No matter what your political leanings, it was an exciting weekend for democracy around the world. Let's recap:

-- Poland forcibly tears apart its ruling Siamese twins -- former child actors the Kaczynski brothers, who grip both the presidency and the premier's office with their vindictive claws -- by ousting the prime minister and giving a plurality of seats to the free-market, pro-European Union Civic Platform party. Analysts expect warmer relations with Brussels and a ticket back to Poland for its 900 troops stationed in Iraq. (In related news, confused Polish grandmothers seem to have misplaced their ID cards.) (In other related news, Poland's youth is awesome. Instead of riot on the street to protest job uncertainty, they peacefully vote in a bunch of guys who want to cut taxes. And they steal their grandmothers' ID cards.)

-- Switzerland rediscovers its xenophobic roots, and junks its rule-by-consensus tradition, by awarding the anti-immigrant Swiss People's Party the largest share of any party in the lower house (which allocates seats proportionally) since World War I. "Foreigners" (as non-citizen residents are commonly called) should keep a leash on their children: if a new measure is enacted, entire families could get deported for the actions of their "black sheep" children. The party's other proposal is to ban the construction of minarets on mosques. Immigrants needn't worry, however; there are plenty of other European countries in which to seek refuge ... except France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Spain....

-- The United States of America (or, as much of it as could fit into the Washington Hilton) takes a straw poll and finds that Mitt Romney will be the next president ... if liberals, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and Wall Street Republicans all stay home next November, and if pro-Mitt religious conservatives can stuff the ballot online the week before.

-- The State of Louisiana discovers it's OK with funny-looking Indian-Americans, as long as they're conservative Republicans who support teaching intelligent design. Governor-elect Bobby (nee Piyush) Jindal's stellar credentials and policy smarts are another drawback for Louisiana's heartland, but at least he's down with the Confederate flag and tolerates Pentecostal revivals.

-- China's Communist Party adds four leaders to the Politburo Standing Committee, which is chosen by the Central Committee, which is chosen by the Party Congress ... or something.