After the Washington Post, NPR, and other news channels brought the scandalous care of returning Gulf War vets to light, it was only a matter of time before the question faded from view — at least until Dana Milbank of the Post dragged it back into the light.  His review of top Army generals’ recent performance on Capitol Hill is a great portrait of the way things work in this town.  Even though the situation hasn’t improved much since then at many Army hospitals, and even though the facilities are understaffed by as much as forty percent, and even though the generals themselves characterized the Army’s performance as "a logjam" and "not meeting the standard," the main thing is:  the guys somehow got through the lawmakers’ grilling and could go home at the end of the day.  Because they admitted that they still hadn’t fixed the problem (that was their story and they were sticking to it), they and their congressional interrogators ended the day with an unending circle of thank-yous.  Milbank’s report, complete with sweaty foreheads and circular reasoning from the Army’s top brass, is funny enough — but it also exposes how very little can happen, very slowly, even after the press has uncovered incompetence in government.  More and different kinds of media exposure are needed, and that — you guessed it — means you.  Because the latest "news" about medical care for veterans is proof that "sending a letter to your congressman" is not quite enough to get things to change.

Ned Hodgman

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