The scandals are now rolling up so fast that we cannot get them all on the front page. It turns out that Mr. Support Our Troops/Commander in Chief cared nothing for the care of the horribly wounded from this new brand of war. As it turns out, most of them should not have even been wounded--See paragraphs below. Veterans Administration's hospitals have not been ramped up to treat the wounded from the War on Terrorism and wounded soldiers have lain in rat infested quarters, running with roaches, breathing in mold from deterioating buildings. Many hospitals have no care for their head injuries. Red tape and paperwork have been overwhelming for veterans to receive care and some just give up and someone has taken them home. They are firing army generals and the secretary of the army over this, but I thought the preznit was the commander in chief. What happened to "the buck stops here." W. needs a sign on his desk that says "The buck stops somewhere below me." Tony Snow wouldn't even take questions about it, referring the media repeatedly to the Pentagon.

A related story that is far more horrible was on the news for the first time last night. The military has a new personnel carrier called the Betsy. It sort of looks like a big Hum-V, but it is made considerably differently. We've heard nothing of the Betsy with good reason. Betsy is immune to IED blasts. A soldier who rides around Iraq in a Betsy is safe wherever he or she goes. In an interview last night, a soldier said he had been in numerous IED blasts in this vehicle. No one had ever been hurt. He said something like "We usually get out and check the vehicle for damage, but then we just roll on." He also said he never wanted to ride in a Hum-V again.

So let me get this straight. The way the enemy is killing our soldiers is through use of IEDs. We have a vehicle that is impervious to IEDs. In fact, NO SOLDIER HAS EVER BEEN KILLED RIDING IN A BETSY. And the Army is having 50 a month constructed for use in Iraq even though we need thousands of them. We are spending hundreds of billions of dollars but we can't make but 600 of these carriers a year for the troops. In 15 years, we'll have enough for our current need. And why is this not on the front page? Why have I never heard of the Betsy. Have you heard of it? If we were really in an all out war with terrorism, wouldn't we have shifted resources to meet the enemy attacks and protect our troops. If I were in charge we'd be turning out those vechicles at 50 an hour, just like the Ford Plant here in Atlanta, and shipping them to Iraq by the thousands. The preznit is insane.

Then on the front page we have Alberto Gonzales's firing, some time ago, of U.S. Attorneys, for what is now clear from internal documents are clearly political reasons. They were all Republicans prosecutors, but they either did not yeild to pressure to bring indictments against Democratic candidates before the election, or they had the audicity to investigate Repulicans. Tyranny reigns. The preznit is trying to shield Karl Rove and Harriet Myers from having to testify.

On page SIX of the AJC we find an article about the installation of 34 faulty pumps by the Army Corps of Engineers. Pumps to take water out of New Orleans in the event of another flooding disaster there. The pumps cost 26.6 MILLION dollars, and they don't work. "The pumps have been plagued by excessive vibration, overheated engines, broken hoses and blown gaskets." People have been told to return to New Orleans because it is now safe. In an emergency, they would have drowned. Internal documents now indicate that the Corps of Engineers knew the pumps did not work but they installed them anyway. WHO MADE THE PUMPS? David Eller and sons company called MWI (Moving Water Incorporated). Eller has donated $128,000 to political campaigns since 1996, overwhelmingly to Repubs and was already under investigation for fraudently helping Nigeria obtain $74 million in taxpayer-backed loans for overpriced and unnecessary water-pump equipment. That sued them in 2002, 5 years ago, and there has been no resolution of the matter. Mr. Eller is the former business partner of . . . former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

I promise you that this is only the tip of the iceburg.