Ach, ghastly news. The Polish President has died in a plane crash in Russia. Dying with him was most of the Polish top political class. His wife, the Governor of the Bank of Poland, the Head of the Armed Forces. Just a terrible tragedy:

Polish President
Lech Kaczynski and central bank Governor Slawomir Skrzypek were killed
today along with several key members of the country's political elite
when their plane crashed in western Russia, where they were to mark the
70th anniversary of a massacre of Polish officers.

The 60 year-old president's
wife, Maria, and leaders of the country's main opposition parties and
military, including the Army Chief of Staff Franciszek Gagor, also died
in the crash, which happened as the aircraft was on approach for landing
in Smolensk, Foreign Ministry spokesman Piotr Paszkowski said in a
phone interview. The crash killed all 96 on board, including 88
passengers and 8 crew, according to Russia's Emergency Ministry.

The macabre thing is that all were flying to Smolensk for a ceremony commemorating the murders in the Katyn Forest. When Stalin's henchmen shot thousands of Polish Army officers in WWII. Not once but twice has Poland been beheaded in the same place.