The Truth About Walter Reed
I’ve been brooding over the anti-Military hit piece for two days. There’s so much that needs to be explained and the current MSM hysterics need to be tempered with a dose of reality, but I haven’t come up with the right words.
Andi has said everything in three posts that I’ve been thinking since the WaPo story broke, starting with Let’s Discuss “The Other Walter Reed”.
Yesterday, the Washington Post featured a sensational front-page story on the dirty little secrets of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Secrets they would have you believe were previously only known to those on the inside. After some stomach-churning accounts of the trials that face wounded soldiers assigned to Walter Reed, the authors stated:
This world is invisible to outsiders.
Are the problems revealed by the Post reporters real? Yes, indeed they are. See this first-hand account. But, as with most things that the media expose, there is much more to the story than meets the eye.
When the story broke, my inbox began chirping. Many people know that over the past two years, I’ve spent a lot of time at Walter Reed. What did I think? How could this be? Look at what the MSM is doing. Have you seen this? Is it true?
Any reasonable person reading the WaPo story would be outraged, as they should be, but after I read the story, I accurately predicted what would soon follow. While there is merit to this story, I knew that this issue would become a hot, political baton used by some to beat the Bush administration, and our military, over the head. I’ll bet the Washington Post did too.
I hate the smarmy, tabloid manner in which the WaCompost stories were written, but having been a regular volunteer at the hospital for a year and a half, I’ve known about the same problems that Andi and all the other folks have heard or dealt with personally and I am glad that the situation is getting some badly needed attention. Just remember that the problems are in the administration, NOT the quality of health care.
I’ve heard some rather off-topic and hysterical pronouncements about the Walter Reed story. It’s important to distinguish between medical care and administrative issues. Walter Reed does indeed provide first-class medical care. I can attest to this firsthand.
