“Jon Stewart returns to TV with assault on DoD/VA failure to treat vets’ cancers linked to (literal) military base dumpster fires. Mad and stunned but not surprised right now.”
“I’ve missed the pen gestures!”
“The king of political satire/social commentary has come home.
Good to have you back, Mr. Stewart.”
One of many such comments on Reddit about this video:
I deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan multiple times and lived/worked in close proximity to burn pits on every single deployment. My last deployment was in 2010 and 3 years later I was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called pseudomyoxoma peritonei (PMP). Went through surgery and chemo and was able to pull through it somehow. I retired in 2019 and applied for life insurance through the VA. I was denied for pre-existing conditions, specifically due to the PMP. Still don’t have life insurance.
A great comment, finally, on this damn question (“why doesn’t the media cover this!) I see all the time:
~
I think the real question is, why does it take a comedian to ask these questions?”
The unfortunate answer is journalists do write about these issues, but few pay attention. It takes a celebrity like Jon Stewart to get the issue noticed by mass culture.
NBC News did a piece on burn pit exposure in April of this year: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/veterans-face-uphill-battle-receive-treatment-burn-pit-exposure-n1263862
The New York Times did an excellent piece earlier this month: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/07/us/politics/afghan-war-iraq-veterans.html
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