Last week, the New York Times had this encouraging news:

The government is preparing to issue new rules that will make it substantially easier for veterans who have been found to have post-traumatic stress disorder to receive disability benefits, a change that could affect hundreds of thousands of veterans from the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam. The regulations from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which will take effect as early as Monday and cost as much as $5 billion over several years according to Congressional analysts, will essentially eliminate a requirement that veterans document specific events like bomb blasts, firefights or mortar attacks that might have caused P.T.S.D., an illness characterized by emotional numbness, irritability and flashbacks. For decades, veterans have complained that finding such records was extremely time consuming and sometimes impossible. And in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, veterans groups assert that the current rules discriminate against tens of thousands of service members — many of them women — who did not serve in combat roles but nevertheless suffered traumatic experiences.

That, as much as anything, underscored the fundamental change in treatment of U.S. combat veterans now that the Obama administration has replaced Bush-Cheney. For all the blather about patriotism and supporting our troops, the reality is that to Bush-Cheney, patriotism was mere political jingoism and the troops were mere cannon fodder and props for photo ops. Under Bush-Cheney, the troops were used and abused, but not treated as the brave human beings who willingly risk everything in service to our country regardless of the politics of war, over which they have little or no say.

Another example of the paradigmatic change in attitude and treatment came several months ago. After eight years of Bush-Cheney, U.S. veterans were suffering from myriad personal traumas, including dramatic rises in mental illness, including PTSD, and spiking rates of suicide and homelessness, with a doubling of homeless female veterans, alone. Last November, the Associated Press reported:

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki on Tuesday unveiled a plan to end veterans’ homelessness in five years, saying that without action the improvements of recent years could be lost because of the bad economy. Shinseki said the VA will spend $3.2 billion next year to reduce homelessness among veterans and is working to strengthen partnerships with other government agencies and service organizations. He said he recognizes that a goal of zero homeless veterans is ambitious but that he wants a high target so that everyone puts in their best efforts. “My name is Shinseki and I’m here to end veteran homelessness,” he said at the beginning of a speech to 1,200 service providers at a VA summit.

Even as a goal, however difficult it may be to attain, no previous administration had ever spoken in such clear terms. It begins with attitude. It is a profound disgrace that some men and women who served this nation in uniform are essentially discarded, with some literally ending up living on the streets. The Bush-Cheney team not only ignored the problem, their policies made it worse. The Obama team wants to solve it. And this speaks to an even larger issue.

One of the most insidious lies often disseminated by the corporate media, and still permeating much of public consciousness, is that Republicans care more than Democrats about our service personnel, despite a clear record that proves otherwise. And because that lie so permeates public consciousness, Democrats often find themselves on the political defense, making bad decisions out of a reflexive desire to prove that they're not weak or soft or unpatriotic. It's beyond absurd, but it's part of the political dynamic. And the best way for the Democrats to fight it- the best way for them to fight their own reflexive defensiveness- is to keep referring back to the facts. Sometimes, those facts are mostly symbolic: President Obama visiting Arlington National Cemetery and Dover Air Force Base, demonstrating a human compassion and empathy that Bush-Cheney lacked. And sometimes, such as the new policy on PTSD, or Shinseki's goal of ending veterans' homelessness, those facts prove the substance behind the symbolism. Democrats care about the troops. Democrats in government want to take care of the troops. On the other hand, the Bush-Cheney regime hardly could have been more abusive to the troops. I've been compiling a handy reference sheet:

Don't ever let Republicans claim to be more supportive of U.S. military personnel. Not only was their beloved Bush-Cheney regime cruel and inhumane in its treatment of the very people whose service it politically capitalized upon, but in the past several months the Obama administration has demonstrated a respect and appreciation that Republicans wouldn't have given a moment's consideration. To Bush-Cheney, military personnel were not given any consideration but were considered but political pawns. President Obama will best serve military personnel when he ends the Bush-Cheney wars, but he already has shown that he is always conscious of their fundamental humanity, and intends to honor them for the honor they do this nation by serving it in uniform.