 They were deceived into believing they were on a waiting list for services
when in fact, they had only been placed on a secret waiting list that would
stand them in line to eventually lead to being processed into the system.
That process lingered for months or years all the while the veterans and
their families coped with the illness the veteran had. Sometimes the
condition never reached the point of being processed because the veteran
died before it happened.
Those waiting lists have subsequently been discovered and the scandal of the
VA Hospitals has risen to the light of day; once held in secret, now is
exposed to the sunlight of public scrutiny. The President had promised to
"fix" the problem that he had recognized as a candidate as far back as 2008.
He repeatedly brought the issues of the VA to light through the years and
promised to "Get to the bottom of it." In the beginning he had appointed a
four-star general to head the Veterans Administration, Eric K. Shinseki, who
was well thought of as being an upright, highly capable man with leadership
abilities and possessed integrity to the utmost. In the end, however,
General Shinseki had to take the responsibility of the lack of integrity of
his organization, and seemed dumbfounded as to why such conditions existed
among the highest ranking officials in his bureaucracy.
Retired General Eric K. Shinseki was forced to resign as the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs after being criticized for his leadership and the on-going
consequences of a bureaucratic moral downfall. Before he resigned from his
post, he apologized for the scandal that was brought to the attention of the
public that had employees spread throughout the Veteran's Hospital system
engaged in a conspiracy that uncovered a practice that required the hiding
of waiting lists that had been established for many months making veterans
wait for the care and treatment they desperately needed. Indeed, it was a
loss of moral integrity that was defined as a "cover-up" that didn't just
happen randomly, but rather pre-meditated by employees that seems to have
been constructed to enable their own personal gain at the cost of the pain
and suffering from the veterans who were lined up for a long wait with no
services. General Shinseki's apology extended to not only the veterans, but
to their families as well and to the American people. The General admitted
the entire affair was "indefensible."
Although the President defended Retired General Shinseki's personal moral
character at the announcement of the resignation, calling him a "person of
integrity," the President went on to blame the "two long wars" and an "aging
veteran population" as contributing factors to the moral oversight of many
of the employees in the VA Hospital system. However, even though the
Administration might believe the "political" fix has been completed, America
cannot move on simply because the top official has resigned. The culture of
corruption continues to exist in the VA Hospital system and must be
investigated fully with the outcome being those whose moral ineptitude
carried out the problem and the cover-up should be punished.
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 There have been man "watchdog" groups that have highlighted the
issues at the VA Hospitals, but the one report that seemed to bring
it to a head was a report from the Veteran's Administration's
Inspector General that confirmed the workings of a deeply broken
system that established a culture that not only tolerated the
dishonesty, but contrived it in the beginning and perpetuated it for
the purpose of enriching those who were in charge. The report from
the VA Inspector General conceded the presence of a dishonest
bureaucracy that was hurtful toward the very ones the bureaucracy
was supposed to help.
Secretary Shinseki said of the report from the VA Inspector General,
“I can’t explain the lack of integrity among some of the leaders of
our healthcare facilities.” “This is something I rarely encountered
during my 38 years in uniform. I cannot defend it because it is
indefensible. But I can take responsibility for it, and I do.”
Although Retired General Shinseki is leaving the Secretary's office,
he leaves with puzzlement as to why there could be such deceit and
dishonesty in a system that is suppose to help those in need.
Perhaps he, and many of us should return to the moral teachings
our country presently finds itself so desperately trying to omit
from our lives. There is a reason for not just the people in the VA
Hospital bureaucratic system to conspire for personal gain through
deceitful practices, then cover-up the deceit; it exists in every
bureaucratic system and indeed, in all systems of life. There is but
one conclusion to the matter, at least as outlined in the Holy
Scriptures on which our very government was based. We need to read
and heed the full testimony of Scripture where we will learn there
are more influences pulling at the morality of mankind than simply
the individual self-control that many would have us believe. We need
help outside of ourselves to conquer those desires for deceit for
personal gain; we need to test the spirit of right and wrong to
determine if we will succumb to immorality in our dealings with our
fellow man, including the veterans of our country.
In a little letter tucked away near the end of the New Testament
Bible of 1 John is a passage we would be well to consider:
"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to
determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have
gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every
spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh
is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not
from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have
heard is coming, and now is already in the world."
"You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, because
the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world’s
perspective and the world listens to them. We are from God; the
person who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does
not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit
of deceit." (1 John 4:1-6)
Now, before someone turns away and dismisses the above with contempt
and disdain, sit down and read through it again and in the midst of
your dismissal write another explanation of why things like this are
happening all over the country and around the world. Does mankind
really have the answer to the immorality question apart from the God
of the universe?
[By JIM KILLEBREW]
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