VA Secretary.....

Robert McDonald admitted to telling a "lie" to another veteran that he served in Special Forces and added there is no excuse for what he did....What a bozo....this is the same guy that called out the congressman when questioned and said...What have you done?....Well, apparently fabricated a story about his military service which will immediately discredit him among vets....

Unfortunately...this is another black eye for the VA....Sec McDonald should have already been fired before this continues to hinder the clean up of the VA and get MUCH better treatment of Veterans that are in need....

It's OK, he didn't mean it - I can hear the hypocrisy and excuses from the left as they attack a talking head from conservative TV who has no influence in government affairs but they will give the VA secretary a pass, well because they are liberals........and that's the way they roll.

nochain wrote:

It's OK, he didn't mean it - I can hear the hypocrisy and excuses from the left as they attack a talking head from conservative TV who has no influence in government affairs but they will give the VA secretary a pass, well because they are liberals........and that's the way they roll.

McDonald is a disgrace .....so he's a perfect fit in this administration: They've rallied around a deserter so why not a liar about his military service....

nochain wrote:

It's OK, he didn't mean it - I can hear the hypocrisy and excuses from the left as they attack a talking head from conservative TV who has no influence in government affairs but they will give the VA secretary a pass, well because they are liberals........and that's the way they roll.

'nochain' you called it!....Sec McDonald....I was only trying to connect with the homeless veteran...This after stating he offered no excuses.....

nochain wrote:

It's OK, he didn't mean it - I can hear the hypocrisy and excuses from the left as they attack a talking head from conservative TV who has no influence in government affairs but they will give the VA secretary a pass, well because they are liberals........and that's the way they roll.

I don't see any threads started on here about the talking head conservative you mentioned. I guess that's because there aren't enough  liberals on here to start one. It could also be that we don't take so much offense at the issue as you so called  "warriors" do. I heard the Secretary was an Army Ranger. That's a pretty dangerous occupation from what I understand. I respect him for it. I also respect Brian Williams for even being in a helicopter in a hot war zone. That takes a lot of guts.
I guess all that stuff  is is not important once you get back in the states and tell a fish story about what happened. It all gets erased.
I thought one of you said yesterday that anybody that got an honorable discharge deserved our respect?

I guess the difference in whether I'm offended by what he said gets down to whether I care or not and I don't. I do care if he does a good job as VA secretary or not. I'd like to keep the benefits that come into my household and not have him tamper with them. I sure don't care what the conservative talking head you mentioned said because he's been nothing to me for years now. He's always been called Bill O'Liely at my house. Nothing new.
Ain't no soft toes to step on around here.  Sorry y'all "warriors" have got such soft ones.

I thought one of you said yesterday that anybody that got an honorable discharge deserved our respect?

"...but his service...sacrifice...and patriotism should not be questioned...Matter of fact that can/should be extended to ALL that served HONORABLY no matter what the differing opinions may be...."

Is lying honorable?

No. However, everybody lies.
That's a fact of life. You don't base the entire reputation of an individual on one statement he may have made. Actions speak louder than words.

Anybody that says he's never lied is a liar immediately. We start lying as babies and we do it all the way to the grave. A baby lies when it cries in the middle of the night even though he's not hungry and is in no pain. He wants his mother to come in and pay attention to him. If he cries she will think he's hungry. Even babies have the instinct to act in a way that gets them what they want whether it's honest or not. Kids lie about who started a fight, Grown ups lie about whether a dress is pretty or not. Teenagers lie about where they were the night before.
It's probably the number one broken commandment of all ten.
You can not respect people who lie but then you end up not respecting anybody.

I respect Mr McDonald because he was a Ranger. That's pretty cool stuff. It's dangerous stuff. Like I said, I respect Brian Williams for being in a helicopter in a war zone. And if Bill O'Lielly was reporting for a hot war zone, I respect him for that too.  The difference is I disagree with Bill O'Reilly's views so I don't like the man. I like Brian Williams. Both of them put themselves in harms way. They both may have exaggerated, I don't know. I don't care. As journalists getting a story they could have gotten killed. That means a lot more than any comments either of them made to boost their egos in later years.
It's no big deal, whatever you may think.
It shouldn't even be a news story. The news media lost its mind years ago.

Does that monologue mean lying is honorable?

Joanimaroni wrote:

I thought one of you said yesterday that anybody that got an honorable discharge deserved our respect?

"...but his service...sacrifice...and patriotism should not be questioned...Matter of fact that can/should be extended to ALL that served HONORABLY no matter what the differing opinions may be...."

Is lying honorable?

   The context of that quote was in regard to Sen McCain and his ashamed comments....there were comments made about his POW captivity as ....spent his time in a POW prison...[like he had a choice or wanted this]..If it were between Sen McCain and the cowh as to who has a better understanding of what it means to send troops into war--personally I'd listen to McCain....Stated that although there will be disagreements with his political stances from time to time any attempt to minimize his service...sacrifice...and patriotism was a wrong approach....When you've been fortunate enough to meet and speak to some of those POW's...the scars and disabilities they carry for a lifetime deserve better than the comments in that post....

    The VA Secretary served honorably by his military record and there was no attempt on my part to be critical of that record...He is responsible for his 'lie' and he as a veteran should have known better...Yes, there are veterans that have and will commit crimes and simply because of their honorable service doesn't excuse their actions afterward.... There are veterans that post here and simply because of different opinions/views doesn't make anyone less of a veteran or take away from their service...

Joanimaroni wrote:

Does that monologue mean lying is honorable?

It means everybody lies.
Everybody.
You and me both.

It does not cancel out every other thing a person does in his life.


Farting isn't honorable either but everybody does it.

BTW, did you see the video of him lying? He was talking to a homeless vet out in the cold on the street.  The guy told him he was special forces (which I doubt) and McDonald said he was too. It was an effort to draw the man out so he would tell McDonald why he had to live the way he did.

The crime in that picture wasn't that McDonald lied, it was that a vet was living out in the cold on a concrete slab. I'll admit Jon Stewart brought that up first but he was absolutely right.
The spin overshadowed the story.  All anybody got from that minute in time was that OHH NOOO, somebody exaggerated their service. That's what the media reported.   That's the crime in all of it.

Nobody reported the real story.

He lied....the rest is incidental.

The out of pocket price of my prescription drug through Tri-Care jumped another three dollars a month.

I'd be better off getting them through Title 19 their out of pocket expenses never seem to go up.

Thanks Obama.

*****SMILE*****

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0kcet4aPpQ

Joanimaroni wrote:

He lied....the rest is incidental.

It's incidental that there was a homeless vet living outside in the cold in a part of the country where people can freeze to death?

It's more important that someone exaggerated his military service?

I see where you are coming from. I couldn't disagree with you more, but I see it.

I kind of hate it that it's even possible that viewpoint could exist.

He lied....end of story.

This is kinda blown out of proportion.  

While I don't condone his telling that homeless guy a lie, it isn't like he fabricated a resume to get a job, or lied to avoid prosecution for a crime, or lied to his wife so he could have an affair.  

It wasn't done for personal gain.

Yes, if you're former Special Forces, it'll piss you off if you hear someone claim to be in the club.

He shouldn't have said what he said, but what actual harm was done, besides giving people another reason to be indignant for partisan reasons?

Eric wrote:

This is kinda blown out of proportion.  

While I don't condone his telling that homeless guy a lie, it isn't like he fabricated a resume to get a job, or lied to avoid prosecution for a crime, or lied to his wife so he could have an affair.  

It wasn't done for personal gain.

Yes, if you're former Special Forces, it'll piss you off if you hear someone claim to be in the club.

He shouldn't have said what he said, but what actual harm was done, besides giving people another reason to be indignant for partisan reasons?

Strange though the standards of the time.....A TV News Anchor is shamed off the air for being less than truthful and yet a VA Secretary is given a free pass and excuses are made for his less than truthfulness...One reads the news...the other is over a department that is and has been broken and his decisions can effect hundreds if not millions of veterans...Throughout the reporting haven't heard what his party affiliation or his politics are....doesn't really matter....

One man, is a talking head, who apparently fabricated an elaborate story and most probably other stories ant tells the public about them in an apparent effort to bolster his standing with millions of Americans, while another man is caught on camera telling one homeless man he was Special Forces in what appeared to be an effort to connect with the man.

Not the same at all.

Whom would you trust... Walter Mitty or a compassionate person?