Too Much at Stake

The 4500 + page views I have received on my open letter to President Obama and Congress indicates (to me, anyway) that there is a general feeling of frustration and revulsion amongst the American people...unless you are passing my blog on to friends in a this-chick-has-fallen-straight-off-her-rocker kind of way. But the 50 comments I've received thus far say otherwise. I can be a voice for the military families who either can't or won't speak for themselves. I've always questioned authority and given my opinions freely so I consider myself mission ready.

At 11:55 PM on Friday 8 April, both email inboxes and my Facebook page exploded with congratulatory comments. I, along with the rest of my military family and the 100,000's of federal employees did a Happy Payday Dance of Joy. Wiping away tears of relief and exhaustion, I typed one last status update on the FRG fan page...Looks like we are going to be OK. And then I slept for 10 hours.

Since then, I've had some time to think about the past week...and talk to Army Dad, who took the opportunity to explain how this happened in 1995. OK yes, I was 16 in 1995 and government shutdowns were not nearly as sexy as Kirk Cameron in a leather bomber jacket. There is a chance that I was oblivious to all things Congressional. I would say that I am pretty much caught up on the Shutdown of '95 now, though.

Shana discussed the situation with J, who said that any politician guilty of stripping troops (especially deployed troops) of their paychecks would be voting themselves right out of a job next year.

Neal was largely unconcerned...although he did email me a copy of his LES (Leave & Earning Statement) for 15 April which showed half of his regular pay. That was Friday morning and right around the time that I began to freak the hell out. I spent most of Friday glued to CNN and Facebook, waiting for the situation to change and watching the clock tick towards midnight.

And then...confetti fell from the sky and we all took a victory lap.

Now, 48 hours later, I find myself wondering if we were ever truly in jeopardy. Did I get our backs up over nothing? Was it all a media stunt? Is it alarmist journalism or a game of political chicken? Or did we scream so loudly that Washington's ears perked?

Even though there is so much slime in D.C. that someone should have called Ghostbusters a long time ago, in my heart I still believe that everyone is basically good...that pathological liars are few and far between and everyone who is elected to office dedicates their tenure to the vision of our founding fathers. I do not want to believe that our troops and their families were used a bargaining chip when all else failed. 

And yet, that seems to be the consensus.

When I think about families stretched thin financially and emotionally, exhausted in a way that only multiple deployments can wear you down...and the moment that a casualty officer rings the doorbell of a military parent or spouse...and the lifetime battles with PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury...and the parents, siblings, spouses, and children who faithfully package and ship anything that will make a deployment easier...

I do not want to believe that our troops and their families were used as a bargaining chip when all else failed.

Because that is pathetic, disturbing, and repulsive.

In hindsight though, how else do you explain the 11th hour deal followed by the jubilant swagger of those who reinstated payday for our troops? They are our nation's heroes!

Except...that they're not. Our nation's heroes lie in the neat rows of Arlington Cemetery...or had to learn to walk again with limbs made of titanium...or will forever be marked by images and events that are too awful for us to imagine. If the politicians and the media conspired to draw the American people into a soap opera of deadlines and dollars, then to you I say SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! 

I want to believe with every ounce of my starred and striped heart that that's not the case. Although it's hard to argue with history and how it tends to repeat itself.

Regardless, DFAS (Defense Finance and Accounting Service) reports on its website today that we will all be paid on time and in full on 15 April. Whether that's a victory for Washington or our warriors, only time will tell. It is certainly a sigh of relief.

Should our leaders and lawmakers forget what a perilous game of chess it is that they're playing, they need only to look at this photo I took during the Friday awards ceremony at The Citadel last fall. They are the backbone of this country and they don't look anything like bishops or pawns.