Springing thousands of drug dealers from prison because of tainted evidence at a poorly-run state lab is bad enough.
But now, a lack of oversight by the same Massachusetts agency responsible for the drug lab may have also contributed to an outbreak of fungal meningitis that killed at least a dozen people around the country.
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Joan, are you finally realizing that if your a democrat in this state it doesn't matter what you do, the liberals will still love you. Our dear missing governor has had problems on his watch, Probation scandal, the housing authority scandal, DiMasi, Wilkerson and Turner, and now the drug scandal. Watching the Obama administration handling of this terror attack in Libya and covering it up, Patrick has learned well. The buck NEVER stops with them, always someone else's fault, and yet the voters still give him a 57% favorable rating, how pathetic.
Quite correct. And the Globe continues to coverup for Deval by not reporting on how much debt the MA government is in.
212 days out of state -- Mitt Romney, 2006.
Too bad Charlie Baker didn't get elected, but Joan and the Globe did everything in their power to prevent it.
Hey, Joan, how often do we have a Presidential election in this country??? What planet are you on?? Hopefully, our Governor does not have to be intrinsically involved in all problems but should know which Department Head to delegate to on his behalf to get to the bottom of any problem that our state encounters. That's called Management 101.
Then maybe he should take an unpaid leave if he is going to take a year off to campaign. Then someone else could do the job since he is otherwise occupied. I think you are missing the point that he isn't doing the governor job. But anyone who has ever called the governor's office for help knows that their standard response is: "that isn't our job." And when asked they can't tell you whose it is.
Same rule applies to president Obama right, Libya comes to mind.
Patrick; nice guy, intelligent, great campaigner, lousy executive.
"A scandal of historic proportions rocked the now-shuttered state lab. Thousands of drug samples were mishandled over the past nine years by chemist Annie Dookhan. The tainted drug evidence lead to the convictions and jailing of suspects who will now go free. As many as 34,000 cases may be affected."
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Thousands of drug test were done over the years at several labs with no management validated confirmation (apparently) that any of the the results were correct. With no validation of any of the results how can you have confidence that ANY of the results were correct?
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The Governor might NEVER leave the state, but as long as management operates on the principle that we choose "good people" who choose "good people" and we let them run their own show with little or no monitoring of the details then it would make no difference.
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Great article on the incompetence and gross mismanagement of patrick and his administration style. We have our own Benghazi.
212 days out of state -- Mitt Romney, 2006.
The problems in the Commonwealth deserve the full attention of the Governor. Deval is a good problem solver. We need him here solving the problems of Massachusetts, not flittering about the country. The voters of Massachusetts deserve Deval's attention.....not a candidate for President.
Seems obvious we need a law that segregates medical and pharmacy operations from dirty disgusting dumps. Whether that is 500 yards or two miles, I don't know, but it seems obvious you shouldn't be making sensitive drugs right outside a local dump.... Massachusetts needs to look at every dump and every medical operation and see how segregated they are.
In the mean time one prisoners is getting a sex change while hundreds of other are suffer due to no dental care. The Department of Corrections blames it on the Health Department; all these departments come under the Governors watch. A prisoner is not get life saving treatment at Norfolk prison, while the health agency is attempting to charge prisoners for their own health needs... That means Civil Rights suites must be looming, and will in the end cost the tax payer... Where is the Governor?
Where's Patrick? The worst governor in our state is out campaigning for the wosrt President in US history.
Birds of a feather......
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Is anybody really going to defend this guy?
212 days out of state -- Mitt Romney, 2006.
Does anyone really think that crime lab supervision reaches the governor's desk -- except in cases of crisis like this one?
Does anyone think that pharma regulation gets to the governor's desk -- except in cases of crisis like this one? And since these drugs are shipped around the country, aren't they/shouldn't they be regulated by the feds?
Patrick's got work to do at home to rectify these situations -- that much is absolutely true. That he should have forseen these things, or that they're somehow a predictable result of his out-of-state work for Obama, is a very very tenuous argument.
Ms. Vennochi - review Patrick's campaign speeches: he said for his 2nd. term he planned to do a lot of tavelling. Voters knew the Presidential election would occur in 2012. Patrick is giving voters what he promised to provide with a second term.
We're still waiting for the property tax relief he promised for his first term. Where's that promise?
Property taxes are levied by your local government. The state has increased local aid significantly It's up to your local officials to either lower property tax rates because of the increase in state aid, or to spend the additional state aid. Maybe you should complain to your local officials. Patrick did his part.
However, the issues of poor Administration of state departments, agencies, boards & committees, certainly is the fault of this Governor's office. Patrick has assigned staff responsible to over-see the appointments of all individuals to state management positions.
Sadly, with an exception of John Aurbach, who was a very skilled and knowledgeable administrator, but took the fall for his middle managers, who have become invisible. They are hiding under the radar, in the background waiting for the next election. No one wants to loose retirement funds because they have been appointed without the qualifications to do the job.
He's campaigning for Obama and hoping that will lead to his next job if Obama is re-elected.. He doesn't care to be governor. He'll try to ride it out until early next year. This will be the next governor's problem. Just like a good Democrat - kick the problem down the line.
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Patrick's entie premise for running and being governor is to focus on his likability and feel good slogans (remember "Hope and Change" were trotted out here first by Axelrod). His track record so far is not indicative of someone with good executive skills. "Yes we can"...
"Yet Patrick remains popular with voters" ......wow what does that tell ya.....the State is loaded with dummies!
And you're a beautiful example.
Joan, don't you *ever* have anything positive to say. Why would anyone want to have dinner with you or attend a party with you.
At least you give everyone, no matter what party, equal nastiness time.
Except for one thing. Patrick has been in the state far more than Romney was when he was campaigning for President, flip-flopping on much of what he ran for office on, and bad-mouthing Massachusetts all over the country. How soon we forget.
I meant that Patrick has been out of state far LESS than Romney, who was absent 212 days of his last year in office.
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great column today and right on. how many of us can take our full salary while doing something else like campaigning across teh country while our jobs are not being done...look at the state fallling apart and where is he, what is he doing, what has he been doing?! And he critcized Romney for doing same...in the job , not doing the job.
212 days out of state -- Mitt Romney, 2006.
Go get him Joan
If Obama gets re-elected; which he probably will, Deval will be rewarded handsomely I'm sure.
Hurry up and convict Timmy Cahill so Patrick can pardon him. After all, the biggest reason Patriuck got re-elected was because of Cahill. Its onteresting that Deval critizes Romney's performance as govenor. Romney left Patrick with billions in the bank. When Patrick leaves, all that money will be gone.
The "Dumb and Dumber" tour 2012
clever!