But as Drolet reminds us, "The rule of law doesn't matter at these hearings, it's about partisan politics and political party bosses."

Drolet's disdain is straightforward enough. The disdain the governing clique has for the average citizen is more muted.

For instance, Macomb County Clerk Carmella Sabaugh refused to elaborate on her "reasoning" in rejecting the recall petition, offering only that her vote "speaks for itself."

Maybe Sabaugh is wise to clam up. Other elected officials taking up space on these commissions seemed to justify their denial of the petition wording on the inability of average citizens to understand the English language.

Muskegon County Treasurer Tony Moulatsiotis, a Democrat, explained, "My problem is I looked at it from an everyday citizen point of view. If I look at those petitions, they say so and so voted yes on tax increases, but I don't know exactly what that means, there's no explanatory language. It's not fair to citizens if they don't have a clear understanding of what they're signing."

Muskegon County Clerk Karen Buie, a Republican, agreed, saying, "The average citizen would not understand."

Of course, these politicians fear the exact opposite of what they claim. They fear that the average Michigan voter will understand the recall petitions all too well. And vote accordingly.

Citizens in those counties that have scuttled the recall measures have been forced to hire lawyers to appeal the decisions. They'll win, almost certainly (clear is clear, after all). But meanwhile time and money have been expended on what should have been mere formality, but became anti-democratic roadblock.

This is how to repress democracy in a democracy.