http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/contractor-accountability-one-soldier-leads-our-call-for-consequences 5/16/2008. This entire week, I've been blogging my interview with Rachel, a . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/contractor-accountability-one-soldier-leads-our-call-for-consequences Fri, 16 May 2008 11:08:37 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/the-trauma-of-silence 5/15/2008. For the past three days, this five-part diary series has shared the experiences of Rachel, an Iraq War Veteran, and her encounters with the private military contractor, KBR. In a series of interviews, she has shared with me stories of unfair disparities in pay and treatment between contractors and military personnel, having to shower in what was essentially wastewater because of KBR's negligence, and her reactions to the KBR water scandal investigations upon her return to the United States. Today's installment tells a different story, but one that is equally appalling and pertinent to the issue of how the Pentagon continues to subject the troops to mistreatment and negligence. Josh, a soldier who was also stationed at Camp Ramadi, divulged his experiences with struggling to find medical help for a traumatic brain injury (TBI)induced by a roadside bomb in Iraq, and his subsequent case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: What caused your TBI? I was serving as the gunner in the turret of a humvee when we were hit on the front driver's side by a roadside bomb which was set off by the radio. I was knocked unconscious for a couple minutes by the blast and had a concussion. Can you describe the symptoms caused by your TBI? With my TBI I have speech problems, balance and coordination problems, memory and concentration problems and post-traumatic stress disorder. How were you treated? I wasn't. I was "examined" by a battalion medic who was a staff sergeant. Apparently I had regained my hearing back and had no other problems. The notes said I should return if I had ringing in the ears, hearing problems, or unexplained chest pains or if my hearing worsened. Then I started back doing missions again. My commander filled out an LOD. When we came home six months later, on my post deployment checklist, I noted that I had headaches, chest pain, difficulty breathing, ringing in the ears and difficulty remembering things. On the same checklist, I answered yes to 3 of 4 have-you-ever "PTSD Screening Questions." I received no follow up referrals and didn't know anything about PTSD or the possibility that I could even have it. So then we just went home. That was it, no physical, just [a week of] paperwork and drinking [in an intake facility], then home. Would you characterize VA medical care as adequate? It's inadequate because it takes so long to get in and get anything done. It's also inadequate because hundreds of thousands of soldiers who need it aren't even getting taken care of by the VA, and thousands more are attempting to commit suicide under their care. Not only that, but when I went there as "a danger to myself and other people," they said it was in the past and that it didn't mean that I was still. They didn't want me to be there and they didn't know what to do with me. It's no wonder they wanted to "Shhh..." the numbers of veterans attempting to commit suicide under their care. Do you feel that there would be more volunteer recruits for the military if the government offered better treatment for the troops? Definitely, I think a lot more people would volunteer. It just seems like it isn’t worth it right now and it only sounds like it’s going to get worse before it gets better. A big part of the recruiting is all about these benefits and, in my experience, they’re nearly impossible to get. Do you feel that the effect of having more people sign up for service would diminish the need for the Pentagon to outsource all these services to private contractors? It could definitely do that, because those hundreds of thousands of civilians serving overseas would be likely to do it for the army if it offered the same pay, benefits and leave. I got 15 days rest and recuperation leave from Iraq, while the people serving in Kuwait got 30 days and the civilians I talked to got to leave, all expenses paid, for two weeks every three months to go wherever they wanted to fly. In addition to the higher wages, the time away from home wouldn’t seem as bad if the tours were shorter or leave was more [frequent] or longer. It would also be smart to utilize the job skills the reserves and national guard bring to the army from the civilian side for some of the skill sets that they’re outsourcing. It would make sense to find a happy medium and pay civilians less and the military more, and give some of the military benefits as pay to avoid the red tape. The “Shh...” that Josh talks about in his testimony refers to the subject line of an email sent by a VA official regarding the number of suicide attempts by veterans of the Global War on Terror. For a while, it seemed that the lack of medical follow-up for veterans experiencing PTSD and other medical problems was the silent injustice, happening with widespread occurrence but rarely covered by the mainstream media. As instances of veterans' tragedies started to crop up (the New York Times published a series of articles chronicling these cases), so has the Department of Veterans' Affair's attempts to muffle and downplay these tragedies. As Josh says, a lot of things about the way the Pentagon has handled the allocation of resources for the war don't make sense. It doesn't make sense that the military would not mandate complete physical, mental and psychiatric evaluations of soldiers upon their return home. It doesn't make sense that after a significant period of constant emotional stress, the Army's way of integrating the troops back to normal life is to hole them up in an intake facility and let them drink their way back to the real world. It doesn't make sense that so many tax dollars go to waste funding multi-billion dollar contracts with private companies, while the soldiers who put their lives on the line and experience scenes of horror and trauma don't receive the care that they need. How much longer can the United States afford to sweep the needs of these soldiers under the rug? What does all this say about how much our leaders value the sacrifices these young men and women have made for our country? We need to send a message to the Pentagon that the American public will not stand for the unfair treatment of our troops, and that we will not turn our backs on these injustices. Tomorrow, Rachel will share her thoughts on what it would mean for all of us if the contractors were granted immunity for the injustices they've committed, and will lead a call for consequences. . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/the-trauma-of-silence Thu, 15 May 2008 11:50:13 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/the-kbr-water-scandal-reports-a-witness-weighs-in 5/14/2008. . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/the-kbr-water-scandal-reports-a-witness-weighs-in Wed, 14 May 2008 11:34:26 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/diary-series-part-ii-sewage-with-the-bathwater 5/13/2008. . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/diary-series-part-ii-sewage-with-the-bathwater Tue, 13 May 2008 09:42:54 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/freedom-isnt-free___and-neither-are-contractors 5/11/2008. This . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/freedom-isnt-free___and-neither-are-contractors Sun, 11 May 2008 22:11:41 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/privateer-abuse-in-iraq-its-time-to-blame-the-messenger 5/9/2008. I recently . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/privateer-abuse-in-iraq-its-time-to-blame-the-messenger Fri, 09 May 2008 17:23:17 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/ryans-story 05/08/2008. We’ve already shared with you how much of the war effort in . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/ryans-story Thu, 08 May 2008 09:48:45 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/atonement 05/05/2008. . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/atonement Mon, 05 May 2008 20:44:10 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/today-is-law-day 05/01/2008. The right of ordinary . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/today-is-law-day Fri, 02 May 2008 11:51:15 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/the-pentagon-caves-why-citizen-activism-does-work 4/29/2008. Last week, we posted . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/the-pentagon-caves-why-citizen-activism-does-work Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:26:04 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/the-ugliness-of-rush-limbaugh 4/25/2008. Most people know that Rush Limbaugh is . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/the-ugliness-of-rush-limbaugh Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:45:45 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/the-miseducation-of-karl-rove 4/24/2008. Karl Rove once . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/the-miseducation-of-karl-rove Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:39:31 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/mirror-mirror___whos-the-ugliest 4/22/08. I finally had a chance to read the full NY Times article from the other day on the Pentagon's public relations offensive. It got me thinking, who comes out looking the ugliest? Is it: a) The Bush Administration officials who deliberately traded access for favorable spin, and were more concerned with shaping public opinion than owning up to the truth of their failed war strategy? b) The analysts themselves, decorated retired officers who put their vanity and business interests ahead of the public's right to know the truth--not to mention the lives of their active duty colleagues? c) The networks and other media outlets who allowed anyone with a few stars and bars to spout propaganda without investigating possible conflicts of interest or questioning the source of the "inside information" being revealed. I vote c. This adminstration has certainly gone way overboard in its willingness to treat the truth as a mere inconvenience and resort to questionable tactics. But in general, public officials act in a political world, and we can expect any president and administration to do their utmost to build public support for their policies. As a former advocate myself (albiet for campaign finance reform, not war) I can even kind of admire DoD public relations chief Torie Clark for her astuteness in recognizing that military analysts were the most effective vehicles for her boss' message. Many of the analysts probably believed most of what they were spouting (call it ideological blinders, an inability to see a naked emperor...). There's no excuse for those who recognized the disconnect and were willing to trade their integrity for the bright lights of TV and the dull glow of lucrative contracts for their favor-seeking clients. But, they're just a set of flawed individuals. The biggest concern to me is the breakdown of a system of free press that is supposed to inform the public through independent reporting. In not conducting the most basic conflict-of-interest checks, the networks fundamentally abdicated their responsibilities to the public. Perhaps we should remind them more regularly that they rent our public airwaves from the public for the whopping price of $0 in exchange for the directive to operate in the public interest. . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/mirror-mirror___whos-the-ugliest Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:35:51 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/why-i-come-to-work 4/18/2008. . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/why-i-come-to-work Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:14:03 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/our-common-values2 4/17/08. One of Progressive Future’s operating principles is that being a progressive American means more than holding a set of sensible but random policy positions. It means buying into a set of broader values that tie our positions together—whether we think that way on a daily basis or not. Part of our task moving forward, then, is to do a better job of thinking that way and talking that way. Defining and articulating these values helps us work together more effectively and shows our fellow citizens that we’re not just a bunch of special interest forced under one tent. This is easier said than done because I think we need to aim for a very particular level of abstraction. The values need to be broad and inspiring enough to unite different issue preferences under a common there. But, they need to be specific and concrete enough to meaningfully differentiate ourselves from those who disagree with us on most issues. So, I think “freedom” and “equality” are out because they’re too broad. George Bush is for those things—and he even uses them as an excuse to go to war. I think “choice,” “environmental stewardship,” and “workers’ rights” are too narrow. These are really issues, not a broader framework. I’ve chosen community, fairness, and security as the three values to begin to articulate on this site. I like community the best because explains a lot about what binds us together and it so clearly differentiates us from the right. We believe we’re all in this together; they believe that every man is an island. We believe that we should come together to work for the common good and solve large problems collectively; they believe everyone should pull himself up by his bootstraps. Our different views on the importance of community explain why conservatives are inherently skeptical of government while progressives view it as just a particularly formal way to come together to solve common problems; why progressives support strong safety nets and conservatives do not; etc. Fairness doesn’t quite meet the “differentiatable” test on its face. Rush Limbaugh has never taken a strong stance against fairness. But, of course, we take fairness seriously and they do not. We worry about every child getting a decent (and ultimately equal) education, and about people facing discrimination for characteristics beyond their control—race, sex, sexuality, poverty. They think that everyone has an equal opportunity to be born to rich parents. Our focus on fairness explains why we support progressive taxation, quality public education, and political equality through sensible limits on the influence of money on public policy. Security also seems a bit strange on its face. Right wing politicians love to talk about how only they will protect us from terrorists and violent criminals. Of course, we find serious flaws with their solutions to the real problems of threats to our safety—they tend to attack the symptoms rather than the causes. But, more importantly, we define security much more holistically. Real security means not living paycheck-to-paycheck with no room for error. It means being able to take your kids to a safe place while you work and to the doctor when they get sick. I put these values out to spark a conversation. Perhaps others should be on the list. Sustainability? Is ecology a holistic value that goes beyond environmentalism? I know I’m not the first to tread in these waters, and I certainly have no hope of providing the final word. Plenty of academics and think tanks have done research that touches on this topic—and I hope to engage with this work in future posts. More important, I hope that this blog and this website will serve as a forum for a conversation about how together we progressives can define and articulate a set of common values, and begin to connect our work in various policy arenas under a set of larger umbrellas. But, community, fairness, and security are a start. I will work to highlight how our policy work at Progressive Future connects to these broader values as we proceed and grow. And, I encourage you to help me. Where I get sucked into a particular issue and miss opportunities to highlight the big picture, let me know. Where I try to make a connection that seems specious and forced, tell me that too. And, there’s never been a better time to be talking about these values than now. We’re in a recession and may be on the verge of something worse (86% of Americans think so). We lost 83,000 jobs in March and countless families have lost their homes to forclosures. Meanwhile, our government is bailing out Wall Street and ignoring Main Street. And, executive pay continues to rise without regard to performance while average workers suffer. These are not signs of a community coming together to solve problems; of a fair, balanced economy that rewards work and productivity; or of secure families. . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/our-common-values2 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:58:11 -0500 http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/welcome-to-progressive-future 4/8/2008. Since this is our first official blog posting on our new website, I thought I’d write a bit about our organization and our goals. You can learn much more about us by poking around the site, so I’ll keep this brief and to the point. As our name implies, Progressive Future’s long term goal is to make fundamental progress on core progressive priorities. We want to win big on the issues we all care about: getting out of this war and preventing the next; providing quality and affordable healthcare to all Americans; creating a fair and stable economy; solving global warming and other environmental problems; and giving every child a quality education so the next generation is prepared for the challenges ahead. And, we want to win in a way that fundamentally changes the power dynamic in this country. At heart, we’re not just progressives, but populists too. We think corporations and wealthy campaign contributors have too much power—concentrating that wealth and power while spreading costs amongst the rest of us. Our primary strategy is to build the progressive movement. In order to take back our country, we need to get organized—like the right has been doing through the churches. And we think there are two basic elements to put into place. First, we need to activate our base. There are plenty of Americans who are fed up with the Bush Administration and ready for a new direction. We need to turn these folks from frustrated citizens to effective activists. So, we’ll be knocking on doors, standing on street corners, and generally doing whatever it takes to recruit an army of activists—and get our fellow progressives off their couches and beyond the blogs. Next, we need to unite our movement around a set of values that are broader than our various policy preferences but specific enough to differentiate ourselves from the right. The right has basically held its fragile coalition together since William F. Buckley, Jr. united economic libertarians and social conservatives against communism in the 1950s. They’ve done so by articulating a set of values that’s easily understood, no matter where you stand. When a right-wing politician talks about supporting “family values,” “limited government,” and being “strong on defense” and “tough on crime” everyone knows what (s)he means. Unfortunately, we all know that our progressive allies have tended to talk more about particular issues or policies than about the broader values that underlie our passion for these causes. Our activists—from professional lobbyists to the most motivated volunteers—want to talk about workers’ rights, choice, or the environment. That’s great, but without connecting these critical issues to a broader framework we can sometimes seem like just a group of special interests fighting for our piece of the pie. More important, we have no way to connect with each other and make tough decisions about who’s passions to prioritize as we move forward to throw out the old pie and bake a new one altogether. I think we can better appeal to the public at large and bridge some of our internal divides by focusing on the values that connect us as progressives—and separate us from those on the other side. I’ve taken a shot at defining a few of these values on this site—and you can click on the Values & Priorities section to see what you think. I want to keep these posts short and sweet, so I’ll expound a bit on what I’m going for in the next post. Thanks for reading. I don’t know how you found us—perhaps you met one of our organizers on the street, signed a petition online, or you’re just surfing the web. Either way, I’m glad you’re here and I hope you’ll check out the rest of our site. We’re a new organization and we just launched this website, so we’d really appreciate your feedback. You can click here to send us a note about how we can improve the site. . . . http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/welcome-to-progressive-future Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:30:07 -0500