Well, well, well - Vilsack hasn't lived up to his part of the bargain yet

[derby378]

After his little speech yesterday at the podium, Shirley Sherrod has now revealed that the alternative job he is offering her at the USDA is one where she basically gets thrown to the wolves in the outreach division.

She's not interested. Now she's saying she may be out of the USDA for good.

Vilsack, you still have a chance to do right by Shirley. Otherwise, suck it.

[Lost4words]

1. establishment Democrats have less spine then Repukes.

it would seem, We have the House, Senate & WhiteHouse, but not for long I am afraid.

weenies & sissies all. Zero Moxie Crowd!

[SunsetDreams]

2. "Vilsack hasn't lived up to his part of the bargain yet"

He apologized to her, she accepted. Then he held a press conference, apologizing publicly.
He offered her a job back. Seems to me he is trying to do right, after his wrong.

What part of the bargain has he not lived up to, in your opinion?

[derby378]

3. He's offered her a job that's worse than the one she previously had

It seems like an insult to Sherrod.

[YOY]

4. In the State Department there is a small office unofficially referred to by employees as the "BUP"

The Bureau of Useless People. It is an Oubliette. A place to put people and forget about them.

These are people they cannot and will not fire but have either:

1. Proven they are worthless even in an minor administrative function yet they cannot be fired for lack of concrete counter-production.
2. Gotten a reputation that they are worthless even though they may not be.
3. Pissed someone off.

Ask a career USAID person or State Dept. Employee. They may well know of the BUP. AID folks are more willing to talk about it...they run a slightly tighter ship.

Getting stuck in the BUP means a powerless position that you cannot transfer out of easily and simply waiting out retirement. It is an insult. One that many would either quit than be part of or simply just put in their time and wait until that retirement and suffer the personal shot to the ego.

I would assume all Government Agencies have an equivalent. Mine does too. If threatened with going there I would be activly seeking a different job elsewhere in the world.

[derby378]

5. The Japanese call them madogiwazoku

I think it translates into English as "window gazers." It's basically a position at the company that comes with diminished responsibilities and an office with a window so you can gaze out at the city below.

There are two types of employees who become madogiwazoku. The first type is the long-term employee who, despite a long history with the company in good standing, can't bring himself to retire. So his supervisor pats him on the back, reassigns him to the office with the nice window, and lets him continue through the workday with less paperwork and fewer deadlines.

The second type of employee who winds up as a madogiwazoku is the sales rep who loses one account too many, the engineer whose shoddy design triggers a global recall, or anyone who causes the company in question to lose serious face. So his supervisor reassigns him to the office with the nice window, because the only responsibility he'll ever have from this point onward is to stare out the window and contemplate the mess he's made of his life. It is, to quote Michael Crichton, "a corporate death sentence."

[YOY]

13. Then of course you have people who really don't deserve them here.

The ones who are useful but piss off the wrong people.

I'm sure it happens in Japan too. Someone else's fuck-up and the scapegoat gets the shaft.

Of course, DC (just like most places in the US), has developed a remarkable recent acceptance of nepotism (regardless of party)...sometimes those positions are just as useless but are none-the-less places they can do little damage (Think Cheney's daughter).

[frazzled]

9. Brownie points for using the word "oubliette"

You made me smile today.

[Soylent Brice]

10. +1

i was thinking the same thing, "wow, you don't hear that word very often."

lol

first thing i thought of was the movie Labyrinth.
:dunce:

[YOY]

11. Real ones in old French Chateaus are not pleasant.

Think a small hole leading to a sloped pit with spikes at the bottom. Put someone there and forget about them. If they're not dead quick they will be within a few weeks.

[LiberalFighter]

7. If he doesn't offer her old job back or a better job then he hasn't.

There is absolutely no reason he can't reinstate her back to her previous job. To say otherwise would show Vilsack to be a liar.

[Bluenorthwest]

6. Vilsack still wishes to punish her for speaking truth

To please those for whom he shills, nonstop. He should never have been appointed, and he needs to go. He does not work for the American People, as we can see in his treatment of one of our own great public servants.

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. Evidence?

[BklnDem75]

12. Link please?

Thanks in advance