It’s that time: Another facade in Tunisian government. Now, the Ben Ali regime may be more subtle this time. Instead of declaring a 99.whatever% “victory” they may be so modest as limit their “winning” tally to a humble 97%.

And now they are allow for a staggering five opposition candidates. Of course, the candidates run on a platform of “Ben Ali is so great and I only wish to continue his wonderful work if elected, but I would never be so rude to say you should vote for me over him.” And even with that are allowed nearly no time on T.V., have signs smaller than those of Ben Ali (of course the smiling, dyed hair tyrant always has billboards up just more numerous during these tiring (for Tunisians) times), and are prevented from holding rallies. The Tunisian opposition is beyond listless. This is not to disparage the genuine oppositional advocates for human rights, I am referring to the vetted opposition candidates which are their for prop and allow themselves to be used as propaganda for the purposes of improving the image of a vulgar, oppressive and thieving dynasty and ruling elite.

But these elections are always fun because you just see how low the quality of propaganda is. Arab regime speechwriters must really believe their people to be stupid because their speeches do not make the slightest effort to reflect reality.

Most Tunisians will not vote and even more so will not care. Tunisians have other matters on the mind, including the death of 17 Tunisians in floods recently.

The Ben Ali regime is celebrate another pointless election, but this is a regime that has already lost all legitimacy. No body, nearly no body, still has even minimal regard for it.