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Opinion

The continued fixation on Fountain Hills' Councilman Skillicorn

In one of the many letters bemoaning their favorite villain, a Democrat contributor asked if we were tired of hearing the name Allen Skillicorn. It’s a fair question — with a revealing answer. No. We’re not tired of the name. But clearly, some folks can’t go a week without repeating it.

This isn’t politics anymore. It’s become a fixation. Like President Trump, Skillicorn triggers a predictable psychological reflex: frothing outrage, frantic repetition and woke tantrums dressed up as civic concern. Let’s call it what it is: Skillicorn Derangement Syndrome (SDS).

The afflicted cannot stop themselves. Skillicorn’s actual actions don’t matter. His mere existence is the provocation. To the SDS sufferer, he’s not a man but a symbol, a screen onto which all imagined evils can be projected. (In fairness, ROT and the mayor occasionally share this honor.)

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Opinion

The continued fixation on Fountain Hills' Councilman Skillicorn

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In one of the many letters bemoaning their favorite villain, a Democrat contributor asked if we were tired of hearing the name Allen Skillicorn. It’s a fair question — with a revealing answer. No. We’re not tired of the name. But clearly, some folks can’t go a week without repeating it.

This isn’t politics anymore. It’s become a fixation. Like President Trump, Skillicorn triggers a predictable psychological reflex: frothing outrage, frantic repetition and woke tantrums dressed up as civic concern. Let’s call it what it is: Skillicorn Derangement Syndrome (SDS).

The afflicted cannot stop themselves. Skillicorn’s actual actions don’t matter. His mere existence is the provocation. To the SDS sufferer, he’s not a man but a symbol, a screen onto which all imagined evils can be projected. (In fairness, ROT and the mayor occasionally share this honor.)

Ominously, the syndrome has spread. One letter writer took issue with my suggestion that a traffic incident was irrelevant. The response was immediate, emotional and as predictable as ringing Pavlov’s bell. But from an HR perspective — my background — it’s clear: the incident has no bearing on the councilman’s official duties.

That renders it, by definition, irrelevant to the performance of the job — unless your mission isn’t governance but destruction.

Fortunately, most residents aren’t afflicted. They don’t need weekly catharsis in the opinion section. They vote. If Skillicorn runs again, the same voters will decide. And when they did last time, they voted Skillicorn in — and progressives out.

That, obviously, is the real grievance. To the SDS afflicted, let me share a little secret: many residents are quietly laughing at the histrionics, the hyperventilating prose and the unyielding need to be outraged. As previously noted, the voters shut the door on you. It will not open again anytime soon. Best to stop knocking.

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