Village Politics

Either yesterday or today, my wife and I received an orange newsletter in the mail from the "Village Voice Party". I knew some election was going on so I assume it is for village government positions. I decided to read it today. The letter itself is very professional in design and content which led me to believe that it was some 'junk' mail. To my surprise it was directly and exclusively for the citizens of Justice, IL. I had never considered that villages and towns would harbor their own political parties. As I read further into the literature, it discussed the problems with its rival party, the Peoples Voice Party. No apostrophe. It seemed very well research and presented the information clearly and convincingly. It spoke about the disappointments of every elected official currently on the board from he Mayor to his webmaster/photographer who they pinned as some sort of minion to the mayor. I checked out the Village Voice Party website and it even had youtube videos of a trustee's son illegally dumping garbage. Typically political shit throwing contest. Anyways, I went to JJ's Fish a Chicken, a restaurant within walking distance of my apartment, and guess who walks in. The Mayor. His photographer/webmaster and it looked like another trustee or two. The walked in with fliers and cards in hand to support their campaign. This was hilarious to me. I have not had a single interest into the local politics until reading the orange Village Voice Party letter. They slumped around in the restaurant as they ordered and sat down at a far table. The webmaster/photographer sat next to me, first asking if it was okay to sit. I was only waiting for my food to go, so I didn't protest. After a small bit of chitchat about food, somehow the upcoming village election became the topic of discussion. He stated that the man at the far table was the mayor, in which I replied that I knew it from a poster in the restaurant displaying his portrait. The webmaster/photographer continued to talk-up the mayor saying he has done a lot in the past few years, but not mentioning anything specific. I wondered if I should bring up that I've seen the orange literature being sent around just to see what he'd say about it, but I also wanted to get out of their in a timely matter so I kept quiet. He then asked if I was registered and Heck'f I know. He started to tell me how to get registered and do an absentee ballot since I may not make it for the actual polling when my food was up to grab. I shook his hand and smiled. As I walked out of the door to the restaurant I wanted to bust out laughing. I am not sure if this means I should vote or if God's just throwing me a few laughs. Still it was a very interesting encounter and my initial reaction is I favor the Village Voice Party which is being called "Orange Madness" by the Mayor's party website.

Ah, politics.