alligator

 

Every so often someone raises the the question about my anonymity.  I am not anonymous.  Most people know who I am and I have said many times, if you want to know who I am, email me.  Unless you are a troll, I will tell you.

Not only do most people know who I am, they also know how to get hold of me.  Such was the case today.  I got a call from a person who said they weren’t a birdie but they were an alligator swimming in the moat at the McCoart building.  Too funny.  I have never noticed a moat down there but if s/he says so, I’ll believe it.  My alligator then told me that there was a huge groundswell of support for none other than Melissa Peacor.  S/he then said that it was from people who really had little to do with her on a daily basis.  It was also from people who weren’t too fond of her, mainly because of gossip they had heard.

When someone is attacked, one of two things usually happen.  That person can be seen as a scapegoat and everyone turns on them.  There are classic examples of scapegoating in both the new and old testaments of the bible.  There are hundreds of examples in literature.  The same group mentality exists, oddly enough, down through the ages.

Scapegoating (from the verb “to scapegoat“) is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame as a scapegoat. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals.

Whipping boy, sacrificial lamb and fall guy are all synonyms for  the scapegoat.  Scapegoating also shows up in bullying, dehumanizing and witch-hunting.  Scapegoating usually gives the perpetrator some sort of high and makes them feel like they are part of the “in-crowd.’  It makes them feel superior.  Groups involved in scapegoating usually have a feeding frenzy of hostility directed toward individual(s).

Human nature can be strange.  Not everyone turns on a person being victimized.  Sometimes scapegoating has the opposite effect.  Sometimes, as was the case today, people circle the wagons and do all in their power to protect someone who is being targeted for whatever backlash is being handed out.  My alligators said it was totally amazing the amount of support being shown Melissa Peacor.    There is nothing like a little empathy to bring out the best in us humans.

One  moral of this story is to perhaps be careful what one wishes for.  Who would have predicted the ground swell of support?  Who would have thought that a fan club would grow out of yesterday’s  BOCS meeting?

Should those kinds of attacks on our county staff go on in public?  If I were a supervisor, I would worry about  lawsuits.  All personnel, at least public employees, are guaranteed a certain amount of privacy where reprimands are concerned.  To make accusations such as I heard yesterday in public is just asking for trouble.  Such upbraiding should never be done in public.   If that had ever been done to me at any time I worked for the county, I can promise you that would have not been the end of the matter.  The County would be lucky if the only thing I filed was a grievance.

 

20 Thoughts to “Always listen to your reporting alligators”

  1. Lyssa

    Like the birdie…..

    Sounds about right. Who wouldn’t feel bad? It’s the American way to support the underdog.

  2. Friar Tuck

    Hostile work environment charges are nothing to sneeze at. the BOCS in general needs to be careful.

    Principi was correct to defend the employees from what sounded like rather hostile criticism.

    If the BOCS wanted to reprimand, the reprimand should have gone through Peacor behind closed doors. She answers to the entire board and the others answer to her.

    Doesn’t Candland understand the chain of command? That was really bad form.

  3. Ivan

    @ DTS, Got it a long time ago, but thanks.

  4. Deseret Truth Squad

    @ Ivan: people need to take a good look at who’s doing the stone-casting over at the Sheriff’s blog, and all those claims about fraud, waste, abuse. Lot of crap flowing from upstream…IYKWIM.

  5. Deseret Truth Squad

    @ Ivan: people need to take a good look at who’s doing the stone-casting over at the Sheriff’s blog, and all those claims about fraud, waste, abuse. Lot of crap flowing from upstream…IYKWIM.

  6. Ashamed2bfromPWC

    The Sheriff has one goal – get rid of Peacor. Unfortunately he is getting some bad advice from loser former employees (we know who) and failed local politicians (we know who) with only vengeance in mind. That’s not a healthy way to live guys……it will get ya. And you’ll have some ‘splainin to do at the gates.

    And these wimped out BOCS members, how much longer are they going to permit this to go on? Well, some (we know who) are fickle and turned on Gerhart as well.

    Man up people and do the right thing. WWJD for those who believe that is a guide.

    What has to be said or done to move you to leadership style action? Training?

  7. Deseret Truth Squad

    not to mention a certain person with a symphonic grudge against the BOCS and City arts funding. Can’t figure out how to compete so they’ll just burn it all down.

  8. George S. Harris

    Of course, this is the kind of stuff the Sheriff and, to a lesser degree, The Derecho thrive on and their sycophants love the bloody chum they provide. It’s no wonder they hide behind a nom de plume. They appeal to the asset instinct–the thrill of the lions feeding on the unprotected in the Collesium. If you disagree sharply with them they just don’tublish your comments of they sic their sycophants on you to deride you and attempt the death of a thousand cuts. Melissa has to be one tough cookie to put up with their crap but I would say that she and the staff have not been exactly forthright on some of the things they have done of late–the logo gate being an example.

    Candland has been over excited by his own rhetoric and has wrapped himself in some sort of “White Knight” armor.

  9. Deseret Truth Squad

    Pete should be very careful of his real and perceived associations with this crowd. Developing quite a cult-of-personality. Some have been known to turn on their most favored sons. Others just blow with the wind. Just ask Corey. When Connaughton was Chairman, Corey was their Lancelot. For all their righteous indignation, they’ve each got some skeletons in the old closet. Time to shake out the bones as see what they say…

  10. Ashamed2bfromPWC

    Deseret Truth Squad :
    not to mention a certain person with a symphonic grudge against the BOCS and City arts funding. Can’t figure out how to compete so they’ll just burn it all down.

    You forgot Ms Peacor on the list. Honestly, how many grudges can one little person carry.

  11. Steve Randolph

    The Big Bad Ben Bernanke Bear Bust!

    Arghhh!!

    And it isn’t over yet.

    1. Steve, I am scared to even go look. I took quite a bear bath yesterday and I know it is worse today. I hope you escaped without too much damage.

  12. Scout

    My retirement horizon just shifted out about ten years. The market is like a spooky horse. The fed news was positive and the market swoons.

    1. I hope its a trend rather than a correction.

      Not sure how we ended up in the alligator post…maybe I will start a new one.

  13. Deseret Truth Squad

    @Ashamed2bfromPWC

    At least we know how PWC managed to gain such an upstanding citizen. Relocation expenses courtesy of the Fed Bureau of Prisons. Funny how the sheriff’s posse throws out charges of PWC Supervisor and staff ethics violations when there is a shining example of this very thing among them. Hypocrisy only hidden by anonymity. Another bit of hypocrisy is the trashing of a certain manassas councilman by a local blogger turned videographer. He took the man’s money to film some commercials for the councilman’s business, then turns around and trashes him for his wife’s business receiving a public subsidy for the arts. I guess this blogger-turned-artist sees no value in another art form. We know he hates salsa music. Even more insulting, this blogger fails to mention that the good councilman abstains from voting on the distribution of said funds. Misleading.

  14. Ray Beverage

    I can understand the ground swell of support for the CXO. I was watching the Tuesday BOCS Session, and during all the exchange between Principi and Candland, and then subsequent comments by the other BOCS, the camera panned over to Ms. Peacor.

    She was sitting upright, head slightly bowed, and spoke slowly. Body language said it all as it was almost the position of a child being reprimanded. My sympathy was extended to her at that point as she is taking the brunt of the attack, and the rules do not let her just go off on tangents like others on that dias.

  15. Pat.Herve

    @Ashamed2bfromPWC

    Old news. There is much more that is more recent, that proves he has not been rehabilitated.

  16. Ashamed2bfromPWC

    Old news but facts to support present day observations. I think it happened more than once and FACTS are always handy. Aren’t the most righteous complainers the biggest hypocrites?

    Yes, Ray, that was a very low point – six adults picking on one person who can’t argue back. We actually watched humans commit the more grevious sin of omission. I’ve lost respect for them all to allow that to happen.

    Glad to hear her employees are taking that position. Evidently the employees don’t look to the BOCS for leadership.

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