Syrians vote for president in no-contest poll

Ah, the kind of democracy Bush is after.

Syrians were voting on Sunday in a no-contest referendum which will give President Bashar al-Assad another seven years at the helm of a Middle East regional heavyweight.

With parliament unanimously approving the candidature of the 41-year-old president for a second term, and with vocal opponents of the regime locked up, the referendum will inevitably annoint Assad as president until the year 2014.

All joking aside, we aren't very far from this. Bush does have ability to spy on anyone, label anyone an enemy combatant, refuse habeas corpus and, under the flimsiest of excuses, declare martial law.

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