Bad Times on the Land

578,000 jobs lost in January alone. Unemployment stands at 7%. Millions of Americans worry if they can save there homes or have enough money to feed their families or how they will manage with no health insurance. And the republicans and moderate Democratic senators are playing politics with Obama’s stimulus package. These nay Sayers are quoted as saying the stimulus bills spend too much money. What are they thinking? In an economic environment like this, Government MUST spend money to create economic activity. Government must not only create jobs but it must also stimulate the entire system to produce, spend and create jobs.
I know there are those that say government should do nothing. We should just sit back and wait for the mystical “free market” to correct itself. Let the automakers go under, let the banks and financial institution go under and in a few years the market will correct itself on and will be good again. In the mean while millions of Americans will starve, be homeless and die unnecessary because of no heath insurance, But not to worry soon everything will the will be ok. Are they so cruel and heartless to let this happen? Maybe they just don’t care about anybody but them themselves and their rich friends.
I am confident our President will not let the “free market” advocates have their way Instead he will give the so called “free market” a good swift kick start. He will get it moving again. It’s not going to happen tomorrow. It will take time but the poor and the jobless will be cared for in the manner befitting the time honored moral American way.

P.S. Today’ newspapers report the senate apparently has reached an agreement and might vote on the stimulus package today. Of course this was after President Obama called the moderate democrats in and got tough with them and reminded them what the people had said on the last election.

Yesterday the Army announced, that in January 24 soldiers committed suicide. That is six times as last January. The army spoke person said they do not why the suicide rate is so high. I don’t have all the answers but I have often thought about this problem. As most of you know suicide thoughts are is my constant companion. I therefore, look at this tragedy from both a personal as well as a professional view and with the experience of a 30-year Army veteran. To help lower the suicide rate should teach our young soldiers that combat is not like Hollywood movies. Not like Rambo or John Wayne. Rather we should tell the truth. That in fact everyone is scared shitless. We should tell them that the battlefield is a place of sheer terror. At the same we time we must tell them that soldiers must overcome the terror by knowing that they must do their job as trained because they  love their fellow soldiers and we can not let their fellow soldiers and nation down. That our strength is in our ability to continue despite the terror. To understand that our mission is more important then our terror that if we die we die, and the only thing we can do to help prevent it is by doing our job as best we can. That it is manly to cry. It is manly to be scared and that even heroes are scared. We must teach them how to live with this fear and to do their job despite the fear. One of the most important aspects we must teach is how to survive with the knowledge that they will or have killed a fellow human being. Make them understand killing is horrible yet necessary to stay alive, complete the mission and most import to prevent a greater evil and further deaths. After the tour of duty we need to teach soldiers how to live with guilt. Teach them how not to let guilt over whelm them. Teach them to seek help when it is too much for them to bear. Make mental health screening and therapy readily available. Teach commanders down to squad level to detect men who seem to be deeply depressed and need help. These suggestions will help but there nothing that will completely eliminate soldier suicide.