Today’s best news is the announcement by Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson that he is resigning.
Organizations reflect their leadership and the VA has gone to crap in a hand basket — to mix my metaphors — under the direction of Jim Nicholson who was of course appointed by good ol’ Gee Dubya.
Tony Principi, who came before the Republican hack Nicholson as VA secretary, at least seemed to have his heart in the right place. But after Principi left the nation’s second largest cabinet department had the misfortune of being led by a double whammy of disaster — Nicholson and Bush.
Perhaps the greatest problem under the Bush administration and its Republican minions in Congress has been the constant under-funding of the VA. The organization does more than just have hospitals for veterans. It also has a separate benefits administration and a veterans cemetery administration. In short, the VA has a lot on its plate and needs a lot of moolah to run the operation.
Personally, the VA has probably caused me the most distress this year, even more than being homeless. It’s come to the point that I dread dealing with the VA because it seems like their mission is specifically to piss me off.
Here’s hoping the new VA head will do better. But knowing who is at the top, I can’t say that I have much hope. I will just savor the good news of Nicholson’s departure for the moment.