It Could Be Worse

Talal Salman, the editor of the As-Safir newspaper in Lebanon, apologized for announcing that Al Gore won the presidential election the day after the polls closed. “We are sorry because we put an end to a matter that was not concluded,” Salman wrote in a later editorial. “We are used to a deep-rooted Arab tradition of democracy where results are first declared, then elections are conducted and votes brought in to affirm it.” (Reuters) ...You know, all in all, the American system’s not all that bad.