After the debacle at the Bay of Pigs, Cuba on April 21, 1961, President John F. Kennedy is quoted as saying “There’s an old saying that victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan.” The actual quote from The Ciano Diaries of 1939 through 1943 is as follows: “As always, victory finds a hundred fathers but defeat is an orphan.” Count Galeazzo Ciano was an Italian Fascist statesman.

Notwithstanding our many accomplishments thus far this calendar year to include the Annual Banquet, Judge DeWaters’ Retirement Dinner, the Annual Bull and Oyster Roast, our Bowling Bash, the Legislative Reception, the continuing legal education sessions that were held on February 20 and on March 13, 2002, inter alia, we muffed the ballot for our members to communicate to the Judicial Nominating Commission our opinion on the desirability of recent applicants to be considered on March 7, 2002 for the vacancies on the Circuit Court being created by the retirements of Judges Cahill and Hinkel.

Due to limited time/notice we received from Annapolis last month of the individuals who applied for these vacancies, we were in a time jam right off the bat. Due to changes implemented last year to address improper use in the last judicial election of our ballot results, we give each applicant an opportunity to opt off/out of the ballot and a full week in which to notify us of his/her decision. This effort, compounded by the time required by bulk mailing, resulted in several members receiving their ballots too late to submit them for inclusion in the count/result provided to the Commission. On behalf of the officers and at large members of the Executive Council, I apologize for the error/delay. Although we cannot unring rung bells, we can and have acted to cut down on the time line such that the Council on March 12, 2002 voted to give but three (3) days’ opportunity for an applicant to opt off the ballot. Further, the next time we have less thatn three (3) weeks within which to process the ballots and the results, we will use regular mail.

My watch, mea culpa.