VA SECRETARY NICHOLSON'S LATEST "DOUBLE SPEAK" SOUNDS GOOD

BUT PROMISES NOTHING -- AND, HE CALLS PTSD A PHENOMENON

After spending years in the news business, I learned a very valuable lesson about dealing with politicians and political appointees.

Just let them talk!  And, listen carefully to what they say.  They probably aren't saying what you think they're saying.

VA Secretary Jim Nicholson is a case in point.  Nicholson is a consummate politician (former Chairman of the Republican National Committee) who has been carefully trained and coached on how to speak. 

We have a story from WOAI radio/TV in San Antonio, Texas.  Nicholson was in San Antonio Friday afternoon and visited with Iraq War veterans at the Brooke Army Medical Center.

Story here... http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=7C63A82F-8675-4DE5-8E25-54D266717F53

The headline on the story is:  VA Secretary Promises "World Class" Medical Care

There's a problem with this...he didn't promise a thing.  The cub reporter who wrote this story thought he heard Nicholson say that...but it didn't happen.

Here is the quote from Nicholson:  "We need to provide and continue to provide these people with world class health care and we need to be there when they need it in the future."

Just read the words.  Nicholson didn't PROMISE to provide or PROMISE to continue to provide world class healthcare...and he didn't PROMISE to be there when needed.

Nicholson, very carefully and very deliberately, said "NEED TO provide" and "NEED TO be there."

Does this seem like a small difference?  It isn't!  Because Nicholson will be able to claim, at some time in the future, that he didn't promise anything...and, he didn't. 

The key here is:  Veterans have lots of NEEDS.  And, true, the VA NEEDS to be there.  But, are they?  And, will they be in the future?  Nicholson wouldn't say.

This is world-class CYA from a world-class CYAer.

Nicholson did the same thing at the Togus, Maine VA facility when he wouldn't promise that the 2006 budget would be adequate.  That story here... http://www.vawatchdog.org/newsflash/newsflash12-17-2005.htm

And, for those of you following Nicholson's views on PTSD, we can add something else.  First, he said PTSD can be cured. That story here... http://www.vawatchdog.org/newsflash/newsflash12-01-2005-5.htm

Then he orders a new PTSD review that seeks a new definition of the disorder.  That story here... http://www.vawatchdog.org/milcom/secretivevalaunchesnewptsdreview.htm

Now, on Friday, Nicholson said, "The VA is the world's leading expert on PTSD.  We have a major resource center for this in Vermont, and every one of our 157 major medical centers we have a highly trained PTSD specialist. We are indeed ramped up to take care of this phenomenon."

I'm sure it will come as a surprise to veterans suffering from PTSD that they have a "phenomenon."  I can't find "phenomenon" in a medical dictionary or mental health handbook...can anyone help me with this?

VA Secretary Jim Nicholson represents a real threat to the health and well-being of all veterans.  That's what we get when political cronies get Cabinet-level jobs based solely on their loyalty and contributions to their party instead of their experience.

The entire article appears below:

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VA Secretary Promises "World Class" Medical Care
LAST UPDATE: 1/6/2006 3:22:10 PM
Posted By: Jim Forsyth

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs met with wounded veterans of the Iraq war at San Antonio's Brooke Army Medical Center this afternoon and Jim Nicholson said advances in military medicine during this war will present the VA with major challenges in the future.

"We have cut fatalities a great deal, and as a result of that we have people who are now seriously wounded who in previous wars would have been dead," Nicholson said. "We need to provide and continue to provide these people with world class health care and we need to be there when they need it in the future."

Nicholson met with soldiers at the sprawling Army hospital just five days after a visit by President Bush.

Military officials have stated that the 'Died of Wounds Rate,' the percentage of soldiers who die from battlefield wounds, is the lowest of any war fought by any military in history. About 12% of soldiers who are wounded in Iraq die from their wounds, down from 25% in all wars of the twentieth century. But Nicholson pointed out that the Veterans Administration will have to rise to the challenge of providing what may be very expensive 'first class medical care' to those veterans for the next several decades.

Nicholson also pointed out that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is becoming more and more common for returning Iraq veterans.

"The VA is the world's leading expert on PTSD," he said. "We have a major resource center for this in Vermont, and every one of our 157 major medical centers we have a highly trained PTSD specialist. We are indeed ramped up to take care of this phenomenon."

Nicholson said the VA is the only government agency which has avoided budget cuts in the 'recision' of government spending in the past year, and he said the current VA budget of $70 billion is up 57% during the four budget years of the Bush administration.

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Larry Scott

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