PTSD shouldn’t be used to play politics

Well I wasn’t surprised at all with the addition of Sarah Palin to the Donald Trump campaign. Her addition to his belligerent, bombastic, ego driven campaign has nose dived it straight into the Twilight Zone. I was looking for Rod Serling to be standing there in the shadows of the video as she launched into a incoherent, long winded speech overloaded with all her past one liners in the space of five minutes. It was painful to watch, even more so on the ears. I must say that these two extremists of the bizarre in the realm of politics deserve each other.

But it was her comments to come later at another gathering of the faithful that had me speechless — her comments about her son, Track, PTSD and President Obama to be precise. Placing blame on Obama for her son’s affliction was wrong on many levels. PTSD is not for political football. It is a serious wound of the mind brought on by the trauma of war in this case. If there is to be blame, blame it on the war not a president who wasn’t one when Track deployed with the Stryker Brigade. That honor goes to George W. Bush.

What Track needs to do (besides facing his legal problems after his arrest last week for domestic violence) is to take his PTSD head on. Untreated it will consume him. I have little doubt many of his problems with the law recently stem from PTSD. I’m not judging him for his past, nor any of his siblings. I’m addressing his PTSD directly from one G.I. to another. He needs help dealing with this. If he does, those other problems will be resolved in time as well.

PTSD is an injury on a deeply emotional and personal level of the mind and soul. It affects everyone differently. Mrs. Palin was wrong to blast her son’s condition all over the airwaves for political gain — dead wrong and, quite frankly, very low. I’m no fan of Trump or Palin in politics. I believe they’re both beyond the pale of logic and reason.

PTSD is not a political football to bandy about. It affects millions of soldiers, police officers, firefighters, EMT’s and anyone else who been through a traumatic experience such as war or natural disaster. It is not a joke. It is very real, not something for one-liners by a former governor bitterly obsessed with a lame duck president who defeated her soundly years ago. She should have known better. She did her son a disservice. With her entire family under public scrutiny — even ridicule — young Track does not need this. He needs the privacy to pick his life up from the rubble, right the wrongs he committed and carry on like a man. Being in the public spotlight will not make that an easy chore, not by a long shot, but I do hope he will get the help he needs.

I generally shy away from anything to do with Sarah Palin. I find her take on politics equally disturbing and very distasteful and writing about her is distasteful for me as well. She is a creature of a polarizing nature, at best left alone and forgotten. Unfortunately this is not the case, with her recent comments sparking a media feeding frenzy — attention like that she so thrives and feeds upon like a vampire. But since she used her son’s PTSD as a crutch for political gain, I felt compelled to say something in defense of those veterans like myself and yes, young Track Palin, who suffer from this injury of the mind and soul.

That’s my take on this whole affair, I had my say. Time to cue in Rod Serling and the sound track to the Twilight Zone for the ending credits. It’s only going to get weirder from now on. Cue music in 5, 4, 3, 2…

Daniel D. Grota is a retired U.S. Army veteran with over 21 years in service. He is also a Tuesday morning co-host on KVRF 89.5 FM, Radio Free Palmer. Write to him at news@frontiersman.com.