right now. if you look, you ll find out there are interior stories mcclatchy. periodically, sure. one of the things i think this will stay longer than it might normally is that this is so politically radioactive in congressional districts, veterans are incredibly well organized, incredibly popular. there s no counterlobby to veterans in the united states, which is one of the reasons why we let the v.a. get bloated and inefficient. there s nobody out there that wants to take on the political task of angering the lobby. usually there s a lobby to counterbalance. in this case there wasn t one. because congress really wants more pounds of flesh than shinseki and we have elections coming up, i think it will stay in the news a lot longer. i think you ll have two things going on. one is the commission looking into it. the important business of government of getting it right, that will be buried late in the broadcast. you know, on multiple clicks down on the website. i think some out
yesterday eric shinseki resigned and that did not come as a big surprise to anybody. the first thing is the replacement and interim sloan gibson. good idea? somebody needed to move in. sloan is a good man and he will at least in the interim period start the process that needs to be done. there is a lot of confidence that needs to be restored in the department of veterans affairs and i think he can get that started and i talked to him after the president made the announcement and he would transfer the aggravation and anger as to the way the department acted. he will deputy a long way to getting the things started. the president intimated it was a money problem and we can solve it. and i think others suggested it is not a money issue. it is it a man issue. what do you think really has to
i was taught that in basic training. if you are captured, america will come for you. that s an important message to send to our troops and forever. let me get right to the va scandal. here is what the president said, shinseki is out. we got to make sure the veterans who are not getting the care one by one get the care, but there are needs. what specific needs are there right now that the government has to address? well, first of all, we have to clean house. the va has a systemic problem. so we need a total turnaround. we cannot middle around the edge. it has to be a national call to action. it s a defining moment for the president. who we name now will be key. it s unfortunate we didn t have somebody ready given the scandal took four weeks. how is it that shinseki didn t know? how did this bad news not get to him? i don t know. we ve been trying to tell him, there have been congressional we have been trying to warn him, trying to warn the president. the ig report has been sup
congress and lay out a plan to fix it. that never really happened and he becomes a distraction. this is as serious a problem as i have ever seen and the culture is rotten to the core that would allow double lists and veterans to actually die sitting on those lists. something is rotten at the va, and we need to get to the bottom of it. i would bring somebody from the outside to get a handle on this thing. and it should be quick. it should be severe. this notion that nobody gets fired in this town and everybody is a wonderful human being in the way they manage is just simply not the way the world works. if we want to get to the bottom of it, people, i think, need to be held accountable yesterday and at the same time, a plan of implementation to get it fixed. general jones, you probably knew general shinseki and know him well. do you think this was about politics or about his service at the va?
his senate colleagues. he was a senator for three decades. numerous friendships on the hill. but those senate democrats are all lining up behind hillary right now. so is the white house, so is the president. before we get to 2016, of course we have to get to 2014, the midterm elections. a couple weeks ago i had lunch with a top democrat who told me that eric shinseki could not still be in the administration by november. if he was, it would cost democrats the senate. he s obviously gone now. how much do you think there will be a lingering effect of the va scandal? obviously there are two components here, the actual problem with getting care to veterans and political ramifications of this. we all can agree on the getting the care to veterans part. but where are the politics going, do you think? it s clear the republicans believe there is political mileage out of this or they wouldn t be airing ads.