Devastating Daily Show last night

[underpants]

4:15 of the show here
http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/index.jhtml

The second half (after the first commercial) was even more damning. IT featured Tony Snow trying to keep the wolves at bay by telling reporters to go ask the DoD about Walter Reed it wasn't the WH's problem.

Stewart "See I wasn't picking my nose, my hand was picking my nose"

Bob Woodruff was on and he pointed out how the problems at Walter Reed don't cover all the problems soldiers and marines will face back in their hometowns far from VA facilities often.

[opihimoimoi]

1. Yup, what the GOP did to our Vets is SHAMEFUL/DESPICABLE

goes all the way to the White House....

[bobbie]

2. Thank you for the heads up!

I'd tivo'd it but hadn't watched it yet.

Woodruff's recent ABC special was surprisingly hard hitting. Very little about him and very much about the VA/DOD abandonment of soldiers with brain injury. He actually had someone in an interview state that the public didn't hear much about horribly injured soldiers because they (DOD/VA) had a "gag order." The injuries were supposed to be hidden from the public.

This is something we know here. But it's something else to hear a major ABC correspondent from the mainstream/corporate-owned adjunct of the military industrial complex evoke that statement and similar comments. He also put a spinmeister/lying SOS DOD/VA asshole on the air claiming about 20,000 troop injuries while Woodruff had proof of hundreds of thousands.

Good job Woodruff. You're making your miracle recovery really count for something, looking beyond yourself and finding genuine larger significance in the incident, revealing the human toll in terms of US troops--bodies and lives shattered. I hope this is the start of many more reports to come, each more and more probing, uncovering the layers and layers of cover-ups and lies. If ABC lets you air them I'll be stunned but ecstatic.

Maybe some intrepid reporter can finally report on the hundreds of thousands of destroyed or killed Iraqi citizens too.

[rkc3]

3. Wait until you watch it.

I normally watch TDS and laugh along - but last night the TV almost went through the window.

Between Bush's chest pounding about being the leader and passing the buck on this and every other catastrophe spawned by this administration, you'll be pissed off when you're done.

[fed-up]

11. here is a link to the ABC special-short clip-internal memo had true #s

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/02/28/nicholson-dental

Nicholson’s attempts to diminish the seriousness of the issue are insulting. According to the VA internal report, the injuries afflicting veterans are quite serious in nature:

Mental disorders: 73,000
Diseases of nervous system: 61,000
Signs of ill-defined conditions: 7,000
Diseases of musculoskeletal system: 87,000.

Despite the increasing numbers of wounded and injured veterans seeking care, the Bush administration has laid out plans to cut funding for veterans’ health care two years from now.

Transcript:

WOODRUFF: According to the Department of Defense, there have been about 23,000 nonfatal battlefield casualties, but that doesn’t tell the full story.

<…>

PAUL SULLIVAN, VETERANS ADVOCATE: These are the big numbers, Bob. 200,000 have already gone into VA for medical care.

WOODRUFF: The official number is that there are only about 23,000 soldiers and Marines who have been injured in this war.

SULLIVAN: What you have are two sets of books. The Department of Defense saying there are 23,000 wounded from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Department of Veterans Affairs is actually treating 205,000 veterans from these two wars.

WOODRUFF: According to this internal VA report, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are being diagnosed with a wide variety of ailments; many for multiple problems. The report does not have a category for traumatic brain injury, but it does include post-traumatic stress disorder, mental disorders, infectious and parasitic diseases, and ill-defined conditions.

WOODRUFF: You think americans fully understand how many injured there are in this war?

NICHOLSON: I think it — i think it cuts both ways. I think Americans are always very surprised to know the number of amputations, for example, which is fewer than 600 in total. They’re probably also surprised to know that 200,000 come to the VA for some kind of medical treatment. That’s probably more than they think.

WOODRUFF: You have mental disorders — 73,000; diseases of nervous system — 61,000; symtpoms, signs of ill-defined conditions — 7,000; diseases of musculoskeletal system — 87,000. These are numbers beyond the 23,000.

NICHOLSON: A lot of them come in for dental problems, others come in for a lot of the normal things that people have. We’re providing their healthcare. Some I suppose are because of their service over there. But they weren’t evacuated for that.

WOODRUFF: But they got some kind of injury, some kind of problem because of the war.

NICHOLSON: That’s possible, yes.

[Liberty Belle]

15. True, & this doesn't count injuries in private contractors --

There are mercenaries and contractors for various companies coming back with legs blown off, too. What kind of care are they getting? How many of them are killed--is anybody even counting?

[wryter2000]

4. Thanks

I always watch the replay the night after. I'll be watching tonight. I hope someone puts this up on YouTube so I can make freepers watch it.

[lapfog_1]

5. Loved the end of the interview

and the little smackdown of John Stossel.

[underpants]

7. "When did you realize you were operating at a higher level than John Stossel?"

:rofl:

[blondeatlast]

9. I almost peed my pants at that, I really did.

Possibly my favorite one-liner of all time.

[high density]

12. Yeah that was hilarious!

I was amazed with Woodruff after what he has been through. A coworker of mine told me about his special that aired a few weeks ago and I wish I had seen it.

[Jax]

6. I watched both showings last night

and plan to watch it again today.

Thanks much for giving the link and the shout out about it!

Devastating indeed. Tom Brokaw said you can get more 'real news' today from the first 7 minutes of the Daily Show than any of the mainstream news shows now. I agree.

[blondeatlast]

8. One of the greatest ever from a superb show. Not to be missed.

Thanks for the online view link. Classic.

[Lisa]

10. mold growing on the walls = medicine ...

Brilliant! And the bumper sticker on Bush's vehicle ... oh, if only someone could sneak up and attach one! (Would probably have to be an inside job, though.)

[Hissyspit]

13. I posted last night that you can hear the anger in Stewart's humor.

His tone and volume of voice - even though he is making jokes, you can tell he's pissed.

[Lisa]

14. also, his eyes ...

very calm, and absolutely determined -- even while he is making funny facial expressions and setting up the next joke. I've noticed that when he gets that look in his eyes, people are going to get nailed ... and stay that way.