But now they can be a proper Axis of El Vil if voting trends in Nicaragua continue:
Daniel Ortega insists he has changed from the days when he was a Marxist fighting a U.S.-backed insurgency. The balding, 60-year-old former Nicaraguan president has toned down his fiery rhetoric and is even promising to keep good relations with the White House.
A lot of graying organic bakers in American college towns will be celebrating tomorrow if this holds, recalling their glory days of marching with their local Latin American Solidarity Committee.
Although despite my mild horror, I suppose is is possible that he really is a former Marxist and just your run-of-the-mill socialist. He did step down as president in 1990 when he lost despite pre-election polling showing him a sure winner, so all is not lost.
Without a doubt, however, I will have to grit my teeth as the legions of NPR reporters schooled in the 1980s affect those silly Spanish accents whenever they say the word Ortega or Nicaragua or even Enchilada. God, even the most Anglo-sounding reporter trills their Rs when they say a remotely Spanish word. The horror.
As I've said before about other elections, the process is more important than individual winners. As long as there is an honest election when Ortega's term is up, democracy is not dead in Nicaragua.
So Aristide still has hope, I guess.
