I have been putting off discussion of the election until I get back stateside from Costa Rica and Nicaragua. We must delve into the new Democratic controlled second branch of government in January.

Coming to Central America does add a certain perspective to the subject of governments, politics and what NOT to do if you want a functioning society.

Well, in this case I refer to Nicaragua, a country with a history of terrible, terrible governments. As it so often happens the US of A has been happy to have a dictatorial and corrupt government running the show provided it looked after the interests of Americans operating in the area. The US can hardly be blamed for all of the inept, greedy and dishonest strongmen that have run Nicaragua and it neighbors for most of its history but it is worth remembering that FDR once said about the Somoza regime: Somoza is a son of a bitch, but he’s OUR son of a bitch.

Daniel Ortega, the former Sandanista honcho will be returned to power next month and nobody we have spoken to claims to have any idea what will happen, but there seems to be a cautious optimism that the confiscations of private property that alienated so many in the first go round of Sandanista rule will not be repeated.

Amazingly, Somoza had accumulated more property in the country than the entire nation of El Salvador. Had the Sandanistas stopped at returning HIS property to others here things would have been, well, better.

More to say on all this later, but it is interesting that neighboring Costa Rica got rid of its army in 1948 and thrived without the drain of military expenses all those years. A lesson for a nation that is spending billions and billions for a crazy war in Iraq? Well yes, actually.

Your host has an estimated 1,500 insect bites from a plunge into the Costa Rican rain forest, which will also generate further comment soon. Or at least when I stop scratching, if that day ever comes.Returning from Costa Rica…