Free Elections in Kenya

Am I the only reader who cracked up at the image of Secretary of State Colin Powell finger-waggingly lecturing Kenya’s president about “free and fair elections” (May 27)? I had deluded myself that our own banana republic debacle in Florida last fall would at least force the U.S. to think twice before holding ourselves up as the model for the world. A vain hope. Such restraint would require a modicum of self-reflection and capacity for embarrassment on our part, not two of our strong points.

Jonathan Aurthur

Santa Monica