Liquamen II

Today I’m going to talk about something that you might not want to hear or see. I surely didn’t. It is an issue that has made me angrier at my country than I think I have ever been.

I joined the United States Marine Corps in 1998; an idealistic young man who wanted above all to serve his country. I had wanted to be a Marine since I was seven years old, and when I graduated from high school, I shipped out. While I was in high school, my patriotism and desire to be a Marine must have rubbed off, because a number of my friends, most of whom were younger than me, also joined the Marines. I had a good career in the Corps; I loved being in the Marine Corps. But I left to move on to bigger and better things. Many days since my discharge, I’ve regretted leaving. I missed it. As of this moment, that is no longer the case. See, I was indoctrinated with the belief that Marines and the Marine Corps take care of their own. Sure, I always knew that in the bigger picture this wasn’t really the case; it wasn’t always practical, because the needs of the Corps always outweigh the needs of the troops. Nevertheless, I felt that it was a noble idea; it is generally an idea that is practiced at the small unit level. But yesterday evening, my self-imposed blindness was assaulted. It is impossible for me to ignore what I’ve always known.

Mike, a friend that I’ve known since he was in middle school, was one of the young men who somewhat followed in my footsteps. Yesterday, he posted a Myspace bulletin about a Marine that he served with while he was in (Mike is since out as well). That bulletin was about United States Marine Corps Sergeant Carmelo Rodriguez. Rodriquez’s is a story that is incredibly painful for me to tell, not only because it is about a person who I consider a Brother despite having never met him, but because his story fundamentally undermined my belief in my Corps and my government. Sergeant Rodriguez is dead.

He did not die in an IED attack. He wasn’t killed by a sniper. He didn’t jump on a grenade and save his men. He wasn’t accidentally run over by a Hummer or killed by equipment that has fallen from a 5-ton truck. He did not die in a plane or a helicopter crash. He didn’t drown in a training exercise. His death did not occur in the line of duty at all, in any way. Dying in the line of duty, while always a tragedy, is to die with dignity and honor, and in doing so, our military and our nation usually, USUALLY, treats such troops with the honor and respect. Sergeant Rodriguez died needlessly. His death was a waste because it could have been easily avoided. And this is only part of what angers me. Sergeant Rodriguez died because of military medical malpractice; misdiagnoses. Sergeant Rodriguez had melanoma, skin cancer. Sergeant Rodriguez did not have a wart.

In 1997, Carmelo Rodriguez enlisted in the US Marine Corps. During his pre-entry physical, the doctor noted skin abnormalities, and made a notation that said, very clearly, “melanoma on the right buttocks.” Rodriguez was not told to follow up with another doctor. This was 11 years ago. While Rodriguez was in Iraq in 2005, he went to see a “doc”, most likely a Navy Corpsman. This doc indicated to him that his condition was nothing more than a wart and that he should see a doctor when he returned stateside in five months. He didn’t know it at the time, but this doomed him.

Eventually, inevitably, the truth of Rodriguez’s condition became clear, and the hard-charging Marine was forced to retire. This, I believe, was not out of malice, but it is what happens when a Marine can no longer perform his duties. I was nearly forced to retire because of an arthritic condition in my knee. Regardless, Sergeant Rodriguez was doomed at this point. He had Stage IV melanoma. In 18 months, a supremely physically fit Marine was reduced to a mere 77 lbs as the cancer ravaged his body.

This was about the time, three months ago, that Rodriguez asked CBS news to come to his home to interview him and Byron Pitts was sent by the network to do so. As the CBS news crew was setting up for the interview, a mere eight minutes after Pitts met the 29 year old Marine, Rodriguez died. He was unable to give his story. His family, however, was interviewed, and they relayed to Pitts Rodriquez’s reasons for wanting to speak out. He wanted his story to be known; he wanted other troops to know that they might very well be neglected by the government they had sworn to support and defend.

But while malice may not have been intended when Rodriguez was made to retire, the results of this decision is nothing short of malicious. By making Sergeant Rodriguez retire, the military was no longer obligated to take care of him. I’m still trying to look into what obligations the military has in regards to cancers, but have not been overly successful at this point. It’s possible that the military, or the government in the form of the VA, had to pay for his treatment and hospital/hospice care. I do not know. It’s also possible that they simply argued that his was a preexisting condition and were not obligated to pay for treatment. This happens all the time. Most insulting, however, is the fact that because of Rodriguez’s retirement, the military was not obligated to pay for the military funeral that he rated. His family did. His seven year old son, who will receive 55% of his father’s retirement benefits, was presented with an American flag, while a bugler played “Taps” and Marine riflemen gave him a gun-salute. Let me say it again: his family had to pay for something that the government should have been obligated to do as a result of his service.

You can read the CBS news story HERE, and I hope that you will. I will warn you, however, the video that accompanies the story is disturbing; watch at your own risk. Another version, one less small, is available HERE. I am telling you, beware. The images presented within the video bothered me, and I am not easily shaken. And this is how I force you to watch, because watching might be the only way you’re compelled to act.

By all accounts, Rodriguez was a good Marine. My friend Mike served with him in the 8^th Communications Battalion, Headquarters and Service Company, Motor Transport. Mike met Rodriguez when he (Mike) first checked into the Fleet Marine Force, and was immediately drawn to him. A Corporal at the time, he was a gung-ho, 300-PFTing “Devil Dog” who was a hard-core-motivator. Mike looked up to him; wanted to emulate him. They frequently spoke of their love of art, and Rodriguez mentioned that he’d like to pursue their shared dream when he got out. He mentioned his work as a part-time actor who once shared the set with Katie Holmes on “Dawson’s Creek.”

Here we see such a promising individual, a verifiable asset to our nation and society, discarded as if his service meant nothing. And the worst part, my dear readers, is that there is no recourse for this gross violation of justice. None. Whereas you can sue your doctor for misdiagnosing you and causing undue harm, Rodriguez’s family can do no such thing. The Feres Doctrine, as decided in 1950 by the Supreme Court, prevents any service member from suing the government for injuries sustained while in active duty. This doctrine is generally a good thing, as family members would be constantly suing the government for the deaths of their loved ones in the line of duty. But this surely cannot be the spirit of the law, can it? Was it really designed to protect the government from complete and total negligence? I would contest that it is not. And I implore our legislature to act to protect our service members from such malpractice. Such malfeasance.

We can do something about this. You can write your Congressmen and Senators, just like I will be doing over the coming days and weeks. Contacting the people you pay to represent you needn’t be limited to this issue; contact them liberally. But I hope you will, at the very least, do so on Sergeant Rodriguez’s behalf. We need to make sure that we’re taking care of our Marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen. To do otherwise is unconscionable. We ask them to sacrifice for us, and it is our responsibility to make sure they are getting what they need, be it guns, bullets, armored vehicles, or quality health care, and failing that, the ability to be taken care of if the government fails them so utterly. To plagiarize from Barack Obama, this is change that we can believe in. A change far more substantive than anything he has suggested. Write your representatives, all of them, and ask that the Feres Doctrine be reexamined. We shouldn’t let what happened to Sergeant Rodriguez and what has happened to countless others continue to happen. Send us to war, send us to die, sure. We accept that. But do not treat us as animals. Do not throw our lives away needlessly. And pay your debts to us with the same equity as we serve you unquestionably.

Liquamen I

Liquamen is a fermented Roman fish sauce, and the newest portion of the Morning Coffee. Liquamen was made by taking some fish, placing it in earthenware and covering it with salt, sealing it, and leaving it sit in the sun for a period of time. The white liquid that rises to the top is then strained through cloth. You now have liquamen. Sounds disgusting, but Romans loved it and it was mass produced in factories. No, it doesn't even remotely go with Coffee, but coffee was unknown to Romans, and I like Roman stuff. And it's my blog. Our Liquamen embodies my (fermented) thoughts throughout the day which may (or may not) directly supplement the day's Morning Coffee, but which might be unsuitable for the daily email.

This isn't in the general edition because I don't want political speculation of this type to included in the MC. And I don't want to be held to it since predictions of this sort are not my forte.

Hucka-Who? Hucka-BEE...
I think the Huckster might secure the Republican nomination. And unfortunately, I think he's about the only one, besides maybe Romney, who can compete in the general election.

I say this because, well, McCain is too old and too "mavricky". And he looks to be one step from death, which is not good in Presidential politics. Giuliani has a lot of personal issues that will not fly with the religious base, and he has a very vocal group of people in NY that do not like him. And these aren't nobodies. They're firefighters and the like; respected and admired people. And their power and influence can even be blamed on Giuliani and other right wingers - they turned them into heroes after 9/11. Thompson doesn't even want it; his campaign is falling apart and his staff is convinced that he listens only to his wife. The man has been to Iowa (which in my opinion has a disproportionate amount of say in our absurdly NON-democratic system) about five times (exaggeration). He also looks like death. Despite his vast charisma, I don't think his heart is in it. Ron Paul hasn't a prayer because other than his cadre of supporters ( i.e. cult), no one buys into him. Who else?...Nobody worth mentioning.

Reuters reports that Huckabee is now in a virtual tie with Guliani in a national Reuters/Zogby poll. He's done this with a fraction, and I do mean a fraction, of the money available to his rivals. He's spent some ridiculously low amount in Iowa, and is fairing very well in Iowa. How well? He's made up an 18 point deficit in a month. That is virtually unheard of. Now his rivals are taking aim at him, going ape shit over what they perceived as a Cross in an ad by Huckabee. They fear him, and they should. No one should doubt the power of the evangelical base, which can no longer be counted on to toe the party line after Bush and Company obliterated their loyalty. By this point in the election cycle, the Repub nominee is usually fairly certain; they leave the hemming and hawing to Democrats. No longer. The base is fractured; uncertain of who to vote for. Huckabee is supremely articulate and quite charismatic. And most importantly, he's one of them. He also seems to be qualified on the surface, having led a large congregation and held high leadership positions in his church (I don't know which one...who cares?) and was the governor of Arkansas. Let's not forget who else ascended to the Presidency after having been the governor of Ar-Kansas.

The Huck-Meister has chinks in his armor too, but none of them seem as bad as the chinks in the armor of other Repub candidates. This is especially true now that the momentum has shifted to Huckabee's campaign, and he now has the opportunity to control the message (at which he seems more than adept). Yes, he pardoned some (a few hundred) people, one of whom went on and killed someone in Missura (spelling intentional). Yes, he might want to deliver the US to Jesus. But he's expressed regret for the former, and the latter, which he can simply ignore or downplay to more secular voters, surely panders to his base. The largest gap in his armor might be this: a lot of the precincts that are expected to support Huckabee in Iowa are remote ones, and they may not be counted before the winner in Iowa are announced.

You may think I've forgotten "Oven" Mitt Romney. I haven't. The man's a Mormon. People don't get Mormons. They'll get Mormons a whole lot less once the Rove-ian tactics get busted out, which they will, and by Democrats off all people, if the man secures the Repub nomination. Of this I assure you. Dems know how effective Rove-ian tactics are from personal experience. Mormonism will be all that it is, all the while bare and exposed for public ridicule; it will also be even more of what it is not (if you catch my drift - layman's terms: it'll be one shade less evil than paganism, and two shades less evil than atheists and Satanists). Romney doesn't see the need to explain his religion, and the Mormons I've talked to seem to agree (I wonder why - they know it cripples his chances). So Americans perception (discerning as it is) of Mormonism will be at the whims of Democratic propaganda. Not good.

I know, Kennedy won and he was Catholic, right? Right. How many movies feature Catholic priests and Catholic canon? Tons. They're everywhere. Name a horror movie from the 1980s and it likely featured a troubled priest fighting Satanic forces. Good or bad, we all know what Catholics are. I needn't even mention the fact that Catholicism predates Mormonism by about, oh, 1,800 years. Catholics needn't wage a PR campaign regarding their canon (pedophilia, yes; canon, no). Can you name a famous Mormon? Probably not. Name me 10 famous Catholics (just rattle off "Saint" and any random name ten times). Has any Mormon been involved in the Middle East peace talks? Not that you or I know of. Everyone knows that Mormons are nice people (missionaries), and that's about it. I rest my case on Mormonism vs. Catholicism in Presidential politics.

There's just a few weeks left of the first round of the nonsense that has become the Primary process; we will soon have a clear picture of the Republican nominee (and Democratic nominee too). From the Repub side, religion and perceived morality are going to play the defining role, I think. Far more so than any specific policy issues (those not already covered by religion). This will change in the general election (since the Moral One, whoever that is, will have been chosen), so perhaps now is the right time to think about policy issues too.