During the past year Elena and I have written a great deal about the war on women. This is a national and state effort, for the most part, that has stripped women of their reproductive rights and their access to full employment. Women have been subjected to legislative railroading as well as other forms of bullying. They have been dismissed and ridiculed.
However, one doesn’t really have to even leave Prince William County to get a full dose of watching the war on women. It is happening right here in the blogosphere and it is happening to our County Executive, Melissa Peacor. First off, it isn’t happening on this blog and it won’t. I would take that crap down faster than greased lightning. I don’t allow personal attacks on county employees. Why? I used to be one and you can’t fight back. Empathy has always stood me in good stead.
The latest attack has been issued by the Sheriff of Nottingham over Ms. Peacor remodeling the office space she now uses since she is the head honcho or honcho-ette. The Sheriff has spent so much time attacking Ms. Peacor that he has lost all credibility with me. I know many of his assertions to be untrue. I don’t like or approve of lying about anyone, especially for political gain.
I don’t believe in the politics of personal character assassination.
Ms. Peacor had the damn bathroom remodeled. This bathroom had been used for 30 years. I don’t know of a single person in their right mind who would not remodel the bathroom. Nothing against its former occupants but….after 30 years….! Melissa, you go girl!!! If I need to donate to your bathroom fund because the men in this county are too cheap, then you know where to find me.
Seriously….McCoart was built in 1985. The offices are coming up on being 30 years old. It is time to remodel. Many of those at McCoart have put in new furniture at their own expense. Are you all bitching about that also?
Sheriff, if you want to maintain credibility with PWC denizens, you are going to have to stop the personal attacks on folks–Maureen Caddigan, Ernestine Jenkins, Tracey Gordon, Melissa Peacor. Stick to policy. There is a lot of policy that needs to be cleaned up in PWC. For example, I would love to hear resolutions read before the Supervisors vote on them.
Meanwhile, our public employees need a little room to do their jobs. We have hired these folks to do the work of the county because we don’t have time nor the inclination to do it ourselves. We don’t pay the supervisors enough to do it. Therefore, they hire others to do the work of the people.
Let’s stop the war on women here in PWC. The responsibility for some of this might just land squarely in the Gainesville District, if you get my drift. I call on Supervisor Peter Candland to locate and put a stop this nitpicking. We have more important things to worry about than new ceiling tiles. I am tired of always reading attacks on women. There is a pattern.
One more thing…azurite is a semi precious gem stone. I doubt seriously if anyone can get an “azurite” sink for $900. $Real azurite would cost far more than $900. I expect it represents the color of the sink. Just guessing.
Let our folks do their job. Prince William County is the 9th richest county in the USA. Our employees shouldn’t be getting their office furniture from the Salvation Army. Let’s have a little class.
Lastly, I go by Moon-howler. It is how I prefer things. However, I am not anonymous. People know where to find me. I expect if someone wanted to get hold of me my phone would be ringing within 5 minutes. In some cases, less than that.
Thank you for noticing and saying something. I think in some instances, on some people’s part, it is full fledged misogyny (or a belief that women belong in the home and aren’t equals). I have always objected to the way certain blogs refer to women and took notice when a certain one was calling Ms. Peacor by an S&M name. There is no place for that in PWC, it’s infantile. People can say it’s not directed only at women, but if you look at the terms used, and the demeaning stance on Peacor, Horan or even Caddigan, it is. Enough.
Amen! I thought BVBL was misogynist. The Sheriff is giving Greg a run for his money. And too many of the “you go, boys” are coming from the peeps who are fawning over the Gainesville supervisor. Hmmmm.
If I had seen Marty at the polls this morning I would have told him “chin up” – it’s just the same crowd of malcontents attacking.
Feh, perhaps its the myopia of an equal opportunity critic of the BOCS and County Staff but I don’t think you can lay this as much at the feet of misogyny as you can the timing of the explosion in social media in conjunction with who happens to hold those posts. Is some of it a bit over the top, yeah probably but I suspect that it would have been equally over the top with their male predecessors.
Local blogs would have had just as much fun with thin-skinned Gerhart as they do with Peacor, the only difference (in my estimation) is that Gerhart was brighter and more sophisticated, and thus not prone to Peacor’s public (and semi-public) meltdowns and gaffes.
As to Ms. Gordon, Dana Fenton was roundly criticized when he held her post and suffered significantly more ridicule than Ms. Gordon, at least to this point.
Ms. Horan was initially a breath of fresh air when compared to her predecessor Ross Horton. That being said, she is seemingly trending down the same path and leaves herself open to the same criticism that Horton got (and he got plenty of it).
Male county employees have gotten (not undeservedly) the same treatment or worse, Steve Griffin, Ray Utz and Dr. Walts come immediately to mind.
Most telling are the comments regarding Jenkins, Nohe, Covington and Stewart. Very few are complimentary, some outright outrageous but not any different that those directed at Ms. Caddigan. Seems the “rules” are being applied equally in that arena.
That being said, the criticism of Ms. Casciato and Mr. Martino is over-the top and in my view undeserved. Is it simply a result of agenda driven comments or inherent misogyny, you would have to ask the authors in those instances but note that there is one of each sex facing similar criticism.
In short, the impression of rampant misogyny may hold true if one looks through the prism of recent events but if one takes the longer view, it probably just another day in PWC’s rough and tumble environment. I’m not excusing all of the comments, just trying to present some perspective.
Criticizing policy and decision making is fair. Continual attacks on women is getting obvious.
Finally someone is speaking out. Who are these men who keep bashing.
Wonder why Peacor wanted to remodel the bathroom? Let’s see here…30 years of male ownership would sure do it for me.
Candland needs to put some distance between him and that blog unless he wants it to become a campaign issue in 3 years. Martha might come along and eat his lunch if Ann doesn’t.
Again, I don’t think it is a “War on Women” but rather a “War on PWC”. That those senior posts are now held by women as opposed to their male predecessors doesn’t really enter into the equation (with the possible exception of Ms. Casciato). Senior staff, male and female, are by definition public figures and open to such criticism, they are not a protected class. In my view they are proportionally taking no greater abuse than their male predecessors simply a greater volume of it as a result of the growth in social media options. Gerhart didn’t have to deal with the volume of blogs and social media outlets that Peacor does but would have suffered similar (if not greater) attacks, personal and otherwise had he stuck around.
I wouldn’t classify them as victims of a “war on women” but rather as the “collateral damage” of a larger conflict.
We’ve been down this road before with Craig, see below from this very blog on June 5th, 2009.
June 5th, 2009 at 08:51 | #15 Reply | Quote
Yeah, but unless i misunderstand things, Gerhart is more directly in charge of departments in the gov’t than the bocs. Maybe I misunderstand. In my opinion, he should have been keeping closer tabs too. That being said, it is very hard at times to detect scandals such as these, until books are carefully audited by forensic accountants. Whatever, if someone is going to blame the bocs, I’d say Gerhart is as much to blame as they are. You can’t say the bocs is guilty in this case, and Gerhart is innocent. Either both are blameless (innocent) or both are somewhat to blame. I’m not saying any of them were directly involved, but it happened “on their watch”. Then again, my thinking is some of this scandal pre-dates the current bocs (that is after the latest local elections). Anyway, I don’t see how the bocs can be held accountable and Gerhart can’t – that’s a one sentence summary of what I’m trying to say here. I may be misunderstanding things, but from what I see he’s the “big boss” of most county employees – they report to him (through their supervisors) – not to the bocs. However, I’d agree that the bocs is just as much responsible for oversight as he is. I just don’t agree that we should hold the bocs accountable for this, and not Gerhart. Either both should be held accountable, or neither should be.
Males don’t see things as women do. If I called you a dom you might send me a bottle of scotch. Calling a woman a dom is another matter entirely.
There are some things about the good old days that I miss. Good manners is one of those things.
At any rate, there should not be the character assassinations going on. There are always going to be people we like and dislike.
@Mom
I will defend the girls. you defend the boys.
I prefer “Thane” to “Dom”.
As to character assassination or uncomplimentary adjectives, here are some from the past blog posts that I believe illustrate my point.
Connaughton: “Queen”, “Dark Lord”
Marty: “Weeble”, “Bobble Head”, “Prancing Fairy”
Jenkins: “Jabba the Hut”
Similar and even more egregious examples can be given for Wally, Gerhart, Griffin, Utz, Caddigan, Principi and even Stirrup. From my perspective its pretty much an equal opportunity world as regards abusive comments. If you delve into the politics of the county’s four towns, you’ll find even more egregious examples on both sides of the gender line. Doesn’t say much for our society but it is what it is.
@Moon-howler
I’m not defending anybody, not even myself. I will however support your position on Casciato and Martino as their criticism, in my view, is without merit.
Mom, I think that some men have gotten it unfairly also but I can only take on one group at a time.
Elena and I have made a BFD out of war on women and I believe it exists with all my heart and mind. I simply see this as an extension.
I think we can dislike policies and decisions and voice that displeasure instead of always targetting someone. for character assassination.
I absolutely don’t like what was done to Pete Candland with the Jenkins resolutions. I said so. I didn’t belittle Mr. Jenkins as a human being, however. I disliked his behavior. Soon that became open season on his wife. Again, not everyone loves Ernestine. I will tell you one thing though, that lady has done an awful lot for this county over the years.
Ms. Peacor has made decisions that I abhor. That doesn’t mean I abhor her or her staff. It means I don’t like her decision.
I still don’t understand why we pay the county executive (regardless of gender) more than the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Defense. I know you get the argument about paying for talent and scope of responsibilities and all, but really? Is PWC that complex?
I was going to say its just the going rate around here. How do you like the Superintendant’s salary? He makes a whole lot more than the average teacher and probably doesn’t work nearly as hard.
I find paying the CEO of Anthem $10,000,000 pretty horrifying.
The salaries we pay is a legtitimate concern. On th eother hand, the supervisors really don’t make much at all for their efforts. I think Corey makes about 50k a year as the chair.
The man/men behind the curtain over there is both a mysoginst and very cruel. It also appears that there are one or two personal vendettas going on. I’m surprised at Mr Candland for letting these people speak this way and represent him. My opinion of Mr Candland has done a 160 since he brought down discretionary funds. At this point he needs to distance himself from these merry mysoginists.
Most overly intelligent women pose a threat to men – Peacor was always the brains behind Gerhardt so I’ve been told by credible people.
@Morris Davis
And A-rod makes $29M. Ed Long makes $250k and if you were in a car accident tonight, the EMS guy that will save your life makes $67,000….
Lyssa, that is a good reminder.
Richard Mourdock just got his ass handed to him in Indiana.
Good. Couldn’t happen to a nastier guy.
Potomac polling place had 1000 on line at 7pm. With five voting machines.
@Mom
I have had pet names for Bob Marshall. I hope they avoided remarks about his appearance, religion or other personal remarks. I hope they were directed to his unacceptable legislative behavior.
My concern is that there seems to be an overly zealous attempt to belittle and ridicule some of our womencounty employees.
I have never found men to be sensitive to gender abuses, for lack of a better term. For right now, many women have contacted me and said, its about time. Maybe we can just stop character assassinations and picking at people. That way it won’t matter if women are being singled out or not because no one will be.
@Lyssa
They obviously needed a lot more. It would be helpful if those amendmments were posted on the walls as people were going in …lots of times.
@Moon-howler
I would be remiss if I failed to post this little diddy from our new delegate. 👿
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6k4RrKNk7s
ARRRGGHHH Bring it on Bobby!
Speaking of the war on women…..Bob the Terrible strikes again.
“If you are a Republican and someone ask you about
what you think of rape, for the love of God, the only
acceptable responce is ‘Rape is deplorable and
I condemn it and sympathize with its victims.’
Anything else and we shoot you. Seriously.”
Virginia Virtucon blog election “Postmortem”
For once I agree with Riley.
@Steve Randolph
Ah, I see the denial of targetting women has been posted. Prove me wrong. Lay off the women.
I run a blog. I see people deny all sorts of things. Men think if they take a few male slams it covers up misogyny. No, it really doesn’t. It just has a different ring to it when directed at women.
Let’s give a few examples…You know, if a male has loose morals, his friends laugh (perhaps enviously) and might have all sorts of names for Mr. Studmuffins, but there is really very little condemnation. Let a woman’s behavior mirror Stufmuffins and its Katy bar the door with the slut remarks. Her reputation is forever destroyed.
Mr. Studmuffins can marry, have children, start up in church and all is forgiven. He was sowing wild oats.
Susie Slut can marry, have children, start up church membership and she is still Susie Slut who should have her kids taken away.
That’s just the way it is and don’t a one of you try to deny it. I have been on this earth too long to believe bull-snort.
Perhaps these behaviors on the part of the Ladies of Prince Willian Government can all explained by their hormones. Until then, if there is a problem, let’s discuss the problem without all the belittling. Otherwise, Mistress Moon just might be there to call it out, each and every time.
PSSSSssssT: Get past furniture. Do some of you all know how freaking petty and small you look to the rest of the county? You all sound like a bunch of catty, gossiping old women.
Azurite sinks be damned. Check facts before trying to destroy people.
This might be the time for Mistress Moon to talk about the information she has in a file drawer. Mistress Moon keeps things. She doesn’t attempt to destroy people’s lives. I know all sorts of crap on people. I get told things because I don’t run my mouth. In fact, lots of people would be very surprised to know what I know.
hmmmmmmmm….don’t worry.
If Repugs want to win female voters, I would suggest stop talkin so much about legitimate rape, for crying out loud!
An excellent project for those who want to improve Prince William County might be to find out why voters had to wait in line for hours, 4 and 5 hours to vote. I hear this was a problem across the county.
River Oaks was a real problem and there were only 4 machines there. nearly 3000 votes were cast. Why weren’t more machines available? Why can’t machines be sent in if something happens to one?
What can be done to fix this problem. It is simply unacceptable. I care more about this than I do who has new ceiling tile.
for the record, anyone who has never seen PWC ceiling tile after it gets old, used and dirty has never lived. it is just gross.
I see the “men” on the war on women blog are still quoting imaginary friends called birdies. Reminds me of an old movie called “Harvey”. Here’s a memorable quote –
Wilson: Who’s Harvey?
Miss Kelly: A white rabbit, six feet tall.
Wilson: Six feet?
Elwood P. Dowd: Six feet three and a half inches. Now let’s stick to the facts.
I will agree that some men have been maligned also. I am not suggesting that men are except from meanness. However, the continual focus on specific women seems to take on a tone I don’t hear being used with most of the men. I am not even sure men are aware that they do this. However, most women see it and recognize it immediately. Its that dimissive, mimicking tone that men use when they want to belittle women.
Moon, I don’t think this is just about furniture. This is about how Prince William County spends taxpayer money. I never paid attention before but I am paying attention now.
@Janelle, I am pretty confident I know exactly what it is all about. I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck.
I think it is great to pay attention. I need to do more of that myself. However, when you pay attention, pay attention globally rather than just listening to folks who might have an axe to grind. Blogs are the worst place to get your news. I include this one. You will get our point of view. We do try very hard to be accurate but we are only human. Attend BOCS meetings. Meet with your supervisor, face to face. Have a coffee and wine get together and invite your supervisor to address your neighbors or other interest group. Ask to be put on a committee. Ask to go on a budget committee. That is the best way to understand how county money is spent.
It isn’t just about furniture. I almost wish it was. PWC is far from perfect but there is an awful lot right with it also. The county employees are generally hard working, and often overworked. Since the financial crisis, they have worked many hours, often doubling up and doing the job 2 and 3 people used to do. When Corey says over 300 jobs lost, he means they weren’t filled. Most county employees have had darn few raises. Every FOIA request pulls someone off the job they are supposed to be doing. Make sure yours aren’t frivolous. We have already had one FOIA Queen several years ago who cost the county a fortune in man-hours. (probably woman hours in reality.)
Finally, I feel that we can criticize policy without assassinating character, 99% of the time. I also feel like there is a county witch hunt going on at the moment. Additionally I think many of those being targetted are women.
Again, I have been around this county for a long time. I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. I don’t care for the turn I see things taking. What started off good–a watch dog group has turned in to Cujo.
Well I would suggest obtaining some hard facts not stories from birdies fed to people engaged in personal vendettas or acting as pit bulls for officials.
That aside, glad to see you here – maybe you could ask your questions here and there and see what kind of answers you get :). Maybe that’s why you chose to stop by.
It is the personal nature of the attacks that leads me to believe it is a vendetta, I am sure it is not the first remodeling to be completed on this 25 year old building. We are supposed to be shocked. It is amazing that the author assumes that we trust anything that comes out of Nottingham.
Moon, do you have Susie’s number?
Sorry Clueless. That was Mistress Moon, not Madam Moon. No I don’t.
@Lyssa
Lyssa, that’s a good point about hard facts.
That’s why I sent PWC Executive Melissa Peacor an email asking if I could photograph her alleged $7000 desk and her $900 sink. I posted my email on The Sheriff’s November 7, 2012 blog post.
Blogs are very informative, but sometimes, a quick in person investigation can clear problems up quicker than Google searches.
That’s like only digging into Rainbow Riding and not looking at discretionary funds. The CXO provided a presentation in Sept or October that showed all agency expenditures by program. Go through that and determine your questions. There are budget committees – they should be filtering through that list questioning million dollar and hundred thousand dollar expenses. Gotcha questions and approach serve no purpose.
Start there. Frankly, if someone who had been part of a mob attacking me called me and asked what you asked, I’d be reluctant to accept a personal meeting with a camera and goodness knows what else. Do you think there is a price sticker on the desk? You say it’s on a contract – look it up. Does it even exist in a catalogue?
Come on Lyssa. I can only dig 1 abuse at a time. There are major tenacles on Rainbow Riding. Whine.
[sarcasm key pressed]
@Lyssa
Good questions, Lyssa. I did look up the Kimball International Prevail model desk listed on the invoice. It must be an old model because all I could find were the installation instructions.
http://www.kimballoffice.com/cms/documents/306/1809831%20DRAWER%20REMOVAL%20AND%20ADJUSTMENT,%20UNIT%20LEVELING%20HINGE%20ADJUSTMENT.PDF
Looks like a pretty normal desk to me. I don’t understand why the invoice says $7000. It’s a mystery.
@Janelle Anderson
If you’re referring to the paper on the angry mob blog – it looks like just the top part.
It really doesn’t matter if someone is a misogynist or not, if they appear to be one, then a miss is as good as a mile.
To quote someone I don’t like giving credit to,
Perception becomes reality.
At what point does watchdog become Cujo? The watchdog was good. The county needed it. Cujo, I am uncomfortable with. Good people are being harmed and our employees really can’t do their jobs as effectively.
what might look like something to the outside is in all probability, nothing. I think we all know what it is like to have someone misread something and turn it in to something. It can ruin lives.
@Moon-howler
Moon,
I understand the FOIA queen was one of your frequent posters and friends? You have no problem attacking women on your blog.
You are mistaken.
I doubt that you will find many women attacked on this blog unless they have attacked first. Several have been quite deft at character assassination directed towards the owners of this blog and previous owners. They have gotten off easy in my book.
Perhaps you would like to be more specific.
Dearest Hyprocrisy,
You have some nerve. Talk about attacking women! How about how under Do The Right Thing, you were vicious and hateful towards Alanna Almeda who only wanted to inject some rational thoughtful compassionate discussion into the immigration debate.
How about how you poisoed Pete Candland against me. Where were all your accolades about me and my hard work to preserve the Rural Cresent back when I helped organize that first Power line fight community meeting at my house. You know, the one where I introduced you to John Stirrup for the first time.
PA-Leez, you use your in laws survival of the Holocaust as your protective armor against working with organizations that de-humanize latino’s. Do a little historical research, millions of jews were denied entrance into this country due to immigraiton quotas passed under the Johnson-Reed act in 1924, which purposefully targeted Jews from Eastern Europe. Don’t talk about how your inlaws did it the right way, how incredibly thoughtless. No, the right way would have been to have escaped the Holocaust altogether but immigration laws prevented that that from happening for Jews who werent as lucky as your inlaws.
Funny that the SoN didn’t print the pictures from Janelles response to the County. Al Alborn did. I was surprised she got a response –
Do we know if she asded him to print them? I am unfamiliar with that software. Here pics cant be printed without going through Elena or me.
Brother Love’s Traveling Whine Show has shown up on the Sheriff’s doorstep. Sheriff, do yourself a favor and get some earplugs. That song sung blue has been sung all over town. The Blues Brothers have arrived.
Meanwhile, The Sheriff doesn’t do penance very well. Do I detect a wee bit of insincerety as he apologizes to the ladies? Not sure if 10 Hail Marys and an Our Father or 2 will help with this issue.
I am pleased that Supervisor Pete Candland has addressed the issue of civil debate in a letter to the Gainesville Times and the News & Messenger.
Pete is to be commended for his leadership in addressing our need to return to good manners and civility in our discussions about county policy.
http://www2.insidenova.com/news/2012/nov/10/guest-commentary-civility-needed-prince-william-co-ar-2349955/