“Besmirch may sound kind of funny, but it goes hand in hand with other hurtful words like defame and slander. It can also mean to literally stain something. So that time you tracked mud all over the new white carpet and then blamed it on your little brother? That was a double besmirching — dirtying the rug and then falsely accusing a sibling.” – vocabulary.com

Ratfink - “the combination of two terms used to describe the underhandedness of someone to stress what a low down sneak they are.”  - urbandictionary.com

Clown – “to laugh, make fun of, or find joy in a person or event. Almost always used in a derogatory or degrading fashion.” – urbandictionary.com

So, if we combine those we get a besmiratfinkclo? I was recently a target of a besmiratfinkclo at work. It was a bad experience that pushed up a volcano of angry emotional responses, some of which I didn’t even know I had. When all was said and done it, inspired me to think about what makes these people tick and pen an opine.

First a brief digression …

There was a little known historical besmiratfinkclo who was quite adept at his scandalous craft back in the early 1800s. I say little known since he was one of those relatives hanging from a limb of one of the more obscure branches of my family tree and only infamous in the space of time he occupied as a human being.  I surely hope I am not a reincarnate of this guy … ghastly karma there I imagine. For the purposes of this article I’ll just call him Thorndike.

Obviously Thorndike had his issues as generally does anyone who functions as a besmiratfinkclo. What exactly he really  wanted out of life or other people is still unclear … even a few of his attempts at relentlessly badgering people for money to get him to shut up and go away never really amounted to much.  He connived and finagled with such devious skill that it is still hard to believe that he was incapable of becoming a millionaire. Eventually he got himself strung up and hung down from the local gallows tree.

Sometimes the fox in the hen house gets pecked …

OOPS

Thorndike’s tools were as nasty as he was apparently according to family oral history stories . He was a master wordsmith and pro at wielding shock, embarrassment and the shame-shame finger at innocent targets simply because he felt like it for whatever affront he imagined at the time complete with the assessment that they deserved it. It was rarely even a counter-attack for unkind words or simple human misunderstanding. Thorndike was the punisher, deliverer and the annihilator sent from one high – the holy of holies! Puffed up chest and puffed up ego, Thorndike was simply the worst kind of self righteous b*stard.

His words were crafted so well that they had a life of their own and hung in the atmosphere like a putrid green fog long after he uttered them. In a time of propriety such as when he lived people feared scandal. He was alleged to have incapacitated quite a few and was known to be proud of it since he stood lofty in self righteous indignation; behind him a wall of “proofs.” Unfortunate that wall of proof only took one hammer truth revealing incident to be easily crumbled.

As the oral history goes, his big mistake was zeroing in on a young lady whose grandfather (unknown to Thorndike) was a former judge with political clout and friends in high places. There is a long held assumption that Thorndike had a passion for the young lady and was extremely envious of her fiancé who was a popular young man rising high on the local political ladder. Good stock and all that. Success and all that. Thorndike simply would not have it. So what was the dirt du juor he might dig up? Surely there must be some misdemeanor he could use to bring down and crash Camelot.  So, the accusations and reputation slaying began. It was when the momentum was at its peak and Thorny felt he was on the eve of his victory that a miscalculation brought the whole thing crashing down around his clown clodhopper feet. In his ego fog he overlooked getting one tiny piece of info, that one nail of truth, and he ended up being charged with a serious crime (the particulars of which were somehow lost in the family history) and sent to the gallows.  Some say he was set up. Some say it was political revenge. Yeah, and karma is a b*tch.

 In the end Thorndike got his … but what about the besmiratfinkclos of today? How about that besmiratfinkclo in my office who was pumping out assumptions with vindictive aplomb?

Psychologists say that this form of harassment obviously is manipulation with a need for power at its base. Seems to me it’s rare that there is a person out there who is not guilty of drawing conclusions about the lives of others without actually seeking the truth to fill in the gaps. For some, these gaps often become stuffed with faulty self righteous truths and clownish fillers that may appear real to the less evolved. There is an instant inclination to surmise, speculate and size up the information or evidence however it often goes beyond plain old gossip and can get ugly. Very ugly and rarely turns out the way the besmiratfinkclo desires. 

After sorting my scenario out and reviewing Thorndike’s end of life circumstance as the worst case scenario I have come to the following conclusions:

In the face of tragic or scandalous circumstances, what other people think is largely irrelevant.

What other people think is what other people think.

And sometimes things are not how they look.

The real truth is behind what is present despite how it may look. Too bad besmiratfinkclos never bother to do the work and look and get all the facts before letting a prideful quest get diarrheic.  Too bad Thorndike and the guy in my office didn’t look before they pointed the boney besmirching finger of clown judgment for the last time.

Tipping my hat to you folks …

HOLMES

©  2015 J.H. Corelli

This article may not be reprinted in full or part without permission. Fair use does not apply.

Addendum: To the gentleman who stole my post, placed it on google group and is claiming it is his original penning - my deliberate misspell was simply a better mousetrap or would that be landmind?  Hmmmm? Better be careful of those landminds they can be rather disabling if you step on them. 

MISSPELL: to spell (a word or name) incorrectly - http://www.merriam-webster.com

ROTFLMAO!!!!!