While many Campus Progress readers and bloggers are tanning or cramming, a manifestation of Lord Acton's description of "absolute power corrupts absolutely" surfaced this week in the form of Libby's guilty verdict. Please take the time during your Spring Break or after you ace all your midterms to see the full breadth of casualties in the Iraq War.

Because of Iraq, our country lost the finest members of our generation. Because of Iraq, our country lost international respect, credibility and the very principles and values that make America great. The first casualty of this war was not a soldier. The first casualty of the Iraq War was truth. Those who believe they are above the law also believe in perpetuating this course of American degradation in the name of saving face and winning political victories of ideology.

I write this post to highlight Libby, the "Gonzales 8" and the atrocities of the Walter Reed scandal. I write this post to call for an examination of the conscience of the citizenry of this country in order to inspire them to action for a better America- the America conceived by our Forefathers and made possible by the sacrifices of the generations that came before us.

While the Bush administration has eagerly fired a scapegoat over the appalling conditions at Walter Reed hospital (much like it handled Abu Ghraib by firing Brig. Gen. Karpinski instead of addressing its own pro-torture policy),  the conservative spin machine has swung into full gear.

Instead of blaming the underfunding of the VA, and the poorly anticipated stresses brought on the system by Iraq casualties, quips about so-called "socialized" medicine have begun to pepper the conservative blogosphere. The disgraceful horrors of Walter Reed are "proof" that government-managed healthcare is inherently disastrous.

The truth? The VA is the best health care in America.

The "VA has for six consecutive years received the highest consumer satisfaction ratings of any public or private sector health care system," providing prompt, efficient, and high-quality service.

The VA is capable of doing this in large part because its centralization of authority creates effective oversight, allows swift coordinated response to problems, constantly adapting to reduce costs and improve care. As a Kennedy School study found,

"The VA is...becoming the model for what modern health care management and delivery should look like."

For those that have not yet read Dana Priest's excellent, humbling article in the Washington Post on Feb. 18th ("Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility"), you must do so. Chris Matthews referred to the article as Pulitzer Prize caliber on Hardball last night and rightfully so. Priest and her co-contributor to the story, Anne Hull, comprehensively document appalling conditions at an outpost of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Consequently, they find disgraceful treatment of our brave men and women who gave more than their fighting spirit and courage to their country- they gave their limbs and often times tragically their emotional and mental stability. Too many injured soldiers, after returning home for medical treatment and becoming outpatients in Building 18, find themselves sentenced to a prison of inadequate medical care in an impoverished medical facility- a facility considered America's top Army hospital.

Before the Right-Wing Noise Machine spins yet another failure of the Bush Administration, let us contemplate who truly supports the troops. Every patriotic American must reflect upon the treatment of war veterans in this country and reassess what it means to support our nation's warriors- whether you support the Iraq War or not.