"Vote early. Vote often."

"The people who cast the votes don't decide an election, the people who count the votes do."

Al Capone often used the first quote, though it's attributed to an infamously corrupt mayor of Chicago. And Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader responsible for millions of deaths during his regime, said the second.

The saga continues for Perry County. Hopefully, our crooks and despots won't be deified or legendized as much as the people have been who said the words by which they seem to live. But for now they are making news.

The probate judge, who is mentioned in the linked article, has recently become a nemesis of mine. I was trying to get a document certified for a friend who isn't in the states. I followed the Secretary of State's "Three Easy Steps" for getting a document certified. Eldora was the second step. The "easy" steps turn out to be not-so-easy when Step 2 doesn't know how to do her job. She actually had no idea what I was talking about. To make matters worse, she laughed at me. So, like any non-confrontational person with a penchant for flying into fits of rage, I tried to skip Step 2. When I walked into her office with my documents and a story about small-town ignorance, Step 3 (The Secretary of State) said I'd have to go back to Step 2. After complaining to Step 3's office assistant that the "Three Easy Steps" weren't so easy when an elected official, who I'm pretty sure I voted for, doesn't know her responsibilities, I left, armed with Step 3's business card and a print-out of the "Three Easy Steps" to show Step 2. When I walked back into Step 2's office, she was in a meeting. So I called. And I called. And I called. And I saved their number in my phone under @$$holes. I was determined to annoy them somehow. When I finally got in to see her she had the audacity to laugh again. I had arranged in my head what all I was going to tell her . . . that she could look up how to do her job on the internet. Or, that she is a public servant and I'm the public; so serve me! Or, why would you laugh at me when YOU'RE the one who doesn't know how to do her job?!? But I didn't. I handed over my cell phone with the Secretary of State's office on the other end. And after a short conversation she gave me what I came for: a piece of paper with her stinkin' signature on it. I have had better service in communist countries. You've gotta love a system that gives you anything you need as long as you know someone or know someone who knows someone or have the right amount of cash.

She's obviously having bigger troubles now. No wonder she was avoiding contact with the Secretary of State.

"The truest characters of ignorance are vanity, pride, and annoyance." --Samuel Butler
"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure." --Mark Twain