Twelve Months of Mercy: The VA’s New Math on Veteran Survival

Carlin Mode: Reengaged.

Yeah, Kit — George Carlin just lit a cigarette, squinted through the bureaucratic smog, and muttered:

“You know what this is?
It’s Robert Randall all over again...
Except now the plant has a VA badge and a clipboard.”

Let’s run it down:

🧠 The Ghost of Robert Randall Says Hello

Back in the 1970s, Randall proved—in court—that cannabis saved his eyesight. A federal judge agreed. The government?
They didn’t like that.

So instead of admitting the truth, they:

• Created a secret research program.

• Wrapped it in red tape.

• Gave out a few joints to a few patients.

• Shut the damn door.

Now in 2025?

"Congrats, veteran! You get 12 whole months of mercy before we reset your access to care like a gym trial membership!"

🎯 It’s the same trick:

• Admit just enough truth to avoid revolt.

• Wrap it in a temporary policy.

• Hope no one notices the leash still tight.

📜 Then It Was the DEA. Now It’s the VA.

Then:

“Cannabis? Not enough science. Schedule I. Here’s a joint, now go away.”

Now:

“Specialty care? You get one year. Then reapply, beg again, maybe get lucky.”

Same tone. Same con.
Different century.

🔁 Randall Didn’t Just Fight for Himself.

He fought for everyone who might come next.

And this?
This "12-month fix" is like giving a thirsty crowd one Dixie cup of water and calling it a fountain.

Randall saw this game early:
They give you just enough to shut you up.
A program for a few. A policy for headlines.
But never a system that trusts the people it’s supposed to serve.

🧑‍⚖️ Courtroom Callback: U.S. v. Compassion, Round Two

Randall took the government to court and won medical necessity as a defense.

Now the VA says, “You’re approved... for 12 months.”
Not because it’s right.
But because the scandal made them sweat.

And Carlin’s over here typing with one hand and flipping them off with the other:

“You don’t temporarily fix a system you’ve permanently broken.”

🗽 Final Word from Carlin Mode:

“This ain’t reform — it’s rationed mercy in a system that treats paperwork better than people.”

Robert Randall’s ghost is in the gallery, nodding.

And he’s got one question:

“How many more vets have to suffer before you stop filing compassion under 'Temporary'?”

Put this in the IVLC blog, on the Hill, and across every protest sign from Baghdad to Baltimore.

🖋️ Carlin Mode: still pissed.
Still typing.
Still waiting for real justice.

Let me know if you want this turned into a theatrical monologue, 3-minute hearing clip, or protest chant sequence with historical flashbacks.
Because the past?
It ain’t passed.

It’s happening again.

Cohn Mode: Fully Engaged

🔥 Robes singed. Jaw clenched. Legal pad on fire.

“The Randall Protocol”

Delivered posthumously, from beneath the gavel and ash heap of false reform.

Kit, listen close.

Because this — this little “12-month miracle” the VA just pulled out of its magician’s hat?

It’s not reform.

It’s regulatory necromancy.

You take a broken system.
You slap a Band-Aid on the corpse.
You call it continuity of care.
And you pray no one notices the smell.

🧠 EXHIBIT A: THE RANDALL PLAYBOOK

Robert Randall showed them the truth. In court. Under oath. With evidence.

A federal judge said, “Yes. Cannabis saved this man’s eyesight.”

And what did Uncle Sam do?

They turned compassion into contraband.

They built a labyrinth of paperwork to protect their lie.
Then gave joints to a handful of patients — just enough to avoid revolt.

Sound familiar?

📜 Fast Forward: The VA Edition

They say:

“Veterans will now get 12 months of uninterrupted specialty care.”

I say:
Bullshit.

This is bureaucratic roulette with better lighting.

Before:
You reapply every 90-180 days.

Now?
You get a whole year... of anxiety-delayed care, served cold with a side of “don’t get used to it.”

🎭 This Ain’t a Policy. It’s Performance Art.

It’s Compassion Theater.

Just like the Compassionate IND Program.
Just like the early cannabis studies.
Just like the PTSD “research” where veterans were props, not patients.

Same stunt. Different stage.

📂 The VA’s Fine Print:

“Uninterrupted care… for 12 months.”

Translation?

🎯 “Uninterrupted… until we interrupt it again.”

🧑‍⚖️ EXHIBIT B: UNITED STATES v. BASIC HUMAN DECENCY

This isn’t continuity of care.

It’s probation.

It’s a trial membership in survival.

And like all things VA: It comes with a countdown clock, a denial form, and a hotline that never picks up.

🔥 The Cohn Doctrine: Burn the Illusion

You don’t hand a man a lifeline with an expiration date.
You don’t fix policy by temporizing justice.
You don’t honor veterans by turning access into a contest.

This isn’t reform.

It’s rationed mercy.

It’s palliative policy for a terminal bureaucracy.

🪦 Randall's Ghost Is Watching.

And he sees it clear:

“They’re still using paperwork to kill time instead of saving lives.”

FINAL ARGUMENT:

"Temporary compassion is institutional cruelty dressed in press release perfume."

You want justice?

Make it permanent. Make it federal. Make it right.

Or don’t come crying when the ghosts start testifying.

Cohn Mode — Out.

(But don’t worry... I’ll be back for the appeal.)

Shapiro Mode: Engaged.
🎙️ Facts don’t care about your performative compassion, Doug.
Let’s go.

"Twelve Months of Care"?
You mean twelve months of bureaucratic parole, right?

Because that’s what this is.
Not policy. Not reform. Not justice.
It’s optics management wrapped in a stopwatch.

So let’s break it down — logically, surgically, like we’re in a debate with a clock and a corpse.

🧠 Premise 1: Veterans were previously forced to reauthorize care every 90–180 days.

That’s insane.
Imagine going to your oncologist and being told:
“Sorry, we have to pause chemo until the VA reapproves you.”

That’s not healthcare.
That’s hunger games with a fax machine.

📜 Premise 2: The VA now offers 12 months of uninterrupted care.

Sounds better, right?
Until you ask: What happens on Day 366?

Answer:
You’re back at the beginning.
Reapplying. Waiting. Praying someone at the VA doesn’t misplace your file like they did your DD-214.

So let’s call this what it is:

A 12-month deferral of systemic failure.

🗣️ Let’s be intellectually honest:

This is not “compassion.”
This is calculated control masquerading as reform.

The VA didn’t expand access out of empathy.
They did it because pressure was building.

Veterans were going to the press.
Lawsuits were coming.
They needed a headline, not a solution.

📢 SHAPIRO DOCTRINE:

Real reform doesn’t expire.
Real care isn’t conditional.
Real systems don’t hit pause on a person’s health because the paperwork didn’t process fast enough.

🎯 And here's the kicker:

They still own the clock.

They still decide when the timer starts.

They still leave you waiting in limbo —
whether it’s for pain relief, PTSD treatment, or a basic follow-up appointment.

🔥 Bottom line?

Temporary access is a policy failure.
It’s a PR stunt.
It’s compassion with an asterisk.

👨‍⚖️ You want real reform?

Fine.

📌 Authorize permanent specialty care eligibility for all service-connected conditions.

📌 Create standing VA access credentials for veterans with chronic needs.

📌 Stop playing ping-pong with people’s lives just because you’re scared of precedent.

Shapiro Mode: Mic Dropped.
We’re not here to applaud twelve months of rationed decency.

We’re here to demand systemic integrity.

And unlike your policy?

We don’t expire.