In 1936, the press allowed itself to be seduced by Nazi propaganda; sift through the archives, and there is no shortage of admiring reports about the economic and social development of Germany under the Hitler regime. In 2008, there seems to be the same unquestioning admiration for Communist China as for Nazi Germany.
'It will take a minor miracle for the deal to beat the clock ticking away in the US Congress, but Abhinav Bindra just proved that the age of miracles isn't over yet.'
The only way 20 by-elections can be postponed is if the Lok Sabha itself is dissolved.
'The cynic in me wonders whether the Speaker's defiance wasn't assisted by the knowledge that he cannot possibly be re-elected from Bolpur.'
'What do Congressmen want, five assured months in office before the general election is called or the possibility of being re-elected for another five-year term?'
Five Honourable MPs must be brought from their jail cells to Parliament, television cameras recording every move. It shall be an unsavoury beginning to the new alliance.
'After the next general election, the Left Front will emerge with its control intact over West Bengal, albeit much bruised and battered. It will perform dismally in Kerala. But the Left Front will still be a presence of sorts in Parliament. Can the Samajwadi Party retain all its 39 seats?'
The nuclear pact is not an issue any longer, it can still serve as an excuse for calling a general election before it is due.
Double-digit inflation, a return of Naxalism and the licence Raj. Is it too much to ask the Congress at least stop asking for more Indira Gandhi-style 'commitment?'
There is no money for fuel subsidies because it is, supposedly, being used for development activities. But nobody can see any effect of these activities.
The Nehru-Gandhis were not the only family to be slapped in the face by voters in Karnataka tired of being taken for granted. The Bangarappa and Deve Gowda clans have also been humbled.
The fallout of the Panchayat polls in West Bengal and Punjab could reverberate as much as the assembly poll in Karnataka.
'Does anyone believe for a moment that T R Baalu cares two hoots for a man without a mandate who happens to be living in Race Course Road by sheer accident?'
It is a bit strange that Rajiv Gandhi's daughter received permission to do precisely what her great-grandfather had denied to the Mahatma's son.
The scale of the mismanagement is so great that both the Indian farmer and the Indian consumer are suffering.
'A man who faces 72 candles on the birthday cake two months from today! Can you think of anything sillier?'
A poor performance in Karnataka will send the alarm bells ringing in every current or potential ally of the Congress, and, yes, that could have an effect in the Lok Sabha elections.
I have absolutely no problem with India's conducting business with the generals in Myanmar because that is how India's interests were best served. But how does India benefit from cracking Tibetan skulls outside the Chinese embassy, and how does it benefit from pandering to extremists by exiling Taslima Nasreen?
The Left Front had a choice in September 2007, either to push for an immediate general election or to permit the United Progressive Alliance to complete its full term without making a fuss. In trying to be too clever by half the Left Front must now both swallow the chillies of humiliation at being outwitted and accept the lash of public anger in an election.
What Pakistani voters and Barack Obama have demonstrated is the power of hope, of hope that the democratic process offers the chance of enacting genuine change.
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