office january of 09 your friend must have known this is going on and why didn t desomething or scream from the treetops? i don t know. i think there has been a tendency not only with rick but with his predecessors that this huge bureaucracy at the upper levels in the v.a. has a habit of isolating the secretary, keeping the bad news and waiting out the man in charge. the idea is if you are a bureaucrat they can t fire me. this guy will be gone soon. i will keep the bad news from the boss and eventually he will move on and wool start the cycle all over again. that s been going on for a long time, greta. one of the things i wondered of a general, generals tend to hang around with generals. one time they weren t generals, but they get yes, sir and no, sir and get treated quite well. they may not know what s going on way down the chain. do you think that he was even do you think that he ever walked a v.a. hospital? did he ever unannounce or
actually see what s going on? he did walk a v.a. hospital. it s unfair to qualify all of us generals. i know you have two daughters who aren t generals who can give you a little lip from time to time. there a s. a tendency when you wear stars to sort of create a bubble around you. and to be a good leader at that level what you have to do is break out of the bubble and get beyond your handlers and get out in the field whether you are a division commander or a secretary, knock on doors. show up in places unexpectedly, talk to the private in the fox hole and ask him the pertinent questions without all the staff and without all the handlers around him. i understand rick did this at the v.a. hospitals. but the degree to which he asked those questions, frankly, i don t know. there is no question he is a hero. he has served our nation with great distinction. right. you know, is the job of head of the v.a. necessarily one that should go to someone who is a militarior
something? a promised to fix. even though this did predate him. this does predate him but any red state where there is particular republicans wanting to put obama on the ballot over the head of a democrat. i think you are going to see this edges inned. alexander, interesting, i read today that senator john mccain suggested senator tom coburn he hates waste and a guy that is blunt and right to the point. any chance we are going to see someone like that as the replacement? he would be a strong replacement, especially for republicans who have touted the g.o.p. as the party of reform. and coburn is sort of the face of that but he is facing health issues. so,. owe says he is fine. is he stepping down from his seat two two years early. is he not 100% clearly. i don t see him taking on a new challenge at the end of his term but we will see. i think one reason is he stepping down not the condition of his health but enormously frustrated with washington. i m not sure that he would b
let s go off-the-record for main. in the last few days i have been outraged at president obama. in 2008, he campaigned on fixing the v.a. for the vets. remember this? no more homeless veterans, no more begging for disability payments. no more waiting in line for the v.a. we have a solemn obligation. to honor those who have served on our behalf. why didn t he? he promised. now i have also been outraged at general shinseki, how key not know about the problems and fix them? he was the head of the v.a. and that was his job? how about congress? they have committed to provide oversight of the v.a. what in the world have they been doing? nothing? pretty rotten, huh? none of the aforegoing was doing his job or keeping his promise to the very people, the veterans show have put their lives on the line for us. and then today, as i was recycling in my mind, my
house throughout the v.a. remember, time passes, people change, but veterans still get sick. and indeed they do. general, always nice to he see he you, thank you. thank you, greta. two big resignation announcements here in washington today. as we just noted eric shinseki and expwra carney. joining us our political panel the washington examiner susan ferrechio; susan, first to you, i guess the writing certainly was on the wall for general shinseki. the last one to know was the president, apparently. well, for a while we thought he might hang on a little bit longer. last week getting support from people on both sides of the aisle. only people calling for him to resign are people running for office. then what happened this week the inspector general at the v.a. put out this report that pretty much verified all of the things been hearing about in the press. secret waiting list of people weren t put on the waiting list.