Derek Benham

The heart of the VA “disability” debate isn’t policy, it’s the word itself. Disability is a term loaded with misunderstanding and stigma. Uninformed veterans and civilians negatively react to the idea of compensation for someone who appears physically “able.” That reaction is conditioned by decades of Hollywood cultural imagery that includes disfigurement, prosthetics, and World War I–style shell shock. In that frame disability is limited to something visible and severe. But that’s not what the VA system is built around. What veterans leave service with are limitations. Some immediate, others latent but predictable based on exposure, wear, and mathematical and science-based risk. These are measurable, actuarial realities. The system isn’t designed for public adjudication based on anecdotes or subjective thresholds of “hurt enough.” Yet many people implicitly treat VA disability like workers’ compensation, which invites a kind of vigilantism and an eagerness to identify fraud. It mirrors the logic of true crime culture: find the bad actor and expose the scam! In practice, that instinct often targets legitimately suffering veterans, turning them into suspects and criminals rather than beneficiaries. What’s missing from the conversation is the underlying purpose: the VA Disability program is, functionally, a quality-of-life compensation model. It acknowledges that service imposes lasting costs, not just on the individual, but often on their family and long-term well-being. But of course the current terminology obscures that reality. “Disability” narrows the public’s understanding to visible impairment, when the system is actually compensating for diminished lifetime capacity and risk exposure. If the goal is clarity and legitimacy in the public mind, the VA should reconsider the term itself. The whole damn thing… its language, framing, and branding. Because as long as we rely on a misunderstood word, we’ll keep having the wrong debate. And veterans will lose.

“It’s drivable. Be there” How many thousands of dollars have me and my friends spent on tickets to games? Win something.

Also I don’t want to hear any more from coaches asking more from fans, in football or basketball. Mizzou fans live and die this shit. We don’t need more money or fan support or other external shit. That place was a buzzsaw tonight. Mizzou fans have done enough

We have a great recruiting class? Cool. We can’t win in March. Which wasn’t a problem 2009-2012

@AceMcduffer She’s complaining about parking hours after dismissing sailors complaints about shipboard life in a war zone, after a fire ravaged living quarters. Do you not see the problem there?

@D_Benham Yeah. It is what it is. We make sacrifices, it’s understood. Selfless Service.

Soldier hardships are much different than sailor hardships. x.com/snafu_sara/sta…

@AceMcduffer “Welcome to military service” Her words. Not mine.

@D_Benham The two are not related. Hardships are expected on deployments, to include possible extensions. That has nothing to do with her complaining about parking. Garrison life vs deployment life is very different.

@AllThingsCivil She just complained about her parking spot being replaced by a crane. And blocked me for comparing it to the Ford.

“Welcome to military service” from someone who doesn’t know WTF a PCS or deployment looks like. Troops are stressed their deployment is being extended for a 3rd time, and you’re dismissing them? It’s free to STFU.

lol she blocked me. Again, soldiers stateside have a much harder life than our sailors who’ve been extended and lost their possessions due to a fire while in a war zone. Because of parking

“Sorry your entire possessions for deployment got destroyed because we were fighting a fire on the ship, but have you considered I can’t park where it’s easy for me to walk into the office?”

@AceMcduffer Enlighten me. She just told sailors that their suffering was part of being a volunteer force, yet she’s complaining about parking

@D_Benham Context, moron.

@Derrekll Gotta look good for match day. Those pics will last forever

Crisp Ralph Lauren button down for match day 👨🏿‍⚕️

This man just fundamentally misunderstands what missions the Navy has accomplished. Warheads have been placed on foreheads. You just didn’t notice.

@JimLaPorta And to the medical team “what do I need to fix to not let that happen again”

I saw this quote for the first time yesterday: “Someone dies in combat. At Brigade level, he’s a social security number and a status that gets tracked to Landstuhl. At Div, he’s a storyboard. At Corps, he’s a statistic. At Platoon and Company, he’s a gaping wound in the soul of 100 men. To his family, it’s the end of the world." -Jim Gourley

They brought Johnny’s kids on ice for the gold medal picture? Who started cutting onions in my living room?

Nobody cares if you speak “anime Japanese”

What a fun game of basketball. Also realize I’d hate basketball if the last shot attempt fell. #mizzou

Grew up across the border in Webb City. We played in the chat piles as kids. It was only after the Joplin tornado that the EPA realized having crushed lead waste in mountains was dangerous and removed it all.

@Asiritrauma1 @SyedAAhmad5 I’d like to know where these trauma surgeons who can’t intubate or place chest tubes trained. Because that is not my experience

@SyedAAhmad5 My days..Yes As a resident: Intubate/Resus Thoracotomy/lines Open a chest & a belly (+neck ) Manage vents/Bronch our own patients/respond to RRT in surgical floor Now we have Fellowship-trained Trauma Surgeons who can't intubate!chest tube by chest surgeon!#TypeB_TraumaSurgeon

I always tell my resident that the General Surgery Chief Resident is the one person in the hospital who can handle most disasters/ situations. They can intubate, open a chest or belly, manage vents, manage drips, Swann pts, write for antbx. etc……