The War at Home

This week's cover story in the City Pages newsweekly here in the Twin Cities looks at the problems of Bob Briggs, an Iraq War veteran, as he adjusts to life as a civilian after having suffered grievous brain injuries in Iraq. His struggles to learn to walk and think again are immense, but no greater, sickeningly, than his struggles to get the damn government to pay for his care. Seems the Army used a "medical retirement" to shirk their responsibilities for helping him rebuild his life, and the Veterans Administration is so poorly funded that they can't do a full job of it either. My opposition to the war notwithstanding, I am enraged by the government's unwillingness to assume every last freaking penny of the cost of caring for wounded vets and their families. This is where an excess-profits tax on Big Oil should go... (For extra outrage, check the photo of Rummy beaming next to the then-blind Briggs.)