Posted on 01/22/2016 5:26:58 AM PST by lowbridge
Sarah Palin decided to make a political issue of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder.
"My son, like so many others," she said at a rally endorsing Donald Trump for President, "came back a bit different."
Normally, veterans like me would view this positively - as a needed discussion after two wars that have impacted nearly 2.5 million U.S. service members.
But we're talking about Palin here, and that's not where she took it. Instead, she used PTSD to excuse - or at least shift blame away from - her son's arrest on domestic violence charges the night before. According to police reports, Track Palin "allegedly punched and kicked his girlfriend." Police found her "hiding under a bed" and "crying."
Palin then took it further, attributing her family's situation to America’s supposed lack of care for veterans. "It starts from the top," she said — implying that President Obama was somehow responsible. Ironically and outrageously, Palin never mentioned the actual victim of this apparent crime: her son's girlfriend.
And while her unfair smear of Obama is getting most of the attention, there's a bigger tragedy here.
Palin's implicit assertion that it's normal or standard for a PTSD diagnosis to lead to physical violence is simply not accurate. And peddling in that kind of misinformation sets back the progress post-9/11 veterans have made in re-integrating after war, whether it's in school or at work.
Contrary to caricature, those with PTSD - veterans and non-veterans alike - are simply not ticking bombs who could snap at any moment. Research has shown this time and again.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Lie. She wasnt implying any such thing. Here's what she said:
"My son, like so many others, they come back a bit different," she said in Tulsa, Okla. "They come back hardened. They come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is that their fellow soldiers and airmen and every other member of the military have sacrificially given to this country and that starts at the top"
Clearly she was blaming him for the lack of respect the Veterans get.
Brandon Friedman again demonstrates the difference of New York values from American values.
Love how the Left wanted to Hold Bush accountable for every single thing that went wrong any where in the USA but want to give a pass to O on anything he actually did wrong.
Obama is the head of the Executive Branch. US Department of Veteran Affairs is part of the Executive Branch. Obama is responsible for the lack of any attempt to fix the broken, openly corrupt disasters in the DVA that have been exposed.
It’s clear to anybody without blinders on what she was up to...excusing her son’s violent behavior.
From what I Understood before she made her public announcement Track was suicidal. The girlfriend tried to get gun from him. There was resistance. The charge very easily could be to get him in a safe place. It’s happened before -— a judgment that leads to mandatory counseling.
I took it exactly as the author did - she was trying to slip in an excuse for her son beating up his girlfriend.
I think Sarah Palin is going with the perceived winner on the Republican side and giving him a boost against the probable Democrat Sanders on the Democrat side. I really think Sanders is going to be the Democrat nominee if Hussein does not determine to block him. I was thinking long that Hussein would protect and ensure Mrs. Bill’s candidacy because she would be less than competent and easy to control with Jarrett still in the White House but Sanders might suit the Sultan even more. A President Sanders would complete the collapse of America and remove or at lease minimize the American block to Islamic, specifically Sunni, expansion. If the Sultan can pull that off and cause Iran and Israel to eliminate each other then his mission will be accomplished.
Are we allowed to say that on FreeRepublic? I certainly hope so. There are a million things to lay at the feet of Barack Obama, but Track Palin’s assault of his girlfriend is not one of them.
IIRC Palin’s children are 1/8 native-American and, as seen on Alaska State Troopers, that population is much more likely to be negatively affected by consumption of alcohol. Thus the kids should not even be drinking. Not excusing the behavior but that’s as likely a result as his military service in Iraq.
I like Sarah a ton, but she needs to go home and take care of her family. Her kids are a mess, and her being in the constant public light doesn’t help. Sorry Mama Grizzly, but the fault begins at home.
I’m with you. It appears she’s spent way too much time pursuing her political ambitions and ignoring her family - and not just her eldest son.
That is exactly what MANY of the servicemen wrote in to say, some in Trip’s own unit. They had very unkind words for Palin’s excuse for her son and said that Trip did not exhibit those signs when he was in. Some even questioned whether he had ever been diagnosed with PTSD.
What a pretentious jerk. How the hell does Friedman know a wit about combat and PTSD.
Her son is 26 years old. Is she still responsible for him? You people would have had a field day with Ronald Reagan’s serpent-toothed children.
You said...
“Love how the Left wanted to Hold Bush accountable for every single thing that went wrong any where in the USA but want to give a pass to O on anything he actually did wrong.’
Separate from this issue, I’ve seen it. believe it or not, there are still dedicated Obama backers that still blame GWB for the lack of a recovery, high deficits and debt, failures in the Middle East, stagnant wages..
We on the right are not afraid to hold our elected officials accountable when they mess up
To all the knee-jerk “New York Values” whiners, this guy is operating out of the Washington DC area. From his website:
“For nearly a decade, Brandon Friedman has been a trusted adviser to Fortune 500 companies, large government agencies, and fast-moving nonprofits. Before co-founding The McPherson Square Group, he served in the Obama administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. At HUD, Brandon played a key role leading communications for Secretary Julian Castro and the department’s 8,000 employees.”
It’s clear to anybody without blinders on what she was up to...excusing her son’s violent behavior.
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Did she ever specifically state that Track has been and is being treated for PTSD?
Also, I think she was suggesting that PTSD may have contributed to his suicide threat, more than the domestic violence situation, but maybe I am giving too much benefit of the doubt.
I'm not a fan of Palin's for other reasons, but it's entirely wrong to blame parents for actions of adult children.
And as I said two days ago, I believe she phrased her comments to get a little political mileage out of the incident. She is an intelligent woman, with a degree in journalism, who knows how to use words. I believe her delivery was calculated.
Before I get another flurry of feces flinging, I am talking only about her comments about the incident. Don’t accuse me again of not having sympathy for veterans with PTSD. Or of being a weasel. Or of being stupid.
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