a hate crime. But none of those in support of "hate crime legislation" agree with that perspective.

Even use of the term "safe space" is a leftist bent that should be avoided if the genuine goal is to provide a free speech platform.

"Everyone" is far too over-inclusive... and guarantees, in some form or another... the reinstitution of leftist censorship under the "safe space" (never disagreeing with the left) policies that make social platforms such a cesspool of idea censorship.

I have been busted by FB for a 30-day ban because I had the temerity to share embarrassing pictures of Hunter Biden from his laptop that had been in the public domain for months under the excuse that I was violating TOS by sharing "private information."

The US Government has violated the rights of hundreds of millions of us by limiting the free expression of ideas and posts that go against their meme. But it DID turn social media platforms into the "safe spaces" the new twitter CEO seems to crave.

It's tough having a weak-kneed President. It's tougher when he's a hypocrite.

 Did anyone really think Joe Biden's temper was any different than his hero's, Joe Stalin?

So in addition to achieving pathological liar status, he's also a total hypocrite?

When does he fire himself?

And who can forget his lies on Inaugural Day?

Ukraine in NATO?

Let's not hold our breaths.

Can one join NATO in the middle of a war and not attempt to invoke Rule 5 (An attack against one is an attack against all)?

Essentially, I believe that ship sailed within the first month of Russia's invasion. Had NATO immediately came to Ukraine's defense, this war might have been over in hours.

But going back even further, had Biden not publicly approved of the invasion in the first place, none of this would have happened.

The rule in stores is if you break it, you own it. The US, in large part due to Biden's usual stupidity, incompetence and big mouth greased the skids for this insanity.

Putin's political generals, not unlike our own tools in DOD, did the rest.

I do not see any scenario where Ukraine is allowed NATO membership while engaged in combat operations against Russia.

Zelensky, for his parts, wants NATO membership for obvious reasons. But for equally obvious reasons, I don't believe he's going to get it.

I'm sorry, but as a US Army Combat Arms veteran, I cannot urge my children to enlist.

While our enemies train full time to kill us, the US Department of Defense trains full time to socially engineer us.

The insanity is obvious to most anyone who ever served.

Hopefully, change will come soon enough to get rid of the reliance on fringe-left, peace-not-war mentalities infesting the US Military today so we can get back to training for the business of destroying the militaries who would cheerfully obliterate us.

And with dependence on militaries like the one it's becoming increasingly clear we must rely on now?

Our government is making that task easier.

Here are two military recruitment videos.

One from Russia. One from the US. Watch them both. Then ask yourself: in a hand-to-hand situation, what would the snowflake Corporal Emma portrayed in the second commercial be capable of doing to the Russian soldier portrayed in the first?

Beyond the series of very unpleasant things that would happen to her, since she is a little cute she?

Rest assured that our enemies are not wasting time trying to convince their gay or alphabet populations to enlist.

Congrats to our lame duck governor, Jay Inslee: you've made Washington State #1 In gasoline prices!

Well, like most leftists, we know Jay Inslee isn't beyond lying to get what he wants. In this case, punishing those who drive internal combustion engine cars.

Inslee, following the lead of democrat pols everywhere, is a liar. He's quoted as claiming his gas tax scam would cost: "pennies."

Reminiscent of Obama's Obamacare lie ("If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, etc.") Inslee stupidly claimed both the low cost AND the bizarre idea that "not all of this would be passed off to the consumer."

Anyone with functioning brain synapses knows better. Jacking up a gasoline tax at the refinery level AUTOMATICALLY means that ALL of this rip off is being passed to us: why wouldn't they do that?

"This is going to have a minimal impact if any. Pennies. We are talking about pennies," the Governor said. "Potentially, not all of this would be passed off to the consumer and what they would (pass on), would be pennies."

His stupidity in yoking us with a massive tax increase, (Adding just under 50 cents per gallon to the price of gas/diesel) which we will not only pay to drive our cars and trucks, but also pay in higher prices everywhere else, is a deliberate act that was done to make ICE vehicle users and consumers hurt.

For leftists, it has the additional benefit of flooding hundreds of millions more into their fringe-left programs that wouldn't otherwise survive, like SB 5599, where the state uses taxpayer dollars to pay to mutilate your children through gender butchery.

Lame duck Jay Inslee, hurting millions in Washington State

Yesterday, driving to the coast in Oregon, I was watching gasoline prices.

Our local Shell station was charging $5.29 per gallon in Kalama.

A Shell station on the highway to Astoria?

$4.79

This gas tax increase, imposed on the refiners, is purely to raise revenue that the leftist caucuses can use however they see fit. The net effect is obviously inflationary and impacts everything we use or buy, as transportation charges explode and ALL of those cost increases are passed along to us, the consumer... even those low-income individuals and families who can afford it the least.

The irony is that even the privileged who can afford the stupidity of EV's get stung by this insanity: all of the goods and services THEY use are more expensive now as well, DIRECTLY as a result of this Putinesque effort to whip the population in line.

And this result is not collateral damage. It's DELIBERATE damage.

Whatever the public justification for this insanity, the end result is "pain."

And the democrats don't care.

This is a major in the US Army who is mentally ill.

We've had mentally ill majors in the past. One of them shot up Ft. Hood if memory serves.

What these two have in common is one simple connection: neither should have been allowed to remain in the military.

Equally insane was the Army's insistence on taking this mentally ill, definitely out-of-shape field grade officer who wouldn't pass tape or likely pass a PT test (and one wonders: which standard is he required to meet? The male standard or the much less strenuous female standard?) and making him into some sort of symbol.

Maj. Rachel Jones USASC, Chief, Cyber Division G6 (Information management)

And there is no question: he is definitely a symbol.

He's a symbol of everything wrong with the military today. He's a symbol of a total lack of professionalism AND he's a symbol of how everyone ELSE is SUPPOSED to support HIS mental illness by referring to him as something he is not and never will be, no matter how deluded or mutilated he may happen to be.

He is, by definition, just that: mentally ill. Generally, mental illness disqualifies one from service in the US Military. This, then, is a symptom of the leftist disease infesting the US military today. Our enemies were likely at first astounded, and then much more accepting of the insanity of yet another moronic Biden policy designed to reduce/eliminate our effectiveness as an armed force.

Rest assured, the forces opposing us do not waste their time, effort, energy or money accommodating a sick individual who should have been long since discharged.

The claim that his ability to devolve from male standards and despoil the uniform by playing female is something to either be proud of or cheer for is insane on its face. It's the Klinger Philosophy come to life.

The utterly bogus claim that his ability to wear women's clothes on active duty somehow "saved his life" is the most insane aspect of all of this insanity... as is the false claim he's somehow "living authentically."

He's no more "living authentically" then anyone else with a mental illness.

But it is the variety of insane policy that Bidenistas are known for as we're led by political generals instead of military generals.

And we are going to suffer for it.

In fact, we already are.

As, once again, the Army fails to meet their recruiting/retention goals, don't even believe for a moment that garbage such as this does not play a substantial role in the upcoming demise of the all-volunteer military and the re-implementation of the draft.

A sampling of my 4th of July messages over the years. I just couldn't do one this year.

 Some of my 4th of July messages over the years.

And now we're worse than ever.

I was going to do one specific to this year, but the thought was depressing enough to make me want to scream...

14 years of messages, and this sample of 4 of them merely serves to show that we're even worse now than we were when I first wrote one.

https://clarkcountypolitics.blogspot.com/2009/07/on-this-4th-of-july-what-are-you.html

https://clarkcountypolitics.blogspot.com/2011/07/4th-of-july.html

https://clarkcountypolitics.blogspot.com/2015/07/its-fourth-of-july.html

https://clarkcountypolitics.blogspot.com/2017/07/4th-of-july-and-nation-divided.html

Is this irony or what? Roberts sites Pelosi in burying Biden's student loan vote-buying scam

 Snork:

As if leftists care about the Constitution?

In the opinion, Roberts cited then-Speaker Pelosi’s words saying the president did not have the power to cancel federal student loan debt.

“As then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi explained: ‘People think that the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not,’” Roberts quoted Pelosi’s July 28, 2021, press conference. “‘He can postpone. He can delay. But he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress.’”