Adding insult to injury

After all these years of being called a traitor and worse for opposing the occupation of Iraq and hearing the yowling about how I don't support the troops by agitating for its end, when I read about this abject mistreatment of our vets, I feel like beating those people with their yellow ribbon magnets.

Marine Cpl. James Dixon was wounded twice in Iraq -- by a roadside bomb and a land mine. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, a concussion, a dislocated hip and hearing loss. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Army Sgt. Lori Meshell shattered a hip and crushed her back and knees while diving for cover during a mortar attack in Iraq. She has undergone a hip replacement and knee reconstruction and needs at least three more surgeries.

In each case, the Pentagon ruled that their disabilities were not combat-related.

In a little-noticed regulation change in March, the military's definition of combat-related disabilities was narrowed, costing some injured veterans thousands of dollars in lost benefits -- and triggering outrage from veterans' advocacy groups.

This is just wrong in so many ways and it's certainly not an isolated incident. This administration, and its supporters who excuse the conduct, have cheated the veterans at every turn from substandard care to onerous paperwork that makes it nearly impossible for our vets to get the benefits they deserve. So where is the blogburst of outrage from all those who shameslessly continue to support this folly behind the safety of their keyboards?

[More posts daily at The Newshoggers and The Detroit News.]