When I worked in a psychiatric setting I was on a treatment team consisting of physicians and other professionals. We always had one or two patients who behaved in a "passive-aggressive" manner. These folks consumed countless hours of our time. They irritated and frustrated others in countless small ways, but always stayed within the boundaries of socially acceptable behavior. They tended to be indirectly manipulative and would needle and prod their target repeatedly; always knowing what buttons to push. They tried to get the targeted person to explode. The passive-aggressive patient almost never crossed the line. They were usually very subtle, and almost ingratiatingly polite on the surface. When their target reacted in anger, the passive-aggressive patient would feign innocence and place the target into a position where it was almost impossible to explain why they reacted so strongly. They came off sounding petty and childish, which is just what the passive-aggressive patient intended. To the uninvolved observer, it often appeared that the person who blew up was overreacting, and the person behaving in a passive-aggressive style was a "victim." There was nothing more difficult than dealing with these folks, and I can recall adding up the hourly pay of all the people sitting around the table with me and thinking, "There's over $1000/hour worth of experienced and highly trained brain power sitting here trying to outmaneuver this passive-aggressive patient with a 6th grade education, and we're stumped".

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There's a long history here, and I think Hocus knows how to push intercst's buttons. And look where he has us; we've all been set-up to take sides - either for him or against him. Meanwhile, he sits back seemingly enjoying the show. He even interjects comments as his fate on this board is debated. He has made himself THE big issue and seems to relish that role. And he has done all of this in the past, so he clearly understands the damage it causes, yet he continues to do it anyway. I don't believe he operates here in good faith. I've seen this type of thing played out a hundred times, and this has all the markings of a game-player at work.