Peter Schorsch
There’s been no official announcement, but veteran Tallahassee insiders know when Gov. Rick Scott is about to push a senior aide under the proverbial bus. Based on today’s comments by the governor, Melissa Sellers’ days have to be numbered.
Never mind the fact that Ag Commissioner Adam Putnam strongly implied that Sellers lied to the Cabinet.
Never mind the fact that Jeff Atwater is demanding a public discussion of Gerald Bailey’s illegal termination in front of the full Cabinet.
And never mind the fact that Attorney General Pam Bondi laid the blame squarely at the feet of Sellers when she explicitly stated she “firmly believed this was done at the staff level.”
No, all of those signs of trouble pale in comparison to what Scott said today, at a press event in Tampa, when he told the assembled reporters that his beleaguered Chief of Staff was “doing a great job.”
That’s the exact same phrase Scott used before he fired Steve MacNamara.
And it’s also the exact phrase he used before firing his lieutenant governor, Jennifer Carroll.
But, of course, the pattern doesn’t end there. Scott also once said that his education commissioner, Tony Bennett, was “doing a great job” right before Bennett got kicked to the curb.
Adam Hollingsworth didn’t technically get fired after he was caught lying about having a college degree he never earned. But keep in mind, prior to Hollingsworth receiving Scott’s “Unofficial Great Job Kiss of Death,” his name had been floated as a potential lieutenant governor, mayor of Jacksonville, and even campaign manager for Scott’s re-elect. But none of that materialized even though Scott defended his chief of staff’s admitted academic fraud by saying he was “doing a great job,”
Hollingsworth did manage to keep skulking around the Capitol to fetch donuts for Sellers until Sellers finally managed to kill him off herself. Where is Hollingsworth now? Nobody knows for sure, but criminal defense lawyers from Tallahassee to Key West are lining up to pass along their business cards. Allegations from Bailey say that Hollingsworth, on behalf of the governor, attempted to pressure Bailey into naming an Orlando official as the subject of an investigation.
Of course, all of this has come to light thanks to the “shabby” treatment of Bailey.
“Great Job Video”:
