Getting out the Vote

Following up on my previous post, the warlords are currently fighting among themselves in Afghanistan in the run-up to their elections. There seems to be a lot of remaining resistance to relinquish control to Herat's US backed central government.

Meanwhile, in Venezuela the long disputed recall referendum is going on right now with thousands reported to be lined up at the polls before they opened at 6:00am. To read the mainstream US press reports, you would think the opposition party is the voice of the people and will prevail. However, these are the "ruling class" types that robbed the country blind and were defeated at the polls the first time Chavez was democratically elected. They failed to unseat Chavez with a failed coup and now rail that he's a leftist who is ruining the country because he instituted some badly needed economic reforms giving the 80% of the nation that lives in poverty a chance at making a decent living.

Fortunately, NarcoNews is on the story and Al Giordano promises up to the minute coverage from the barrios and the polls where some of the narconews swarm are supposed to be counting votes. According to Al, he has good buzz that Chavez will be easily returned to office and has proof that NY Times hacker Juan Forero agrees with him.

Meanwhile, futures traders, betting that the country (which is a major supplier of oil to the US) will erupt in chaos, have driven up the price of crude to over $46 a barrel. It appears no matter who wins, the consumers are about to lose at the gas pump.