CSotD: It was only business. We always liked your generation.
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Darrin Bell isn't the first cartoonist to address the VA delay issues, but his take is admirable for a couple of reasons besides the graphic chops.
One is that "death" here is somewhat metaphorical, and while the media jury has already delivered its verdict, the trial on that is still in progress.
That someone in Stage 4 cancer died during a six-week wait is appalling but not surprising; the claim that someone in Stage Four cancer died because of a six-week wait requires some details.
We all experience delays in getting appointments for things that don't involve chain saws, and, while six weeks is outrageous, two or three isn't out of the ordinary.
So the question is, what might the doctor have done for a Stage Four patient in 10 days that would have changed that outcome? And maybe there's an answer, but even the whistleblower in Arizona has since said that, in saying a number of vets died awaiting appointments, he hadn't intended to draw a causal connection, only to point out the level of neglect.
I'm a lot less concerned with the terminal cancer patient than I am with the guy who is waking up screaming, who can't hold down a job, who is mistreating his family, who sees enemy soldiers in the park. That's a case where even two weeks is probably too long a wait.
Of course, the "Vets died because of delay" train has left the station. Once the court of public opinion has delivered its verdict, it really doesn't matter what other evidence is presented.
Ask Dan Quayle.
Ask Al Gore.
Ask the woman who had the coffee spill in her lap.
Ask the whole planet.
The second piece of brilliance in this cartoon is that he stays on topic. We not only made a promise, but we continue to use the "support our troops" and "thank you for our service" memes as ways to stifle dissent.
And obviously we don't support our troops and this is some pretty damn lousy thanks and nobody who lived through the Vietnam era needed a crystal ball to see this betrayal coming.
It's awful enough to stand on its own, and Bell — appropriately — doesn't feel a compulsion to stretch it to cover something else.
The anarchists of the right, by disgraceful contrast, have been using it to argue that requiring private insurance companies to offer affordable, ethical insurance policies is evil, because, well, this is about health care and that's about health care and so Kenya Benghazi.
HINT: If they supported our troops, if they gave a damn about our vets, they wouldn't be looking for one more way to exploit them.
And of course there's this
Another oft-visited theme at this time of year is student debt, and, while other cartoons haven't necessarily missed the mark on that narrow topic, I like today's Non Sequitur because of the wider implications.
Yes, little millennials, we have neatly divided you into (A) the ones we sent off to war and are now failing to support with medical treatment (see above) or practical levels of benefits (see here) and (B) the ones we have saddled with about $30,000 in student debt.
And it's pretty well established that our entry at least into the Iraq portion of the conflict was based on purposeful lies.
But that whole thing about setting up a system where everyone needs a college degree? Yeah, that was bullshit, too.
Which, now that you've exited the black box and can see your prospects, is probably pretty obvious.
Of course you owe more than the degree is worth. We lied about what it would be worth, and owing much of anything is owing more than it's actually worth in terms of the bag which we've left you holding.
Sorry. We had no idea. None. Nobody ever suggested that things were perhaps not gonna work out for you.
Not even Tom Toles in 1987.
Mind you, he was actually talking about the Boomers, not you.
But now that 27 years have passed, it's all yours.
You're welcome. Don't mention it. Really.
Please. Don't mention it.
And don't take it personally
If it's any comfort, we care even less about your kids.
But trust us, and give us time. We're working very, very hard.
To repeal the Affordable Care Act so we can take away your health coverage, and theirs.
Anyway …
… it's all your fault for trusting us.
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