Government-owned printing plants refused to print opposition newspapers \ufffd quelle surprise! The government-owned power company cut off the opposition media \ufffd I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked! My favorite part of the report, however, notes the regime's compliance with certain democratic expectations:

"The Election Code (Articles 30-36) obliges the State-funded media to allocate free airtime and print space to each candidate equally, and as such, permits candidates to convey their political platforms. In general, KTR, the State-funded television and radio broadcaster, adhered to its legal requirements to grant free airtime to candidates, including allocation of time for debates."

This is a lot more than I ever got running as the Republican candidate for Congress against incumbent Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), in 1996. Free airtime and print space \ufffd no way! The editors and staff of the San Francisco Chronicle, the city's main newspaper \ufffd in effect a monopoly \ufffd would sooner blow up the Chronicle building with the entire staff inside than give me or any other Republican or Libertarian candidate a fair shake. As for a candidates' debate: surely you jest! Every effort to sponsor such an event was met with incredulity, disdain, and absolute refusal, not only on Pelosi's part, but on the part of the League of Women Voters, local television stations, and the Democratic Party bosses who were approached.

Debate? In one-party San Francisco? Never! But in far-off Kyrgyzstan, the Nancy Pelosi of the steppes deigns to debate her opponent. Are the Euro-weenies, ever eager to uplift the rest of the world to their shining vision of perfect democracy, looking for examples of conduct unbecoming the spirit of free electoral competition? Let the OSCE come to Baghdad-by-the-Bay \ufffd and I'll show them a thing or two.