S2E5 Killing Time With Government Bureaucracy

 Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty. Justice.

Hello everyone. We're. Week one month is gone in our second season, and this is the fifth episode season. Now we'll be announcing the tape live spread word. In the meantime, sign up for our newsletter and keep on the latest news and event schedules. Hello Patrick's. Ready and waiting nine. My name is Chris Williams and you're listening 

to Constitution Commandos.

I know people will think that I'm exaggerating, an excessive exaggeration. , but it really isn't because this is truly how asinine the government is. Every, every office of the government, I don't give a shit what office or what branch of government you're talking about. Every one of them, there is no exception.

If you needed a glass of water, you can walk to the faucet, fill up a cup, and get your glass to water in one minute, less than one. If the government was in charge of that same glass of water, you would die of dehydration before you die. Before you got that cup of water. No, before you got approval for that cup of water.

So I'm not trying to, I know it sounds like an exaggeration. Mm-hmm. , and granted that is a metaphorical statement, but it is. The bureaucracy behind Go government in the military. I can't even imagine how bad it is now. I mean, I've been out since 2000, October of 2000. Mm-hmm. , I used to have to fill out a form to get a form, to get another form to request something, you know?

Yeah. To get a requisition form, and 

every single form has to be filled out in. 

And I'm, I am not exaggerating. That's, that is the God's honest truth. If you wanted a 41 87, you had to fill out this form to get another form to get the 41 87. Then you gotta, you gotta go to, yeah. Then you got all these people in your chain of command that you have to go through before you can even get the first form.

Mm-hmm. . . The bureaucracy does nothing, but it slows the wheels of progress. Mm-hmm.  and people that think that big government is a blessing or a good thing. Uhuh, I'm just going to say that you don't know what you're talking about and I think that anyone that wants socialized medicine, Big government to do something for 'em.

They need to go into the military and do a four year run. Mm-hmm. , hell, you could do a two year run and you wouldn't see it. Just, just go ahead and do mandatory Two years, no, four years. We'll make you do all four. Well do all four. That way it's 

ingrained in you. Yeah. Two years be insane. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Two years would be too easy to forget.

It would just seem like a bad. . But if you did four years, you would fully understand the gravity of having the government over your shoulders for everything you wanna do. . That's right. Hell, even in the military then if you wanted to buy a car, if I had the money in the bank for the down payment and I was cleared, I had a decent credit rating and had no problem getting approved anywhere.

Well, you had credit rating just cause you were in the military. I had to get approval. Mm-hmm.  from my chain of command to buy the car, 

which usually starts for us at like, um, M W R, the Marine, um, Navy Marine Corps Welfare Society, or do, then you gotta go to PS D, which personnel 

don't know. And, and people you, and you have to do that.

Government has to tell you whether or not you can actually afford that payment. 

That's. So, so if you want the government in your life controlling your life, go in the military. Don't advocate for 'em to control my life, right? You go in the military and you will get your wish. Mm-hmm. And I will be willing to bet.

Well, most of y'all that want large government wouldn't even make four years in the military. And if you did make four years in the military, I'd be willing to bet that you would have a change of. . Mm-hmm.  without a doubt. And the first time you had to utilize the VA medical system. Oh, I already know. Y'all would be like, no, no.

Social medicine. This sucks. Oh. But they'd probably still be like, oh, but they don't do it the right way, . Oh, really? 

Okay then. Well, they, I'll tell you, I'll, since you brought that up, I work on a couple crews and one crew in particular where the guy who owned the painting company was, was a retired gun.  and the guy that was already working with him was a staff sergeant when he left, he was Army staff sergeant.

Alright, so it was a pretty cool crew, right? We got a Marine Corps guy, an army guy, and here comes the sailor. Neither one of them use the VA for anything. Anything. Now both of these guys qualify for VA benefits, all right? They refused to use the va. , of course, we still, being young in the VA at the time, I kept thinking, look, man, you were, you're a veteran.

You qualified at least take advantage of it. You earned it, right? Yeah. And, and believe me, they were adamant VA was using. Now that I've been at the VA for a while, I can tell you I had something that needed to be taken care of medically at one point and went to a different hospital from the va. , the doctor noticed my veteran ball cap and made a comment about the VA being right around the corner.

I said, yes, I know. He said, well, it'd be cheaper to go there, wouldn't it? And I said, listen, I go to the VA to maintain my disability, but when I need a doctor, I go somewhere else. That's not a joke. I can't tell you how many people I, I personally knew that was actually living in the nursing home at the va Vietnam veteran.

Who still had not been approved for their disability. These were, these were troops and country on the ground. Okay. And they were suffering from problems from Agent Orange. They still, by 2006, hadn't gotten their disability. They're living in the nursing home until they died without their disability. Do you want to ask their families how much they're getting out of this?

Na 

Yeah. Well, my damn health car. When my medical card comes in, I will not be using the VA other than my turn the blind 

the other way. Okay. You 

said what? I said when my medical card comes in, I will not be doing VA except for my annual checkups and follow ups, because yeah, I'm not gonna subject my, I've already been misdiagnosed in the VA two or three times.

I'm not even a doctor or a medical professional and I know they misdiagnosed. Oh 

yeah. Happens all the time. Well, you remember, um, you know, one of our grandfathers actually, uh, he died at the Baptist Hospital because of, uh, he actually broke his femur. I don't know if you knew that. He broke his femur, still walking around on it, but obviously in some severe pain.

Went to the VA twice. They didn't catch a broken femur. 

How is that biggest bone in your body? Yeah. I 

mean, how do you miss that? And when they finally found it, they admitted into the va, but then all of a sudden, you know, it was like they were, they were feeding all kinds of pain medication, but then when it actually came time to do something about the broken payment, they couldn't do anything because now he has contracted, uh, pneumonia.

Now he's got bed. , they can't do anything about it. Well, my grandmother got livid. She moved them over to the Baptist. Baptist, couldn't do anything until they, you know, until the pneumonia had passed and the bedsores were taken care of. Well, that didn't happen quick enough when he ended up dying and it was on, it was within a couple of days after he died that we were at the office phone call came in from one of their clients and my grandmother had to tell him.

What was going on. But as she's talking to him, she's opening up a piece of mail from the va. You wanna know what it was? Mm-hmm. It was a $2,500 bill to cover his hospital stay.  

is 

about right. You know Nona pretty good. I don't have to tell you which language she used while talking to the administrator of the va.

Yeah, she, and not in so many words, told him to wipe his ass with that.  and she even told the VA that there would be a lawsuit. And I can't tell you how many other people who have been to the VA have had that very same issue happen. So yeah, go ahead and depend on that. Public healthcare. Yep. That's a strong recommendation.

Yeah, and And they obviously have not spoken to anyone of age that has to deal with regular. Medical appointments or typical ailments as you get older, they've never spoken to anyone that lives in like Canada or Europe. You know, I don't want to hear a 20 year old, 25 year old, 32 year olds say, oh, I got friends in Europe.

They love theirs. Yeah, because they're at the age where they don't have to go to the doctor. Yeah, no, that, that 

public healthcare. Healthcare is great for people that don't have to use it.

Public healthcare puts you in a very long line of people who have to use it. Take a number, take a seat. You think you wait a long time in the emergency room now . It's 

ridiculous. I know. 

It is ridiculous. Anytime you go to the hospital and you have to go to an emergency room, typically it's cause there's an emergency.

So you don't wanna sit in the emergency room for 12 and a half, 13 hours because there's only one doctor on staff that's already happening. So what would you do with public 

healthcare? Yeah, I, I was in the VA one day for my little annual, and they had this old black guy. I mean, he had to have been. I guess at that time, I mean, he was old enough dude.

He, he might have been World War ii, Korea era, you know? Yeah. And, uh, they brought him into the Blue Clinic. That's, that's my clinic. And, you know, I'm in there and I'm waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. I, I noticed when the, this orderly or nurse, I don't know what their job was, rolled him in there in a wheelchair and left him well, I was in there for probably, I don't know.

They were pretty busy that day. I probably was in there for an hour before I got called back and they sent me to do all kinds of lab work, uh, you know, ie. Uh, I had to go to X radiology, hematology. I mean, I, I had to go do all kinds of shit and, you know, I get back, it's like an hour and a half or so later and that old man's still sitting there in a wheelchair in the same place as they dropped him off.

I can hear him. He's like, what? What am I doing here? Mm-hmm. , they didn't tell him anything. They just wheeled him over and dropped him off at the nursing station. And they're like, he's like, why am I over here? And the nurses in the blues clinic didn't know what he was doing there. And he's like, well, I was at my doctor and they wheeled me over here and just dropped me off.

Didn't tell him anything. I have no idea how long that man sat. Yeah, they didn't tell him shit and they just rolled him to another clinic that he wasn't even enrolled in and just dropped him off. Just left him there. And he was an old man. And I mean, I felt bad for this guy because, I mean, it's like number one, you're at the hospital for a specific reason.

You know, if it's not for your annual vitals and checkup and shit. I mean, I imagine this man because of the, the, his age. I mean, dude, he might have been Korea and Vietnam. He might have been World War II and Korea. I don't know. But the man obviously saw conflict in multiple theaters. , right? Just from his age, you know, I mean, I guess it's possible he did one tour and got out, but I.

and then they just dumped him off in another clinic that had nothing to do with him. And I'm, I see that kind of crap right there. I just that, I don't understand that. And But that's typical va that's, yeah. Just the way they 

are. Well, I think I told you about one of the ni, one of the nights I had gone to the va.

It's been years ago though. I got there, walk in the emergency room and there's. , three people, including myself in the emergency room. One of those people was sitting in a regular chair, not even a, a wheelchair. With a compound fracture, you think we ought to explain what a compound fracture is? . We got 

a bone, 

bones sticking out the skin, right?

And now when I get there, the guy's already complaining about how long he's been sitting there and hadn't even been, hadn't been triaged. . And at that point I think he'd been there about eight hours with a compound fracture. 

Oh, that's plenty of time for infection to sit in. Granted, not probably worse shape for the leg and they probably gonna have to do something unthinkable to his leg, probably take it off.

And 

more than likely, and I know by the time I got into triage about two and a half hours later, he still hadn't been.  and spice to say the man got a little bit upset. . Yeah. I would've gotten upset too. I would've gotten upset a lot sooner. But Would you believe that they didn't triage him? They didn't treat him.

They had him arrested, causing a scene in the er. 

Oh, yeah. Oh, I would've been going off on some people. Well, hey, maybe, maybe the jail took him to an actual hospital cause they are obligated by law to treat him. Maybe he probably got better healthcare by getting arrested. He got 

arrested by police. What they do?

Turn him over to j d and they said, what are y'all 

doing? You know? Yeah. It's just horrible man. It is 

horrible, Jesus admit. And you see all these commercials about treat your vets kindly, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, I mean, you know what? I don't look for any kind of reward or pat on the back for anything I did in the military.

That's not why I serve. And most of the vets that I know are the same way. And yeah, most of 'em are like me. They'll tell you there are a lot better men than me who didn't make it home. And those guys are the heroes. But you know, still, and. . You don't treat anybody like that, but that, that's what happens, at least in the Jackson VA now, and I've been to the VA in Arkansas.

I've been to the VA in Florida. Quite frankly, the treatment there was a whole lot better and there was a lot more accessibility. But I think that's why I tell people that the Jackson VA gives 30% of American veterans a second chance adopt of their country. 

Yeah, that's 

That's right.  because there's no telling how many, I mean, I, I knew personally two Vietnam vets who died in the nursing home at the VA who still had not received disability.

And you're talking 2006. And when did guys come home from Vietnam? Well, they started coming home with about 73, 74, something like that. You talking? I'm a Yeah. 

Well, almost 40 years taken back. Yeah. 

Almost 40 years of still fighting for your dis. That's insane. 

Well, hell, I was fighting for mine for what? 10 maybe?

Yeah, 

that's what, that's what mine was. Well, you got yours right after I got mine. But we started at the same time. 

Well, I was trying to start on mine in Texas. Mm-hmm. , uh, before I ever got back to Mississippi. Well, you gonna do that Infiniti. Oh really? Yeah. I guess you're just gonna do that. . 

Well, I know when, when you came back here and we both registered at the VA here.

I know, I know. Both our applications started at the same time. Well, probably not at the same time because I don't know if you remember, I had to be escorted back to my van to get my , my service . 

But um, 

but yeah, it took, I. I know I got mine in 2011. I think you got yours right after I did, didn't you? 

Oh man.

I'm trying to remember when I got mine. I mean, it was, cause I gave up on it for about two years. I mean Yeah, I remember that. It was Chan. Yeah, it wasn't for Chan getting it for me. I, I mean, I still wouldn't have it, but I was Same here. So mad. Yeah. I was getting so mad of even trying. I was getting ready to be a, a violent individual if I had to go up in there again.

Mm-hmm. . Well, you know, that's what, uh, a biker acquaintance of mine did. Right. I'm, I'm not mentioning his name for a reason, but you know, he fought for his, from Vietnam for 25 years, I guess, and he probably went up to the VA and found out who the doctor was that was supposed to be signing off on his disability.

And when he walked into his, He was talking to the doctor about why haven't you signed off on it? And the doctor kept giving him runaround. So he reaches in his vest and pulled out a grenade and pulled the pin and threw it across the desk. , but it was a dummy grenade of course. But after the doctor ran out of the off, well jumped out of his office, this guy picks up his grenade, puts it back in his vest, and he told that doctor on his way out as he was stepping over him, he said, next time I come back with piano wire,  and he finally got his disability and he got his disability.

And so, you know, a few short years later, he is got both his legs being amputated because of the age in Orange, and then he died about a year after that. And you know, really there's no sense in anybody having to fight that long and that hard for something that's well deserved 

from there. 

I, I went to church with a Vietnam pilot and you know, he got denied for his so many times.

It was ridiculous. He finally gave up on his, because they kept telling him he was denied because he was a pilot. Agent Orange is an airborne agent. Yeah. I mean, as a helicopter pilot, a Huey Pilot's gonna land, take off land, take off. They're kicking that edge and orange up all the time. Why wouldn't he be affected 

by.

Well, not just that, I mean, those pilots, man, they, they went through some crazy stuff back then. They had to use the damn rotors to clear landing zones. They were getting, those helicopters were getting shot to hell and became, I mean, they weren't even unserviceable until they could, couldn't leave the ground anymore.

I mean, until they physically could not leave the ground. I mean, those guys, they, that land in the middle 

of trees made their own landing zones. , 

I mean those guys. There's a book called Chicken Hawk. Fantastic book about the first air calf man. It was a wonderful book. Easy read, man, great book. And uh, but yeah, I mean, helicopter pilots in Vietnam, believe me, they earned every bit of this shit.

Oh yeah. And then some, every bit...