Drawn-out conflicts

According to cartoonists, Iraq is definitely making progress toward U.S.-style democracy -- the recent vote on a draft constitution took days to tally and left the country sorely needing a uniter, not a divider. Saddam Hussein’s “trial of the century” started and stalled on the same day. Presumably the defendant is now assembling his dream team, fine-tuning his slogans (“Mark my words, I gassed no Kurds”) and vowing to search bunkers everywhere for the real torture and genocide culprit.

Can gerrymandering, illegal contributions and attack ads from Swift-Car-Bombers for Truth be far behind? Stay tuned to the emerging free press -- it’s only a matter of time before a reporter checks into Abu Ghraib, voluntarily enduring the Lynndie England treatment, to protect a high-level government source seeking revenge on an intelligence agent claiming WMD knowledge. Sounds like a cartoon, but it could happen.

-- Joel Pett