Smear a doctor for reporting that veterans are being badly treated for PTSD? Unbelievable:

Internal documents and e-mails show that Navy officials unfavorably doctored a psychiatrist’s performance record after he blew the whistle on what he said was dangerously inept management of care for Marines suffering combat stress at Camp Lejeune, N.C. The internal correspondence, obtained by Salon, also includes an order to delete earlier records praising the work of the psychiatrist, Dr. Kernan Manion, who was fired last September after lodging his complaints.

Now top Navy officials are tangled up in the blackball campaign. Soon after Manion was fired, Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., asked the Pentagon about Manion’s concerns about healthcare at Camp Lejeune. In a Dec. 17 letter to Jones, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus panned Manion’s ethics and professionalism, presumably based on information Mabus received about Manion from Camp Lejeune.

But Salon has obtained internal Navy documents and correspondence that suggest officials at Camp Lejeune altered Manion’s favorable personnel records after he went public with his concerns, adding new, derogatory remarks similar to some of the information in Mabus’ letter to Jones.

[...] O'Byrne, head of mental health at the Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital, of "immediate concerns of physical safety" due to mistreated Marines teetering on the edge of violence. “There was -- and continues to be -- no means of discussion of high-intensity/dangerous cases,” he wrote. Later that month, Manion quoted to O’Byrne some Marine superiors who were calling troubled Marines “worthless pieces of shit” if they sought help.

Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), the very man who was so gung-ho for the war, he got “French Fries” rechristened “Freedom Fries” in the congressional cafeteria, will be introducing a bill next week calling for a withdrawal date.

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On This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Jones blames the neo-cons in the administration for mis-managing the war and says his conscience is at the heart of his change.

Via The Carpetbagger Report:

"And while I’m glad to see the mess surrounding the East Waynesville (N.C.) Baptist Church wrap up so nicely, it’s probably a good time to note that plenty of conservatives want to change existing tax law to allow pastors like Chan Chandler to engage in equally partisan behavior and generate similar controversies across the country.

It hasn’t gotten a lot of attention lately, but there’s a bill called the “Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act” (H.R. 235) that would change the law to allow tax-exempt houses of worship to engage in blatantly partisan campaign activities. In fact, the bill was introduced by North Carolinian Walter Jones (R) and has received support from Rep. Charles Taylor (R), who happens to represent the district in which the East Waynesville Baptist Church resides." read on

I'm all for these guys saying what they would like, but if they are going to campaign and influence the direction this country is headed, then they need to pay taxes just like I do. I'm waiting for a big group like Focus on the Family to say "tax us," to try and prove how sincere they are. That greed doesn't drive their motives. They'll declare this the most "crucial time in the history of our country" and "your dollars are needed most." Donors will throw silly money their way. I'm surprised they haven't done it yet.