1.   As Congress lurches toward adjournment, the road is littered with dead bills, messy compromises and tactics dictated by future campaign ads.

2.   All of this shows how much more at home Chavez still feels with the hierarchical certainties of the army than with the messy compromises of democratic politics.

3.   The outcome is a compromise as messy as any bill that grinds through Capitol Hill.

4.   The way forward in Sierra Leone, therefore, is bound to be one of messy compromises, both with the rebel leaders and with Nigeria.

5.   A messy compromise was eventually forged last week, with Berisha ceding appointment of key election officials to Fino.