Wonderful, simply wonderful.

The lesson for the
future is that assessments of progress and popular satisfaction must
include socioeconomic factors as well as levels of political freedom.
EU governments should not get involved in narrow crusades. Poland’s
neighbour, Belarus – which the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice,
has called "Europe’s last dictatorship" – is sure to attract attention
next year when it holds presidential elections. The World Bank survey
is relevant here. While poverty went up in Poland, Belarus saw one of
the sharpest declines, enjoying "broad-based economic growth beneficial
to labour" in which the "benefits were broadly shared by the
population".

Few
doubt that the Belarus election will be less pluralistic than Poland’s;
but social solidarity, a strong state, and a government which attempts
to lessen inequalities are what Polish voters have shown they want. The
people of Belarus probably have similar views.

Who cares if it’s a dictatorship that rigs elections, kills off the opposition and represses the people, as long as there is no inequality.

Oh, and Johnny Bubba? The reason we have free and pluralistic elections is to find out what people really do want, rather than columnists to pronounce on what they "probably" want.