Adolfo Pena, a US Navy veteran of World War II, now claims that the re-election campaign of Kentucky US Senator Mitch McConnell, the current Republican Minority Leader, twisted his words and took them out of context in a recent ad that criticized Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford’s involvement with Valor Healthcare. Lunsford is the former CEO, and still in on the Board of Directors, of the company, which contracts through the VA for retirement homes that specialize in health care for veterans. In the following ad he makes it clear that he is now satisfied with Valor, and by extension it would seem therefore with Lunsford.
Therefore, the McConnell campaign removed Pena from its ad, which now runs in revised form here, without Mr. Pena.
So, what is the truth of the matter? Is it a simple matter of miscommunication? Did McConnell or his staff purposely misrepresent Mr. Pena’s words? Is the old veteran himself somewhat at fault for the misunderstanding. Is it really a misunderstanding at all? Were his words in the original ad accurate after all? If so, was he then actually telling the truth? Is he telling the truth now?
Is it even slightly possible Lunsford or his campaign coerced the old man into making the retraction? After all, if he is, as has been reported, still a recipient of health care from Valor, and so yet dependent on them, that might be easy to accomplish. Perhaps the Lunsford campaign used the carrot-and-stick approach. I can see it now-
“Help us clear all this up you old geezer, because if you don’t we will give you a bunch of damn good reasons to complain. But if you do, we’ll give you a nice good hairstyle and makeover.”
Fortunately, Bruce was kind enough to supply us with a before-and-after at the beginning of his retraction video. Check out the image taken from the original McConnell spot at the beginning, and then check out the old man’s new perm in all his shots throughout. What else did they give him, a free five-year supply of Viagra and his own private nurse?
You be the judge, and in the meantime, check out the old man’s original Letter To The Editor to his hometown Galveston newspaper-The Galveston Daily News-which led to his contribution to the original McConnell spot. Courtesy of Elephants In The Bluegrass-
Veterans Should Have Their Own ‘Bill Of Rights’
In reference to the article by Marty Schladen (“Veterans complain about clinics,” The Daily News, April 13): I am a veteran of World War II and we veterans do not have any idea what the contract with Ray Lanier, president of Valor Healthcare, says.
So it puts us veterans in a weak position to discuss the treatment we get.
Schladen’s article said the Veterans Administration pays Lanier’s company $400 for each veteran it sees annually. Once we register with Lanier’s company, he has no incentive to see us because the more times the company sees us the more money it loses.
That puts us veterans in a very weak position and at the mercy of the company. The company received a good contract — but bad for us veterans.
Lanier said his company’s clinics have enough resources to provide good care and that there are more than enough staff and providers for its patients.
I do not doubt this! He continued to explain that his company intentionally leaves open three or four slots in each doctor’s schedule each day to accommodate patients without appointments.
That is something hard to understand because, if you do not have an appointment beforehand, you just do not see any doctor. Clinic employees will make an appointment for you but you have to wait at least three months. This has happened to me.
The clinics should have a Bill of Veterans Rights on the wall for us to read so we are able to ask intelligent questions when the opportunity arises.
On the same token, the Veterans Affairs Department should inform us veterans of our rights.
Adolfo PiñaDickinson
This is a strange case, to say the least.
