This is not an episode in the Seven Deadly Agency Types series, but it could be - except that here we're looking at an example of an apparently deadly PR person, not an agency type.

Long time blogger and citizen journalist Christopher Frankonis (a.k.a. The One True b!X) whose razor intelligence I first encountered on email discussion groups about six years ago, currently writes, edits and publishes Portland Communique - a blog b!X modestly describes as an "ongoing experiment in amateur journalism and hobbyist reporting".

In my opinion, Portland Communique is an example of the very best in citizen's journalism. What may have started as a hobby site has become an absolute must-read for politicians and pundits in the Portland area, shining an unflinching spotlight on the machinations and manoeuvrings within the local political scene.

In an article earlier this year, b!X waded into the matter of the Portland Development Commission (PDC) choosing to award a $200 million development contract to a Minnesota-based company, Opus Northwest. To quote the Portland Mercury's story on the topic:

"...in the days following PDC's decision to award Opus the development contract, questions have been raised about the tight-knit relationship between Matt Hennessee, PDC's executive chairman who oversaw the selection of Opus, and Nathaniel "Than" Clevenger III, the public relations representative for Opus. Over the past few years, Clevenger has informally served as a political advisor to Hennessee."

b!X applied his forensic reporter's mind to this issue, and wrote a couple of posts exploring the links between the flack and the bureaucrat.

What happened next is simply astonishing.

Through a series of email exchanges and public postings to the comments on b!X's blog, the "PR professional" went completely and utterly off the deep end.

To get a real taste of the whole thing, read b!X's post here, then follow the war of words as it plays out through the 70+ comments. This is just plain ugly.

I find it hard to comment further without spilling over into a full-blown rant about the damage being done to the reputation of the entire public relations profession here.

Let's leave it with this -- for fellow PR people or other readers, can you possibly imagine ever finding yourself handling a client crisis by sending something like this to a journalist:

"Name the place, I'll bring my friends, you bring yours (if you have any). I'd like to see you address me in public the way you do in your site - you sissy."

The prosecution rests.