Virtually everyone who is anyone in American politics and media has roundly condemned any thought that Iran's President Ahmadinejad should be allowed to desecrate Ground Zero with his noisome presence. They are making a mistake.

Is American citizenship of such little concern that we don't mind it being awarded as the result of a crime?

Brazil serves as an object lesson in how government incompetence - not greed, not really bribery even, certainly not totalitarianism, just simple incompetence - can make life difficult on an otherwise free and vibrant economy.