Should VA Secretary be relieved from duty?

He also lied about the number of people fired...

He has lied twice (at least), but I guess that is not important when working for liars.

Found this on Facebook and had to share

That and the fact that the VA Hospital Administration is still the same mess are reasons alone to fire him. Making statements like that are dishonorable. What's more dishonorable is that out of the entire VA scandal only one low level employee was ever fired. No amends we're made. The VA health system is still so complex and foncusing that it barely functions. If lying about the special forces wasn't bad enough than why don't we just fire him for incompetence? He hasn't fixed the VA Health System, which is why he was given the job, and he's been given plenty of time to start.

Here's the thing: We are all prone to embellishment... No, we don't claim to be SF, when we weren't, or that we did door kicking missions when we really just sat on a FOB, or that we were shot or blown up, when in reality, the closest you came to a round was on the range... But there are a lot of people who do. We all embellish little things to make them seem more important, and this is natural...

HOWEVER, when someone claims one of the above scenarios that I gave as examples, there is usually something deeper... often, it is because someone just wants to be that much better than what they know in reality they are not. Sometimes, someone just wants attention. Other times, that person may have a real disorder - NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) is a very real disorder, that actually has no treatment. Embellishing is common - though, to what degree does vary depending on the person. Other disorders could be someone who is a pathological or compulsive liar, someone who has a self-esteem problem (which many compulsive and pathological liars also suffer from), and even schizophrenia...

All that being said: I took a minute to really watch the video of Secretary McDonald. My take is this:

A homeless vet says: "I was in Special Forces"... Secretary McDonald, being a politician (of sorts - you can't get the position of Secretary of the VA without being very politically astute/aware) is VERY aware of the cameras on him filming him, and the FIRST thought through is political mind is: "How can I leverage this to make it look like I REALLY CARE about veterans, and also connect WITH THIS GUY???".

Well, to establish a connection, you show that you have something in common with someone - to show that you have something in common, you declare that you went through a trial/tribulation that that person went through, or that you worked for the same unit/organization... something - anything... So, McDonald says "You were Special Forces? I was Special Forces!" thereby, showing that he and the Veteran are BROTHERS...

Now, this was a big mistake - especially for him... because the cameras were on him, and his "lie" could be exposed - which it was.

What McDonald SHOULD have done, is said: "You were in the Army? I was in the Army! 82nd! Were you at Fort Bragg? I was at Bragg!"... That would have established the SAME level or nearly the same level of brother kinship as making the false statement.

It is important to note this. I don't think that Secretary McDonald was deliberately trying to embellish the way a poser or a stolen-valor idiot does... I think he was trying to be a politician. I'm not excusing him for this, not entirely, but I am explaining the thought process he had.

He needs to publicly apologize. He needs to swear to NEVER embellish like that again. He needs to apologize to every veteran for this. That much for sure. Resign or fire him? I'd say not yet... let's see how he does as the Secretary of the VA. Let's see IF he really means he's sorry - and if he does this again, then kick his rear out... I think I've seen a distinct improvement in the VA since he took over, and I don't think that a few words is worth causing even more issues at this point with an organization that is just NOW starting to get itself straight, esp. since it's doing so because McDonald is leading the organization.

If we weren't all prone to telling fish stories - then yeah, I might say he's due to be fired - but none of us are perfect, and we ALL tell fish stories, even if it is only about the little fish we caught that we swear was 3' long...

Let he who is without sin (or embellishment in this case), cast the first stone...

Do you have a source for that? This is the first I heard of this.