Benazir Bhutto

I was just wrapping up some updates when the e-mail rang Thursday morning.

"Benazir Bhutto has died in an attack at a rally."

That was it, the first update from CNN.

Then my boss walked into the office.

"Let me finish this up, and then we need to talk Pakistan."

My boss, having just arrived at work, hadn't yet heard the news, so he caught up while he was waiting for me.

For those who don't keep up with international affairs the way I do, here's the plain English version.

Bhutto was Pakistan's first female prime minister. Her father was hanged in a coup, and she was exiled.

Pervez Musharraf, who is currently leading Pakistan with the blessing of the Bush administration, scheduled elections for January of 2008, so he could pretend to be running a democracy.

Bhutto returned to Pakistan with the support of millions to challenge Musharraf. She told CNN she was aware that there would probably be attempts on her life. She told her friends and advisors she wasn't happy with the security the state was providing her.

People rallied. Some of the rallies turned violent.

Musharraf declared a state of emergency and put her under house arrest.

The international community cried out – what sort of person running a democracy puts his primary competitor under house arrest and suspends the country's constitution?

Musharraf lifted the house arrest and the emergency declaration.

At a rally Thursday, Bhutto waved from the sunroof of a car. Supporters cheered. A suicide bomber blew himself up. Someone shot Bhutto in the neck.

This is something out of a novel. Or a movie. Turns out this stuff still happens in real life.

Wow.

Let the endorsing begin!

Well, it's started. The Des Moines Register and the Boston Globe have made their endorsements for the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries, respectively.

The Register endorsed Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side and John McCain on the Republican side. The Globe endorsed McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.

I hate when newspapers do this, for a few reasons.

First and foremost, the papers are coming right out and saying, "No, we're not going to be neutral in this race."

Second, not all people do their research. Since they know their local newspaper will endorse a candidate, they just vote for whomever the paper tells them to. I don't feel so much like the papers are cheating those people out of learning about candidates, as much as I feel like the papers are cheating the people who do their research.

Lastly, you give fuel to candidates you didn't endorse. If Mike Huckabee wins the Iowa Republican caucus and goes on to win the Republican nomination (God help us), when the Register comes along looking to do an in-depth profile on Huckabee and sell him some ads, the candidate can just look at them and say, "You endorsed McCain. Go screw." And then the paper's not able to properly serve its readership.

I know endorsing candidates is a time-honored tradition, but it's one that needs to stop.