Oliver Darcy:
Former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell pushed back at CNN’s Jake Tapper after the host suggested in an interview that the “lone survivor’s” fellow veterans died for nothing.
“One of the emotions that I felt, while watching the film is first of all the hopelessness of the situation — how horrific it was and also just all that loss of life of these brave American men,” Tapper said in an interview that aired Friday.
“And I was torn about the message of the film in the same way that I think I am about the war in Afghanistan itself,” he added. “I don’t want any more senseless American death. And at the same time I know that there were bad people there and good people that need help.”
Luttrell hit back.
“I don’t know what part of the film you were watching, but hopelessness really ever came into it,” he said, shifting in his seat. “I mean, where did you see that? Because there was never a point where we just felt like we were hopelessly lost or anything like that. We never gave up. We never felt like we were losing until we were actually dead.”
“I don’t know what part of the film you were watching, but hopelessness really ever came into it.”
“Just the sense of all these wonderful people who died,” Tapper replied. “It seemed senseless. I don’t mean to disrespect in any way, but it seemed senseless — all of these wonderful people who were killed for an op that went wrong.”
“We spend our whole lives training to defend this country and then we were sent over there by this country — so you’re telling me because we were over there doing what we were told by our country that it was senseless?” Luttrell asked. “And my guys — what? They died for nothing?”
“No,” Tapper replied.
I have often wondered how many in the military know that obama hates them. obama didn’t know how to pronounce, “Navy corpsman”, he wants the military to carry their own medical insurance, he is taking Christianity out of the military, and he wants to cut the amount of their pay increases, but fights to keep illegals on welfare and obamacare.
That early suggestion in 2009 that military members’ combat-related wounds should be covered by their own private health insurance was the clincher for my suspicion that Barack Obama was an epic dipshit. Corpse-man was just the icing on that cake.
“all these wonderful people”, “torn about the message”, Please. He’d (Tapper) have to do better than this, total insincerity, from my perspective.
Had the pleasure to have been at an event to hear the man. I was quite a story. And quite a man.
@Smorgasbord, #1:
I have never believed that for even a moment, and have never seen a shred of evidence suggesting that it’s true. I also realize that I could post endless news articles, photographs, and videos suggesting the exact opposite, and cite various items of legislation Obama backed as a senator or supported and signed into law as President that have been greatly to the benefit of active duty service members and veterans, without it having the least affect on those who regularly make such pronouncements. I know this for a fact, because I’ve done so before.
All that aside, I don’t believe it’s an opinion that should be so bluntly and openly expressed even though a person has every right to do so, owing to the fact that it’s directed at someone who is currently the Commander in Chief of Americans who are presently serving their country in uniform.
@Brendon Carr, #2:
The misconceptions surrounding this relate to a chain e-mail containing supposed quotes by Obama which were actually fabricated by John Semmen, a conservative satirist.
The idea that was briefly considered before being rejected was that private insurance might be billed for care provided by the VA when such care would otherwise have been covered by a veteran’s existing private health insurance. It was argued that picking up costs that private insurance would cover in the absence of VA entitlement was actually an indirect subsidy of private carriers, and that the change would saved taxpayers an estimated $540 million per year, while adding nothing to any veteran’s out-of-pocket costs.
@Greg: I appreciate that this is either a job for you or a sacred calling to defend your ideological boyfriend, but I didn’t quote from either the chain e-mail or any of the supposed statements attributed by the satirist to Barack Obama. So I labor under no such misconceptions.
The fact remains that the Administration thought seriously enough about the idea of billing veterans’ private health insurance for the cost of treating war wounds that Administration people floated the idea in a meeting with the American Legion. The Legion didn’t make this idea up — it originated either with the President or with some of his retinue of criminal hangers-on. Only an epic dipshit like Barack Obama would have that idea, or would associate with people who could entertain such an idea even for a moment.
As for “adding nothing to any veteran’s out of pocket costs”, it’s a moot point because it never came to pass, but didn’t President Dipshit also promise that Obamacare would reduce everyone’s health insurance premiums? Your assurances and the assurances of the taint-lickers at Snopes.com don’t carry more weight than our experiences.
@Brendon Carr: #2
Try to imagine how obama feels when he HAS TO put a medal on a military member, knowing how much he hates them. It would be like George Bush having to put a medal on an al Qaeda member.
The sad fact is that he still mispronounced the word a second time a few days later. I have wondered if obama has ever watched war movies, and if so, which side was he rooting for?
@Brendon Carr, #6:
While I don’t advocate what was proposed, I am curious about something: What’s the logic behind the idea that private insurance companies should be excused from paying for services their insurance plans would normally cover, simply because a particular insured person receiving them happens to be a veteran who’s eligible for hand has elected to receive those services from the VA?
This is the total opposite of showing veterans preferential treatment, isn’t it? It’s a private insurer discriminating against a veteran—who might choose to receive privately covered services from a VA clinic or hospital simple because it’s better or easier for some reason to do so. They’re discriminating by denying him or her what they would provide to a non-vet having the same plan. By doing so, they increase their profits by shifting the costs of services they would normally pay for to the taxpayers.
“War wound” is intentionally misleading. It’s intended to emotionalize the line of B.S. the e-mail is spreading. In reality, eligible veterans receive a wide range of health services that aren’t directly related to the qualifying wound or injury—often for a very long time.
@Greg: Oh give that a rest! What article where can prove Obama loves the military. Yeah he’s your commander in chief, is that why he advocated ROE that prohibited our troops firing the first shot, which led to so many uncalled for deaths. As a vet I say stick your sctick where the sun don’t shine. Your kind just always find a way to waste good American lives with cowardly acts and then you try to deflect. Kiss my grits!
Maybe those on the right could give the bullshit they’re trying to pass off as factual information a rest, so people who find it objectionable won’t have to spend time pointing out what a total load of horse manure it is. There are enough real issues to worry and argue about without having to deal with an avalanche of lies cranked out by political propagandists and pinheads.
I don’t know who or what the hell you imagine my kind is. I served 12 months of a three year enlistment in the Republic of Vietnam.
@Greg:
On which side?
@Greg: #4
I could also give links to military hardware obama and most other democrats voted against that we are still using in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other things they voted against.
George Bush was known to really appreciate the military, and NEVER tried to draw attention away from them ho himself. He heard about a wounded warrior from the Fort Hood shooting, and visited him:
https://www.sodahead.com/united-states/shootings-at-fort-hood/blog-295376/
Did you read in the article that obama visited Fort Hood, but played basketball instead of visiting the troops? He has had several chances to visit the wounded and CHOSE not to, and it wasn’t because of more pressing issues. Some other ways he proves he doesn’t care for the military:
(1) He declared the Fort Hood shooting injuries work place injuries so that it wouldn’t be declared a terrorist attack, and so that the injured and dead would not qualify for the Purple Heart.
(2) He never gave the military credit for getting Osama ben Ladin. obama didn’t even know about the raid until the helicopters were in Pakistani territory.
(3) He is firing top military officers. Look at history and you will see that this is done before someone like Hitler takes over a country, so that the officers can’t lead a resistance.
(4) obama wants the military to pay for their medical care though their own medical insurance. Do you agree that military personnel should have to pay for injuries sustained in combat? If so, can you imagine how much the premiums would be? Plus, unless congress mandates standard insurance prices, the rates would be based on risk factors. The ones who CHOOSE to go to the front lines would have a much higher insurance rate, and would probably figure they couldn’t afford the premiums, and they would probably choose not to go to the front lines.
(5) obama wants to cut the automatic rate of increase for military, but gave federal workers a pay raise, and he wants illegals to have Social Security, welfare, in-state school tuition rates, and free obamacare. They actually qualify for more benefits than the ones who fought for YOUR freedoms. Do you think that is fare to our military? Is this showing how much our president cares about our military?
I believe the USS America is sinking, and that the captain has ordered it scuttled. If this is true, how far should I let it sink before I sound an alarm?
@retire05, #11:
This from a person who most recently supported a draft dodger for president…
@Greg:
“and I have never seen a shred of evidence suggesting that it’s true [Obama hates the military]. ”
The muslim imam, who some say cursed the soldiers but who definitely did preside over a Judeo-Christian funeral for fallen American servicemen killed in Afghanistan liberating/fighting/killed by muslims – that was a smack in the face to the military.
Link: “Bad press, including major mockery of the plan by comedian Jon Stewart, led to President Obama abandoning his proposal to require veterans carry private health insurance to cover the estimated $540 million annual cost to the federal government of treatment for injuries to military personnel received during their tours on active duty.”
“Look, it’s an all volunteer force,” Obama complained. “Nobody made these guys go to war.”
Testimonial: Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely notes how the White House fails to take action or investigate its own officials but finds it easy to fire military commanders “who have given their lives for their country.” Vallely thinks he knows why this purge is happening.
We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded. – Obama
Evidence? I guess it’s subjective.
We can’t honestly argue that Obama wants the military to pay for their medical care [through] their own medical insurance” because the proper tense of the verb “to want” is, in this case, wanted. The Administration broached the idea and recoiled at the vehemence of the opposition. But President Dipshit and/or his retinue of criminal hangers-on definitely thought it was a clever enough idea to see if it would fly.
@mossomo, #14:
Yep, that’s totally a phony quote, written by conservative political satirist John Semmens. The first paragraph of the page you linked makes that clear. As they also observe, although totally bogus, the story keeps coming back:
The block at the top with the down-turned thumb that states they consider the claim to be “COMPLETE BILGE” pretty much sums things up.
There never was a suggestion that veterans be required to carry private insurance to cover the the cost of VA care. The suggestion was that if veterans already have private insurance, the insurers should have to pay for the same services they cover for non-vets who have the same plans.
I guess that makes no sense. Apparently insured vets should pay the same private premiums as non-vets having the same plans, but have some of the costs that they’re paying to be insured against picked by the U.S. taxpayers. That’s a nice arrangement, for the insurance industry.
@Greg: #8
As usual, you are trying to spread the, “Someone else should pay for it” mentality. Conservatives have the philosophy, “We take care of our own.” We don’t want others to pay our expenses. We will take care of them ourselves. We look at the military as OUR OWN EXPENSES, and installment payments for the freedoms our founding fathers bought for us, and we want to take care of our own.
Liberals always want to find a way for others to pay their expenses. I don’t know much about the medical insurance for the military, but they have a program that they pay into for their own personal insurance, so you already have your wish. That wasn’t what obama wanted. He wanted the insurance companies to pay for all of their care, since the other insurance was, and still is in effect.
Let’s go along with your idea that you want the military personnel to have to have a private insurance company for their personnel medical expenses. The problem I see with this idea is that you will have the insurance companies and the military fighting over whether an injury or an illness was from military action or something else. Remember Agent Orange?
I at least want the ones who VOLUNTEERED to go to the front lines to have ALL of their medical care taken care of, since nobody knows for sure what they might have breathed, eaten, or come in contact with in other ways while they were “over there.” I’m willing to take care of my own.
@Greg: #10
I would like to ask you a non-political question that is just curiosity, with no agenda intended. Did you volunteer for the service, or were you drafted. The reason I am asking is that the ones who go to the front line now, VOLUNTEER for the service, and VOLUNTEER for front line duty. In the Vietnam era, most were drafted.
@retire05: #11
I had to stop laughing before I could write this. Considering who’s side he is on now, it is a valid question.
@Smorgasbord: The distinction is irrelevant and distracts from the actual point: In respect of both military draftees and military volunteers, service members are put in harm’s way in the service of our country, and it is therefore the responsibility of our country to care for their service-related illnesses or injuries.
@Smorgasbord, #17:
What I’m actually wondering is why privately insured vets don’t get the same things paid for that their non-vet counterparts who pay identical premiums get. To me, this looks as if U.S. taxpayers, through the VA, are subsidizing private insurance companies.
It’s a dead issue at this point, but I think I see the logic behind the suggestion. Vets wouldn’t actually have been penalized, so far as I can see, and the taxpayers would have come out ahead. The problem with the suggestion was that it was so easily misrepresented and politicized—the problem with many things these days.
For whatever it’s worth 44 years later, I was an enlistee. I didn’t volunteer for front line duty in Vietnam, but at the time we all pretty much knew that’s where we were headed. The vast majority of those trained in my MOS got Vietnam as their first duty assignment. “Front line” wasn’t really an applicable concept. I spent a lot of time in a bunker, which seemed to be a very popular target because of all the interesting wires, antennas, and microwave dishes. I also did my time watching the perimeter wire at night.
@Brendon Carr: #20
I was only curious because in the Vietnam era, most of the ones who went were drafted. Just for the record, after I found out how Johnson used the war for his own benefit, I don’t have a problem with those who joined the National Guard, or went to college, or went to Canada to keep from serving in a political war for another Commander-N-Chief who had no regard for military personnel. I think he and congress should have been charged with many crimes for letting our soldiers die for their own gain. There are too many proven stories how he used them to make more money, and gain more power.
Greg
Conservatives have complained about both George Bushes and other republican presidents, but you seem to defend your leader no matter what. How about we have a one-to-one where I will tell you ONE thing that I didn’t like about George Bush 2, and you tell me ONE thing you don’t like about obama.
George Bush wants to let the illegals keep coming into the USA, instead of signing up to be a citizen like others have.
Your turn.
@Greg: #21
As I have said different times, the ones on the front lines are the ones keeping me free, and the rest of the military are doing their part to support the front line troops, so they are doing their part to keep me free. I don’t care if they were drafted or joined, they all did their part to help keep me free. Some draftees went on to be high ranking officers. Even if someone hasn’t left the USA, they are still helping keep me free, and I thank all of them, past a present, for that, and I want ALL of them, including you, taken care of the way they and you should be. Who knows what you might have brought back with you from Vietnam.
@Smorgasbord:
Smorgy, can you imagine how that military member feels when he has to stand there and let Obama pin a medal on them. One of the most important things that will ever happen to the military person and he has to have someone he knows loathes everything about it do the job. How pathetic.
@Greg: 4
No you can’t didn’t happen.
@Greg: 13
Did I miss something? who was the draft dodger? Bill Clinton?
@Smorgasbord:22
Hey hey LBJ, yep that was him.. all profit, no pain…
@Redteam: #25
I have wondered about that too. It would be interesting to know how each one ACTUALLY feels.
I have often thought that if I were with a group of people who got to meet with the president, I hope I wouldn’t shake his hand. If I would be asked why, I hope I would answer something lime, “I won’t shake the hand of a president who doesn’t have an American birth certificate, is using someone else’s Social Security number, has a fake Selective Service registration, and doesn’t even have a driver’s license.” I would than ask him to show me his driver’s license.
@Redteam, #27:
Who was the GOP’s most recent presidential candidate? You know—the guy who supported American involvement in Vietnam and criticized anti-war protesters, while relying on various deferments to keep himself out of the military for 8 years or so? If you’re still drawing a blank, there’s always the internet.
I have no problem with the deferments. What I have a problem with is the hypocrisy, and how easily the same people who attempted to crucify John Kerry ignored it.
@Greg:
John Kerry, and that wonderful Communist, Jane Fonda (who was married to another Communist, Tom Hayden) should have both been tried for treason.
@Greg:
GOP, hmmm. that leaves out the draft dodger Clinton, hmm, even leaves out the ‘unregistered’ BHO, but GOP you say, hmmm couldn’t be G. Bush Sr, he was actually in WW2, G Bush Jr, in Air Nat Guard, McCain, USN A4 Pilot, Let’s see, most recent presidential candidate, oh, you must be referring to Mitt, who followed the Dimocrat guidelines and accepted 4 student deferments and 1 ministerial deferment. You have a problem with him obeying and following the law? You prefer lawlessness?
Just what was Mitt’s hypocrisy?
@Greg:
Attempted to crucify? Was he actually nailed on a cross and just didn’t die, or what? John Kerry was one of the most despicable kind of military person. One who served, faked some injuries so he could get the hell out, then came back and demonstrated against his fellow military comrades and told many lies about them and spinelessly accused them of atrocities and pretended to throw his medals away. If you want to find a weasel such as him, don’t look under a rock, that’s not nearly low enough. Why don’t you give us your praise of John Kerry’s actions? Tell us about your hero.