Wounded soldier refuses to meet Bush, Cheney and the gang

[dancingme]

From the Washington Post:

"One day a nurse came in to ask Rodgers if he wanted to meet President Bush, who was visiting the hospital. Rodgers declined.

"I don't want anything to do with him," he explains. "My belief is that his ego is getting people killed and mutilated for no reason -- just his ego and his reputation. If we really wanted to, we could pull out of Iraq. Maybe not completely but enough that we wouldn't be losing people -- at least not at this rate. So I think he himself is responsible for quite a few American deaths."

Bill Swisher, a spokesman for Walter Reed, says it's "fairly common" for patients to decline to see visitors. "We've had visitors from Sheryl Crow to Hulk Hogan," he says, but he has no idea how many have refused to see Bush, who has visited the hospital eight times.

Rodgers says he also declined to meet Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice. This wounded soldier has lost faith in his leaders, and he no longer believes their repeated assurances of victory.

"It's gonna go on as long as we're there," he says. "There's always gonna be insurgents trying to blow us up. There's just too many of 'em that are willing to do it. You're never gonna catch all of 'em. And it seems like they have unlimited amounts of ammunition. So I don't think it's ever gonna end."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/09/AR2005080901441_5.html

[KarenInMA]

1. poor guy.

It must be tought to sit in a hospital bed, worried about your friends, and realize that the military you trusted let you down.

When he get's better, she should go to Texas and hang out with Cindy.

[Inland]

2. Why let those creeps come by and lie right to your face if you can help it

eom

[ElsewheresDaughter]

3. good principals and strong conviction...God Bless you Rogers

[DrJackson]

4. Good for him

But how long until the RW smear machine starts taking their own shots at his "unpatriotic anti-American" sentiments?

[wryter2000]

7. Welcome to DU, Dr. Jackson

:hi:

[Bumblebee]

18. I wonder if WP chose him BECAUSE they knew he refused to see Bush

but then were still too timid to feature it more prominently, waiting until almost the end of the article and presenting it as just a regular "profile" of the wounded, thus obscuring one of the central points of their story?

[dancingme]

26. His statements on Bush should be the lead

Maybe the WaPo believes that the Bushies never read more than the first page!

[GreenPartyVoter]

22. Welcome to DU *Wave*

[babylonsister]

5. This really breaks my heart; our

soldiers have no faith in their leaders and know these leaders will not now or ever be doing the right thing. :cry:

[Bumblebee]

6. Just imagine how many more want to say no but are afraid

that it may have consequences for them and their families. Bush has a long, vindictive memory. I really admire this guy, and the others who refused.

[Fleshdancer]

8. This soldier went through hell:

"We're driving down this road and there's this tiny bridge over a little canal," he says. "They had rigged up this bomb and they had a tripwire running across the bridge and we hit it and it blew up."

..."I started patting myself down and that's when I noticed that my face took some shrapnel," he says. "It was all swollen on this side, so when I'm patting myself down, my middle finger went, like, this deep into my cheek where the shrapnel went in."

He points to a spot about halfway down his finger, showing how far it went into the shrapnel wound behind his right eye, which is still pretty much blind, unable to see anything but bright light.

"Then I started checking out my leg. I knew my femur was broken, but at that time I didn't know my calf was missing," he says. "And that's when I hear my best friend Maida and he started heaving."

_____________________

wow. I can't imagine.

[writes2000]

13. This made me cry. So sad, so horrific.

[knitter4democracy]

24. Oh my God.

And all that for what again? That poor man. That poor, poor man. How awful.

[f97red]

9. Anybody counting

the number of soldiers wanting to meet the President versus those that don't want to meet the President?


George, Dick, Donald and Condie....glad to see the administration making an effort to meet our wounded soldiers.

[Dhalgren]

15. For this bunch of Yellow-Stain Fascists it's only for the PR.

This administration has proved over and over that it doesn't give a shit for any soldiers or their plights. They are users - its just that plain...

Oh, and welcome to DU.

[Buddyblazon]

10. If I were this guy....

I'd say, "SURE!" with a giant shit-eating, leave it to beaver grin on my face.

And when they came in...I'd rip 'em to shreds.



And I have to say, the news today of more soldiers lost, it usually just makes me angrier to hear about more people dying in this ridiculous cluster fuck.

Today...it just made me sad. Couldn't even yell. Didn't even feel angry. Just depressed. And a bottomless feeling of helplessness. No matter how much we scream....it feels like it doesn't matter. And the feeling of surrender. Because I can't stop the death of another US soldier. I can't stop the death of another Iraqi.

To quote Stevie Ray...The Sky is Crying.

[Generic Other]

11. How is he supposed to get well if they keep trying to make him sick?

:puke:

[Javaman]

12. Here in a nutshell is a perfect example of morons* quest for a big dick...

This is his* legacy. This is the trail of dead and wounded he* leaves in his wake.

When the military begins turning it's back on fearless leader* then the rest is a matter of time.

colossal failure*

[Solly Mack]

14. He's not the first to decline....but I am elated that it's finally

getting coverage

I know of parents and spouses who have said Bush could not visit their child/spouse at Reed...as well as other wounded soldiers.

Thank you, Rodgers!!!!

[Bumblebee]

16. The guy at Walter Reed has his talking points down

comparing refusing to see Bush to refusing to see anyone else, like your former wife's new husband (my example, not theirs :) Ya, sure, makes perfect sense. I hope other papers demand accurate statistics. If he is atypical, they would not be so vague about it all.

[Solly Mack]

17. Exactly.

"If he is atypical, they would not be so vague about it all."

[Spike from MN]

28. I noticed that right away too.

"Bill Swisher, a spokesman for Walter Reed, says it's "fairly common" for patients to decline to see visitors." OK, but how common is it for them to decline to see the pResident? Apparently, it must be "fairly common." Wouldn't surprise me.

And Dubya has only been to Walter Reed 8 times?!? Eight friggin' times?!? Yeah, support the troops but don't go out of your way to do it. Asshat.

I feel bad for the soldier. Poor guy. Oh wait. Back on message. Why does this soldier hate 'Murika?

[no_to_war_economy]

19. what a man . good for him

fuck you mr president fuck you

[MGKrebs]

20. Wow. I feel a petition coming on.

How many millions of Americans would sign a petition supporting solfdiers like this, and following Our Great Leaders' example by refusing to meet Cindy Sheehan, by signing a petition promising to NOT meet with the president?

[GreenPartyVoter]

21. We should send this kid a card

[Norquist Nemesis]

23. Oh my! WRAH's Spokesman dissed the CIC!

"Bill Swisher, a spokesman for Walter Reed, says it's "fairly common" for patients to decline to see visitors. "We've had visitors from Sheryl Crow to Hulk Hogan," he says, but he has no idea how many have refused to see Bush, who has visited the hospital eight times."

So, the Commander In Chief is simply another visitor with high profile. :rofl:

[txindy]

25. He's right about the unlimited amounts of ammunition the insurgents have

They have all of the munitions that we failed to secure on our march to the Ministry of Oil to protect the paperwork.

He's also right about not meeting with the 'people' responsible. Good for him. He's a brave man in many, many ways. Truly. :patriot:

[Ilsa]

27. The neocons want us all to keep lying to the soldiers

and telling them they are losing their limbs and lives for "a noble cause." F*ck neocons.

[grace0418]

29. Why the hell would anyone want to meet the person responsible for

putting them in the hospital? Unless it was to spit in his face. Good for Rodgers. He's probably going to face alot of ridiculous and undeserved flak for this, sadly enough.

[dancingme]

39. I'd rather meet Dave Matthews

and Carter Beauford, Boyd Tinsley, LeRoi Moore and Stefan Lessard than Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice.

"He got visits from celebrities, too. Generals came by to shake his hand and ask how he was doing. The Dave Matthews Band visited, as did players from the Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies."

[f97red]

30. In Shock

I wonder if maybe this guy is just in shock. Maybe after he recovers he might change his opinion.

[meganmonkey]

32. What - he'll decide that it was all worth it to go to war on lies?

Yeah, maybe after he recovers from a lobotomy.

Welcome to DU!

:toast:

[f97red]

33. Maybe

I don't know, I've seen it before. The shock of being horribly wounded; a person wants to lash out at someone! Who better than the commander-in-in chief. Especially with a big portion of the country telling you that you were duped and fighting for a lie! Most guys get over it and realize that they are soldiers and soldiers die and soldiers get wounded in war and that sometimes we have to "pay in blood" in order to remain free.

[Tsiyu]

34. This is still America

There is a Constitution.

There is an understanding that we wage war only as a last resort - not to make oil companies and defense contractors filthy rich, not based on lies, not because an AWOL, cocaine-addicted psychopath decides it might be fun to play with the power he stole.

This kid knows what a freak ** is, and he is both wise and prudent to stay far away from the evil man named George.

[meganmonkey]

35. But this war does NOTHING to help us 'remain free'

EVERY soldier I know who has been there (or is still there, in a couple cases) thinks this war is for nothing. I can't imagine what that must feel like. To have volunteered to serve your COUNTRY but to end up serving the oil companies and military contractors - risking YOUR LIFE for some corporation's profits.

Do you support the Iraq War? Please describe how a soldier dying or being wounded in Iraq protects our freedom. Just because Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and McClellan repeat it over and over does NOT make it true. In fact, all the resources being spent over there could be spent on a lot more productive things like securing our borders and ports, health care for VETERANS, education, on and on.

Please, convince me that I am wrong...

[txindy]

41. Nice tombstone

Gee, wonder how that got there? :eyes:

[Jacobin]

37. Did you read the article?

Just curious.

Enjoy your brief stay

[meganmonkey]

40. He's already gone

and I was really hoping he would convince me that this war was worthwhile.

Oh well.

:P

[Ron Mexico]

31. Who wants to bet that this poor sap gets court-martialed?

If this guy's commander wants to get in good with Bushco, this guy is fucked. Wouldn't surprise me a bit.

[johnnie]

36. I wouldn't meet that idiot either

And I wasn't even wounded in Iraq. I have a chance to meet him if I really wanted to, but I don't even inquire about it.
I wish this guy would have met him on live TV and told him to go fuck himself.

[ComerPerro]

38. That guy is gonna get smeared by the right wing