After Gen. Eric Shinseki was named to head the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA), one got the impression that few veterans' advocates knew quite what to think.
The systemic problems of the VA under Bush are legion [see Veterans for Common Sense' Report for President-Elect Obama].
Shinseki - an honorable man, wounded, wronged by Bush - but the question arises is Shinseki honorable enough to expose the disgrace that under Bush the VA has become, and more importantly to fix the VA?
Obama has not been shy about speaking up for veterans rights in the past and one doubts he would disgrace the VA as Bush has.
A consensus is emerging and leaking into mainstream newspapers that for now we look with hope and cautious optimism as veterans suffer for the lies of our political leaders.
As E.J. Dionne writes today, "In naming Shinseki to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, Obama implicitly set a high standard for himself by declaring that truth-tellers and dissenters would be welcome in his administration."
Today's New York Times' editorial offers:
'You must love those you lead before you can be an effective leader,' General Shinseki said at the time of his retirement in 2003. 'You can certainly command without that sense of commitment, but you cannot lead without it.'
Those words were a rebuke to the Bush administration. It is heartening to know that the man who spoke them has been chosen to lead the agency charged with caring for America’s veterans, who deserve far better treatment than the country has given them.
For the 100,000s of betrayed and wounded veterans and those who fight for them, nothing could be worse than the VA under Bush.
Now, Obama carries the burden of the hope and desperation that too many veterans feel.
One could only wish for the best.
That's the position too many veterans find themselves in now.
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