Banana Republic

From Salon.com:

A call for elections observers ... in the U.S.

Still smarting from the 2000 Florida ballot debacle, nine legislators in the House sent a letter to Kofi Annan today asking for U.N. election observers to monitor the November presidential election. You might think that U.N. observers -- usually spotted in countries with questionable democratic credentials -- would be a tad unnecessary in the world's oldest extant representative democracy, but considering the 2,119 voters improperly listed as potential felons, who are ineligible to vote in Florida, maybe it's not such a bad idea. And if you think your name could be wrongly listed on the Florida felon rolls, make sure you check for it here, and call your county elections supervisor or call 1-866-our-vote.

I could write a noisy screed about Independence and the state of our republic, but this serves as a fine illustration of the handbasket we are in.