Well, the news is in - Iraq has chosen its new model for democracy. Unfortunately, its model is Florida:

Some Sunni leaders who have been organizing a campaign to vote down the document said today that they might now boycott the Oct. 15 referendum, because the rule change made their efforts futile. Other political leaders also reacted angrily, saying the change would seriously damage the vote's credibility in Iraq and abroad.

Under the new rules, the constitution will fail only if two-thirds of all registered voters - rather than two-thirds of all those actually casting ballots - reject it in at least 3 of Iraq's 18 provinces.

The change, adopted during an unannounced vote in Parliament on Sunday afternoon, effectively raises the bar for those who oppose the constitution. Given that fewer than 60 percent of registered Iraqis voted in the January elections, the chances that two-thirds would both show up at the polls and vote against the document in three provinces would appear to be close to nil.

Still, we can be happier about the rumblings of a Republican filibuster of Harriet Miers (yes, their own candidate), and Mr. DeLay's latest indictment (which also appears to involve one Mrs. Thatcher, just to make it even more amusing):

If convicted, the money laundering charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison. The charge of conspiracy to launder money is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The initial conspiracy charge carries a punishment of up to two years.

We can only hope…and if they want to extradite Mrs. T, well, funnily enough, our new treaty with America means that they don't have to give us any solid evidence…