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Veterans Healthcare

I had a lot more coverage of the veterans healthcare issues on my KMOX show this afternoon.

Part of it was about the Presidential Commission which gave their recommendations to Bush today. This is the group he appointed after the Washington Post uncovered the Walter Reed scandal earlier this year, with Bob Dole and Donna Shalala the lead duo of the nine-member commission. In the Oval Office today, they gave Bush plenty of ideas that can be implemented immediately, many of them simply by executive order, since the Department of Veterans Affairs answers directly to him.

Naturally, Bush (as he always does) told them how much he appreciated their hard work -- and then said he wouldn't implement their recommendations right now. This is the same way he handled the feedback from the Iraq Study Group and the 9/11 Commission, first thanking then, then shoving their report in a drawer. Many of my listeners were outraged by any delay in fixing the veterans healthcare oversights, and expressed their dissatisfaction by calling the White House directly. You can, too: 202-456-1414.

I discussed this with commission member Tammy Edwards, who has been an activist for veterans benefits since her husband was injured in Iraq two years ago and ended up with burns over 80% of her body. Listen.


When it comes to issues regarding soldiers who have served in this war, I always invite Paul Reickhoff back to my show. He's executive director of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America and, unlike the members of the presidential commission, Paul is not afraid to name names and place blame on the people responsible for letting the care of our men and women in uniform get so bad. Listen.


I also called upon the two US senators from Missouri.

Claire McCaskill explained how she's been there for the veterans since arriving in office earlier this year, and was a co-sponsor of a bill to address VA issues after the Walter Reed story. I challenged her on why this matter has become so wrapped up in politics, and why the Democrats have allowed it to get lost in the politics of funding the war in Iraq, when it would be so much easier to separate it and ensure that our veterans get the care they deserve. Listen.


Kit Bond followed, and when I asked him if he would pressure Bush to act immediately on the recommendations of the commission, he reported that the Senate had just passed (by a unanimous voice vote, I later learned) the Dignity for Wounded Warriers that McCaskill and Barack Obama had sponsored. Since his son Sam is a Marine serving in Iraq right now, Bond has a vested interest in making sure our veterans get taken care of when they return home. It was nice to hear him give credit to McCaskill and others. Listen.


Finally, our CBS News Capitol Hill correspondent Bob Fuss reported on hearings today in the House Veterans Affairs Committee regarding how the VA has denied mental health treatment to many veterans who have come home with post-traumatic stress disorder. One way they do that is by telling soldiers that they had a pre-existing personality disorder which makes them ineligible for care. This is a classic and indefenisble example of our government lying to our troops and refusing them the benefits they were promised when they volunteered for the service. Listen.


The challenge here to politicians of both parties is to make this a wedge issue. Rather than arguing about divisive issues like gay marriage just to appeal to your own political base, why not fight for the Americans who have volunteered to go where they're told to go and do what they're told to do, rather than allowing them to be abandoned or buried in bureacracy.

Veterans Sue The VA

"Support The Troops!" is our national mantra, but it apparently only applies until they return home. Then, it's more like "ignore the troops" -- particularly those who may need help from the very government they have served. This is a shameful way to treat our men and women in uniform.

Months after the scandal at Walter Reed, several veterans groups have sued the Department of Veterans Affairs, on behalf of hundreds of thousands of returning troops, for denying them disability pay and not giving them the mental health treatment they need. Today on my KMOX show, I spoke with Gordon Erspamer, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit.

He explained that, even though federal law mandates at least two years of health care to injured veterans, they are not getting it, especially when it comes to the mental health problems that affect troops who have been exposed to the horrors of this war. Worse, the VA has a backlog of around a half-million disability payments that have not been processed.

This is not a political matter. There's no left or right on this. This is about our government lying to our troops. They were promised they'd be taken care of, but that care is not being provided. The government that sent them to war is ill-prepared to deal with them when they return to the homefront. It is more than negligence, more than arrogance. It is the shame of a nation.

After the interview, I asked my colleague Carol Daniel for her reaction, considering her brother-in-law is fighting in Iraq right now. Carol got so choked up she could hardly express her anger. You may feel the same way.

Listen.


As Erspamer spoke, I couldn't help but remember Donald Rumsfeld's line, "You go to war with the army you have." But eventually, that army -- the one you didn't provide enough flak jackets for, the one you didn't provide armored vehicles for, the one you didn't have a decent war plan for -- comes home. Some of them may seem intact because they have all their limbs still connected, but the ramifications of what's going on in their heads must be dealt with, and they deserve better.

Read the actual lawsuit claim here.

Hank Aaron vs. Barry Bonds

Sandy Tolan was back on my KMOX show today to talk about Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron.

A few years ago, Sandy wrote the book "Me and Hank," about his correspondence with the Braves slugger at the time he was breaking Babe Ruth's career home run record. This afternoon, he offered some perspective on that achievement (and how Aaron handled the thousands of death threats and racial hatred that accompanied it) and compared it to the Bonds situation.

Listen.


This weekend, Sandy had a piece on Salon urging MLB commissioner Bud Selig to be there when Bonds breaks the record, rather than repeating Bowie Kuhn's no-show mistake in 1974 for Aaron. Shortly after our interview, Selig announced he would "try" to be there. Gee, I hope he can get a ticket.

Sandy was last on my show a year ago talking about his book "The Lemon Tree," about a relationship between a Palestinian and an Israeli.

Aaron Barnhart, TV Barn Radio

Today on KMOX, I talked with Aaron Barnhart about a female president on "24," the new series "Kill Point" and "Damages," the controversy over CBS' "Kid Nation," and the shows that didn't get enough respect from the Emmy nominations.

Listen.


You'll find Aaron in print in the Kansas City Star and online at his TV Barn website. He's on my KMOX show every Monday at 4:15pm CT.

Ken Burns, "The War"

Ken Burns was on my KMOX show this afternoon to talk about his documentary "The War," a 14-hour look at World War II which will air on PBS beginning September 23rd. Burns has once again taken a huge subject and humanized it, personalized it, by showing us The War through the eyes of the people of four American towns. Thanks to a DVD set PBS provided, I've watched several hours already, and I'm quite impressed.

We talked about getting WW2 veterans over their long-time reticence to speak about their war experiences, the emotional impact of what they'd been through, and what it was like for the Americans who helped liberate the concentration camps. One of the most striking parts of "The War" regards the shameful interment in this country of American cities of Japanese descent, and the previously untold story of how some of them were then sent into combat on the front lines. We also touched on the social changes at home with women going to work en masse, and how the war jump-started the US economy after the long post-Depression malaise.

Listen.


If you'd like to own a copy of "The War" on DVD, you can pre-order it here, rather than waiting for the inevitable PBS pledge break offers.

Jon Macks

Today on my KMOX show, Jon Macks joked about a fight he's having with his wife, Hillary Clinton's cleavage, Senator Vitter's solution to global warming, and a new dating service. I also asked him about his career-high moment a couple of weeks ago, in which he finally got to work with Tony Danza (!). Listen.


Jon Macks is a longtime staff writer for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," author of several books including "How To Be Funny," and is developing a major motion picture for Universal. He has also written for the Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, Comic Relief, A Capitol Fourth, and many other TV events. He's on my KMOX show Fridays at 4:15pm CT.

Robert Wuhl

I enjoyed Robert Wuhl's "Assume The Position 201" so much when it debuted this weekend on HBO that I invited him to talk about it today on my KMOX show. We talked about what he calls "the stories that made up America and the stories America made up" and challenging what we thought we knew.

I also asked him about his work on the 1982 series "Police Squad" (which begat the "Naked Gun" movies), why he was only in the first "Batman" movie, and the movie that cable made famous -- "Hollywood Knights."

Since Wuhl is a longtime friend of Barry Bonds, I couldn't help but wonder if there's such a thing as a "lighter side" to Bonds and if he thinks the criticism of Bonds is deserved.

Listen.


If you haven't seen Wuhl's "Assume The Position 201," scan the HBO schedule for one of the many times they're repeating it over the next month.

At this point, HBO hasn't committed to a third "Assume The Position" special, but they should -- and they should press Wuhl to do more than one a year.

Honoring Ike Turner

Was Mayor Slay right to turn down a request to make September 2nd "Ike Turner Day" in St. Louis when Ike is in town to play at the Big Muddy Blues Festival? Looks like he rejected the idea after lobbying from women who don't want a wife-abuser honored like that -- but the Mayor hasn't offered any explanation for his decision.

Tom "Papa" Ray, owner of Vintage Vinyl, thinks the Mayor was wrong. As he explained on my KMOX show this afternoon, our town honors Charles Lindbergh for his aviation feats without regard for his adultery/bigamy/anti-semitism. Listen.


So, the question is, what should be considered when giving someone a public honor? Do Ike's musical accomplishments qualify him, as they did when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 2001 -- or does his history as a wife-beater disqualify him?

What about Chuck Berry, who had his own legal problems? Or the drug history of Ray Charles, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix? Since Heather Mills accuses Paul McCartney of hitting her during their marriage, would Slay deny McCartney a day in his honor if he came back to St. Louis?

Our studio is right across the street from the Archgrounds, a/k/a the Jefferson National Expansion Material -- named after President Thomas Jefferson who, while one of our greatest founding fathers, was also a slaveowner who had sex with slave Sally Hemings.

These mayoral proclamations, by the way, are not along the lines of the Medal Of Honor. Even Slay admits that the threshold for them is very low.

Comments?

Art Holliday, Johnnie Be Good

Art Holliday was on my KMOX show this afternoon. When he's not anchoring the morning news on Channel 5, Art is making a documentary about Johnnie Johnson, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer who was one of the architects of that great American art form, best known for playing piano on those early Chuck Berry hits.

We talked about the rock legends Art has interviewed for the movie (from Eric Clapton to Bonnie Raitt to Bo Diddley to Bob Weir), why Berry hasn't appeared on camera yet, how Keith Richards pushed for Johnnie to be inducted into the Rock Hall, and much more.

Listen.


There will be a tribute to Johnnie Johnson this Saturday night at Argosy Casino Alton, where Art will show some of the clips from his documentary. The evening will also serve as a fundraiser for the project.

Here's the website with more info on Art's "Johnnie Be Good" documentary.

Viewer Discretion Advised

Jeffrey McCall was on my KMOX show this afternoon to talk about his book, "Viewer Discretion Advised: Taking Control of Mass Media Influences."

We talked about Sen. Jay Rockefeller's attempts to have Congress give the FCC power to regulate violence on TV (including cable and satellite!), and the whole notion of nanny government and its role in what you see and hear. We also discussed why the Fairness Doctrine should not be revived, and he had a very interesting answer to my question about whether Americans are consuming more media than ever.

Listen, then buy his book for more.



McCall is media studies professor at DePauw University.

Aaron Barnhart on TV

Today on KMOX, I talked with TV critic Aaron Barnhart about the new AMC series "Mad Men," the new Glenn Close series "Damages," why Mandy Patinkin is off "Criminal Minds," how Donald Trump wants Rosie O'Donnell to appear on "The Apprentice," and why NBC is sticking "Friday Night Lights" in a viewer-less time slot this fall.

Listen.


You'll find Aaron in print in the Kansas City Star and online at his TV Barn website. He's on my KMOX show every Monday at 4:15pm CT.

Ridley Pearson, "Killer Weekend"

Ridley Pearson was back on my KMOX show today to talk about his new crime novel, "Killer Weekend."

I asked him how hard it is to start a new series, how people he knows feel about him basing fictional characters on them, and whether the plot -- a sheriff trying to foil an assassination attempt on a female presidential candidate -- brought him a visit from the Secret Service.

We also talked about the upcoming third book in the "Peter and the Starcatchers" series he writes with Dave Barry, which is due in October. Ridley revealed why the books won't become movies, but could become Broadway shows.

Listen.

Bill Engvall, Sitcom Star

Bill Engvall returned to my KMOX show today to talk about his new sitcom, "The Bill Engvall Show," which debuts tomorrow night on TBS. We talked about it being a family comedy -- a rarity on TV these days, because the kids don't rule the house and the father isn't an idiot -- and how the "naked argument" scene you may have seen in the promos is based on a real-life situation.

Listen.

No Progress in Iraq

Paul Reickhoff returned to my KMOX show this afternoon to discuss the progress report that says the Iraqi government has not met any of the benchmarks for repairing and stabilizing their country. The Bush administration denies this, of course, and insists we wait for the mid-September report from Gen. Petraeus -- but if there's no evidence by then of the Iraqis stepping up, what's Plan B?

Reickhoff is executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and always provides good perspective on issues related to this war.

Listen.