Foreign poll-watchers in America. (Insider Report).

What was parody in 2000 became policy in 2002. In November 2000, as the Bush-Gore presidential contest in Florida went into extra innings, the satirical magazine The Onion "reported" that "Serbian president Vojislav Kostunica deployed more than 30,000 peacekeeping troops to the U.S. ... pledging full support to the troubled North American nation as it struggles to establish democracy."

"For democracy to take root and flourish, it must be planted in the rich soil of liberty," the parody "quoted" Kostunica. "And the cornerstone of liberty is elections free of tampering or corruption.... Should America prove itself incapable of learning this lesson on its own, the international community may be forced to take stronger measures."

In the 2002 mid-term elections, the "international community," in the form of the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), deployed 10 election observers to Florida. The OSCE delegation, reported the October 30th London Independent, included officials from Russia and Albania. "This is the first time international monitors have gone to the United States," noted the British paper. "The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has been campaigning for some time to improve electoral standards in some of the older, established democracies."