Everyone knows Aesop’s fable of the little boy who cried wolf.
But how about the fable of the little boy who didn’t cry wolf? This is a sap’s fable of the little boy who said, “Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.”
Instead of making up tales about wolves attacking sheep, this little boy did the opposite. Day after day, he watched and did nothing as a wolf came and culled a victim from the flock. Day after day, he assured the townsfolk that he was doing a good job.
Then, one day, one of the townsfolk happened to pass by the meadow where the sheep were thought to be grazing under the boy’s watchful eye.
The boy was there, but the sheep were gone. The wolf had eaten them.
The moral of the original fable is that, if you keep lying about something happening that isn’t happening, people will eventually grow skeptical – and then, when something does happen, no one will believe you.
The moral of the second tale is that, if you keep lying about something bad not happening that is happening, people will eventually grow skeptical and refuse to believe nothing bad is happening. Credibility gets destroyed.
This second moral resonates with residents of St. Clair County. For a year, folks have been assured, repeatedly, that there’s nothing untoward happening in our criminal justice system. Yet, not a month goes by without another disturbing revelation involving local government officials.
Judges buying and using drugs. Judges dying from drugs. Judges letting drug dealers off easy. Judges letting drug-using judges off easy.
Now comes word that Pike County State’s Attorney Carrie Boyd has resigned.
That’s Carrie Boyd, who received a surprise appointment from Gov. Pat Quinn less than two weeks after the drug-related death of Judge Joe Christ, a suspicious death in her county that she declined to investigate.
That’s Carrie Boyd, who recently charged the Pike’s County sheriff with felony misconduct after he did investigate that death, helping to bring former judge Michael Cook to justice.
Nothing to see here? No, there’s a lot to be seen and investigated if someone with authority cares to look.