Political Roundtable: Carmona vs. Flake, Antenori vs. Bradley, Wright vs. Miller & More

1. I would just LOVE to vote, and Early Voting started Thursday, Wheres MY BALLOT???

2. The Republican party is trying to make it unpatriotic for Ron Barber to criticize McSally.Why isn’t it unpatriotic for Jeff Flake to criticize Rich Carmona?

3. GuiseppeKnows: Friday, Pima County Recorder informed Red Star that ballots should be postally delivered no later than Tuesday, they were mailed Friday.

   Tucson to Tucson mail has to go to the muck known as Maricopaland for sorting? Has that been implemented? Anyway factor that silly possibility in when mailing your ballot back. Thanks for your question!

4. Red Star’s Bureau of Can’t Live With ’em, Can’t Live Without ’em (polls, that is), Bureau of Irony, Bureau of Resource Diversion, Bureau of Arizona, What It Good For?, Bureau of WTF Red Star, It’s The Weekend, Bureau of Work Ethic, Bureau of Senior Editors– all them so many, many relay this from Booman Tribune:

   “Be Worried, Work Hard, But Don’t Freak Out”

   at:

   http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/10…

5. Anyone claiming to be backed by John McCain is telling us they are against Veterans and pro-war. Not the kind of person I want representing me.

6. Wow! That new Flake add with Cristina Beato accusing Carmona of a midnight attack on her home is about the scuzziest assault piece I’ve ever seen. How does Carmona disprove something about which there’s no evidence? Something Beato didn’t consider important enough to report to police or other authorities at the time. And what does it say about Flake that he approves the message?

7. Baja…”no evidence”…? Beato gave those statements, under oath, before the United States Congress. That, sir, is about as solid as evidence gets. Carmona has anger issues. He’s left a trail of lawsuits behind him everywhere he’s been. The Daily Star called for his dismissal from the Pima Health Care system saying he had numerous management and personal problems w/ people working for him, treated the civilian oversight committee with contempt, and badly exacerbated the health system’s financial woes (And this is from the Star, so it’s not exactly a right-wing conspiracy)…..but if you don’t believe me….you can do the googling yourself, here’s a cheat sheet:

   CARMONA’S TEMPERAMENT – A HISTORY OF QUESTIONS

   ANGER
   “A number of Carmona’s former co-workers and employees, however, describe a man whose instinct is to escalate hostilities rather than resolve them.” (“Squaring Off Over Nominee,” Los Angeles Times, 07/08/02)

   “Charles W. Putnam, a University of Arizona surgery professor who has worked with Carmona, told Kennedy in the letter that he did not want as his surgeon general someone ‘who was removed from his two previous administrative appointments … because he could not work in an effective or even a civil manner with health professionals and other constituencies of those positions.’” (“Squaring Off Over Nominee,” Los Angeles Times, 07/08/02)

   “Carmona has acknowledged in interviews that not everyone likes him. Some former supervisors and colleagues, however, say the conflicts have been more than simple personality clashes.” (“Squaring Off Over Nominee,” Los Angeles Times, 07/08/02)

   “Several people who clashed with Carmona, contacted for this report, refused to speak on the record, citing Carmona’s reputation for suing or threatening to sue people he believed had wronged him.” (“Squaring Off Over Nominee,” Los Angeles Times, 07/08/02)

   “Two years later, Carmona was hired as chief executive officer and medical director of Kino Community Hospital in Tucson. There he clashed repeatedly with the hospital’s longtime chief of surgery, Eric Ramsay. They fought over staffing and the residency program.” (“Squaring Off Over Nominee,” Los Angeles Times, 07/08/02)

   “’Never in my entire medical career have I seen such gross interference by a hospital administrator without the slightest attempt to reach a cooperative understanding,’ Ramsay said in a letter to Carmona dated March 7, 1996, the day he quit. ‘Clearly you need a lot of help and instruction in how to manage your current position for which you have had no training or previous experience.’” (“Squaring Off Over Nominee,” Los Angeles Times, 07/08/02)
   “Carmona also battled with home health-care workers over a proposal to cut their hourly wages from $10 to as little as $6 an hour. After the workers complained publicly–noting that Carmona recently had raised the pay of top aides–he issued a warning. In a memo, Carmona threatened to transfer their work to the private sector if the aides continued ‘to maliciously and falsely spread rumors … in hopes of discrediting us and/or destabilizing our organization.’ The Tucson Weekly printed excerpts from the memo after he threatened to suethem for saying he retaliated against dissidents.” (“Squaring Off Over Nominee,” Los Angeles Times, 07/08/02)
   “Beato’s most eye-opening accusation involves two incidents in which she says Carmona banged on her door at her house in the middle of the night, screaming at her over issues the two disagreed on. Beato, a single mother with two children, said she refused to open the door because she was frightened of his behavior. The two lived in the same neighborhood on the National Institutes of Health campus at the time.” (“Richard Carmona Draws Fire From Former Boss,” Politico, 05/21/12)

   “While many colleagues say they never had any problems with Carmona, reports surfaced ahead of his 2002 confirmation hearing about repeated clashes with co-workers during his tenures at the Tucson Medical Center, Kino Community Hospital and the Pima County health system, including a legal dispute over his contract with the medical center that was later resolved out of court.” (“Richard Carmona Draws Fire From Former Boss,” Politico, 05/21/12)

   “’No, I do not make this stuff up,’ Beato told The Republic. ‘And I did fear for my life, and I am not a little withering flower, either. It was personally very frightening.’” (“Carmona’s Focus: Jobs, Immigration,” Arizona Republic, 10/04/12)

   “And then there has been Carmona’s uncooperative, even truculent, relationship with the Pima County Health Care System Commission of citizens with which the Board of Supervisors two years ago required him to work in formulating policy.” (“Dismiss Carmona,” Arizona Daily Star, 7/13/99).

   ETHICS
   “Regarding the travel expenses allegation, Carmona was forced to pay back the department for improperly reimbursed personal expenses, according to her testimony, emails between senior health officials and several people familiar with the matter. Beato told House investigators she was “extremely concerned” that Carmona was making a disproportionate number of visits to the San Diego and Tucson areas, where he owns homes, and was sending drivers to run his personal errands.” (“Richard Carmona Draws Fire From Former Boss,” Politico, 05/21/12)

   “Carmona’s campaign acknowledged Friday that he repaid the government $3,580 for his travel expenses in 2003. But his aides said the reimbursements were for a mix of innocuous reasons: a staff error, Carmona extending a trip because of appendicitis and his delivering of a commencement address at the University of Arizona.” (“Richard Carmona Draws Fire From Former Boss,” Politico, 05/21/12)

   “In the interview with POLITICO, Beato stood by her 2007 testimony. Beato said one of the issues that led to a midnight visit by Carmona involved his wish to visit the University of California, San Francisco, his alma mater, to receive an honorary degree. Beato alleged that Carmona wanted to pay for the trip using government funds, which she refused to allow.” (“Richard Carmona Draws Fire From Former Boss,” Politico, 05/21/12)

   WOMEN

   “In one case, hospital administrators cited his ‘bullying’ of a nurse who said he failed to diagnose a young boy’s skull fracture in 1991. Carmona demanded Angie Calvino’s resignation after she complained to colleagues about his medical judgment, rather than reporting her concerns to the hospital’s confidential peer review committee, court records show. In a mediated agreement, Calvino agreed to a demotion if Carmona did not report her to the State Nursing Board for not following protocol, according to those familiarwith the case. However, court records show that a few months later Carmona did report her, and Calvino remained demoted.” (“Squaring Off Over Nominee,” Los Angeles Times, 07/08/02)

   “His final battle there came in a dispute in May 1999 with county health commissioner Sylvia Campoy, who had reported to the county attorney allegations that a Kino doctor with a drug abuse problem had written false prescriptions to access drugs. Carmona had already dealt with the doctor on the issue two years before, and after an internal investigation, encouraged the doctor to report himself to the Board of Medical Examiners. After Campoy reported the allegations, Carmona became irate, saying she had violated the accused doctor’s confidentiality, an opinion shared by the Kino Community Hospital board and the Pima County Medical Society.” (“Squaring Off Over Nominee,” Los Angeles Times, 07/08/02)

   “’What I got from Dr. Carmona [after reporting the case] was antagonism and … threats,’ Campoy later told an investigator from the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s prescription fraud unit, according to a state Board of Medical Examiners document obtained through Arizona’s public records law. ‘I was screamed at, I was yelled at. I was told it was none of my business. I was told that I had breached peer review.’” (“Squaring Off Over Nominee,” Los Angeles Times, 07/08/02)

   “Beato gave her testimony in secret in 2007, saying Carmona was an ‘extremely angry’ person, a ‘living nightmare’ to work with, had trouble working for a female supervisor and abused travel privileges by improperly billing taxpayers for some personal expenses, according to the testimony. When POLITICO contacted Beato recently, she confirmed her testimony and reiterated her accusations on the record, five years after she originally gave them to the House committee.” (“Richard Carmona Draws Fire From Former Boss,” Politico, 05/21/12)
   “’I think any normal woman, when somebody comes in at midnight demanding and raising their voice, would feel threatened,’ Beato said in the interview.” (“Richard Carmona Draws Fire From Former Boss,” Politico, 05/21/12)

8. Can’t hardly wait to learn what the political consultant/sociologist/theologian Sam Stone really, really thinks of Muslims in America…

9. Red Star, I think anyone who wants to come to this country legally, work hard and live in peace is welcome. And I don’t care where they come from or what they look like.

10. The political consultant continues to revise and update his resume’…

    No matter that USA prisons are full of people here legally, at no small cost…

11. Steve, thanks for the in-depth response. I’m already aware of most of the issues you mention and am continuing my research on Dr. Carmona. But your opening statement weakens your argument. Surely you’re not so naive as to believe no one has ever lied while giving sworn testimony before Congress.

    Dr. Carmona also testified before the same committee. “Carmona denied the midnight visits ever happened to House investigators, sources familiar with the inquiry say. Beato did not file a police report or formal complaint against him, and there was no independent way to corroborate what actually happened between them.” (Politico 05/21/12)

    Beato’s claim may be absolutely accurate, but since she didn’t file a report or complaint we’ll never know. It appears to be an allegation that will be impossible to prove. Under these circumstances, Jeff Flake shouldn’t have lowered himself into the slime by signing off on this vile attack ad.

12. One needs to wonder why Beato’s claims are coming out so late in the campaign if the serious issues she raises are in fact valid. I’d think she would have been seen much earlier in order discredit Carmona early on, possibly even in the primary.

13. Steve Kozachik for President!

    Justing saying…

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