Blogging Blue

Have you seen this picture before?

The photo, taken in March 2003, has become one of the most iconic images of the U.S. invasion of Iraq: that of an American soldier carrying a wounded Iraqi child to safety. The photograph of Army Private First Class Joseph Dwyer was used by news outlets around the world. In a tragic twist, PFC Dwyer collapsed and died last month after abusing a computer cleaner aerosol. After returning from Iraq, Dwyer was plagued with sometimes violent delusions that he was being hunted by Iraqi killers, and despite his obvious problems, Dwyer’s issues were never wholly addressed by Veterans Affairs:

After a PTSD program in Durham, N.C., turned Dwyer away because of a lack of space, Maureen Dwyer said her son received inpatient care for six months at the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center, beginning last August. After doctors discharged him in March, she said, his anxieties returned with such intensity that Dwyer’s wife, Matina, 30, took their daughter Meagan, 2, and moved out five days later.

After her son was discharged from Northport, Maureen Dwyer said she was especially concerned because there were no VA mental health facilities near his Pinehurst, N.C., home.

There’s no denying Joseph Dwyer did receive treatment for his mental health issues, but where was the aftercare and followup? Where were the doctors and programs to ensure Joseph Dwyer continued to receive the help he needed for his mental health issues? What’s more, why wasn’t more done to properly plan for the return of soldiers like Joseph Dwyer? At the risk of getting up on my soapbox, there’s absolutely no reason why any soldier suffering from PTSD or a related mental health issue should have to wait for appropriate services because of a lack of space.

Here’s what Joseph Dwyer’s mother has to say about the situation:

“Every second that goes by, there is another soldier just like Joseph,” Maureen Dwyer said. “Another family can’t go through this. All the politicians talk so great about the soldiers, about patriotism, but mental illness is something they are not putting enough into.”

And that’s the true cost of the war in Iraq: the tally of lives lost or irreparably altered due to the serious mental health issues faced by soldiers returning home from the field of battle.

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Today’s a special day here at Blogging Blue, because we’re unveiling a new weekly segment titled “Idiot of the Week.” The first winner of the “Idiot of the Week” award is none other than right-wing squawker Michael Savage, who claimed during his July 16th syndicated show that autism is:

“[a] fraud, a racket. … I’ll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it’s a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out. That’s what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they’re silent? They don’t have a father around to tell them, ‘Don’t act like a moron. You’ll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don’t sit there crying and screaming, idiot.’”

As anyone who knows a little about me knows, I’m the proud parent of an autistic child, and I’m absolutely disgusted and outraged that someone like Michael Savage would stoop so low as to attack autistic kids. Further, his insinuation that autism is a product of the absence of a father shows just how ignorant and uninformed is, and I’d encourage Mr. Savage to do a little reading about Autism. In fact, if he’d bother to do a little reading, he’d know scientists recently identified five new autism-related gene defects to go along with the more than a dozen genetic defects have been found to be associated with autism spectrum disorders. If Michael Savage would bother to do a little reading about autism, he’d know it isn’t something a child has control over; it isn’t simply a child being difficult or throwing tantrums, nor is it the result of a child not having a father.

If anyone’s interested, here’s the audio of Michael Savage’s rant about autism:

Here in Milwaukee, Michael Savage’s show is syndicated on Newsradio 620, and I’ve already taken a moment to call Tom Parker, the station’s Program Manager to express my feelings on Michael Savage’s comments about autism, and I’d like to ask you to let him know how you feel as well. Autism isn’t a laughing matter, and autistic kids aren’t idiots or fakers, nor do they deserve to be labeled as such.

Tom Parker
Program Director
Phone: 414-967-5207
Email: tparker@620wtmj.com

H/T to John Michlig at Sprawled Out.

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A national fiscal burden that now stands at $455,000 per household, that’s what.

Who or what is to blame? Undoubtedly conservatives will point to entitlement and pork-barrel spending as the culprit while seeking to blame liberals, but let’s take a look at some numbers:

This little counter shows the up-to-date cost of the war in Iraq. As I write this, our government has spent more than 500 billion dollars of taxpayer money to fund the war in Iraq, and as I’ve previously noted, the George W. Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and defense spending are responsible for 85% of the rise in our nation’s budget deficits. Entitlement spending, on the other hand, accounts for only 9% of the increase, a fact that belies the argument that entitlement spending is the cause of our budget woes.

What’s more, out of control spending under George “Big Government” Bush and a Republican-controlled Congress (at least from 2001-2006) has resulted in roughly 45% of our nation’s debt being controlled by foreign governments and interests.

$455,000 per household - that’s what Republicans have left us with, and that’s the hole we have to dig ourselves out of in the coming years. So much for Republicans being fiscally responsible.

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First of all, a tip of the hat to Michael Leon for his post on recent comments by presumptive Republican Presidential nominee John McCain blasting Social Security as a “disgrace,” despite the fact that the Social Security system has served as financial bedrock of retirement security in this country for nearly a century. Here’s a little video of Josh Marshall ripping John McCain apart:

Justin Fox from The Curious Capitalist has more on McCain’s comments, calling the comments “patently ridiculous.” See, John McCain seems to have a problem with the fact that folks currently paying into the Social Security system - folks like you and I - are paying present-day retirees through the taxes we pay, but curiously, he acts as if this is a new problem, when in fact that’s how the Social Security system has always operated. As Justin Fox said:

The only disgraceful thing involving Social Security at the moment is that payroll taxes are being used to paper over deficit spending by the rest of the federal government. Or if you want to get all class-warfarey about, payroll taxes paid by working- and middle-class Americans that are intended for Social Security’s coffers are instead being diverted to fund income tax cuts for the rich. I’m sure McCain will be addressing this outrage at his next town hall meeting.

But hey, maybe Social Security isn’t really John McCain’s area of expertise. But if Social Security isn’t an area of expertise, and the economy isn’t either, then what exactly is John McCain’s area of expertise?

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I’ve heard a lot of conservatives talk about how Wisconsin’s citizens need more guns, as if our state’s lack of concealed carry laws have made our citizens somehow unsafe. “More guns” seems to be a common mantra among conservatives, but their rationale that more guns equals less crime simply doesn’t hold water if one takes a look at crime statistics.

For example, let’s compare crime rates per 100,000 inhabitants (2006) for Wisconsin as well as Florida and Texas, both of which allow residents to carry firearms:

Wisconsin:
• Robbery - 100.2
• Forcible Rape - 20.4
• Murder - 3.0
• Burglary - 485.8
• Vehicle Theft - 226.6

Texas:
• Robbery - 158.5
• Forcible Rape - 35.6
• Murder - 5.9
• Burglary - 917.3
• Vehicle Theft - 405.9

Florida:
• Robbery - 188.8
• Forcible Rape - 35.8
• Murder - 6.2
• Burglary - 944.6
• Vehicle Theft - 422.5

One look at the statistics and it’s obvious Wisconsin has much lower crime rates than states like Texas and Florida. Unless there’s something I’m missing, I’m not exactly sure why Wisconsin needs citizens roaming the streets packing heat, considering how safe our streets are when compared to other states.

Edit: In response to a comment asking for data for states closer geographically to Wisconsin, here’s some data for Minnesota and Michigan:

And since you asked for it, here’s the crime rates per 100,000 residents (2006) for Minnesota and Michigan:

Minnesota:
• Robbery - 105.1
• Forcible Rape - 31.8
• Murder - 2.4
• Burglary - 583.9
• Vehicle Theft - 258.9

Michigan:
• Robbery - 140.7
• Forcible Rape - 52.2
• Murder - 7.1
• Burglary - 753.9
• Vehicle Theft - 495.4

One look at the statistics for Minnesota and Michigan show they both have higher rates per 100,000 residents for Robbery, Forcible Rape, Burglary, and Vehicle Theft, and Michigan has a higher Murder rate while Minnesota’s Murder rate is slightly lower than Wisconsin’s. It doesn’t appear concealed carry laws have made for lower crime rates and increased safety in either state.

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