While all eyes have been focused on the US election, and particularly on Ohio, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez continued his consolidation of power when his allies swept Venezuela's state and municipal elections this Sunday.

This is a quietly looming foreign policy crisis. Chavez is an anti-American demagogue. He has bonded with Cuba, Columbian terrorists, and Iran. He is flush with cash due to high oil prices, and with a string of leftist victories in Latin America - the wind is at his back.

The hope was that the well established Venezuelan civil society could displace him - but he has out manuevered them time and again. Chavez has also engineered a press law that "could allow heavy fines on television and radio stations or allow the government to shut them down if they fail to prove they did everything they could to prevent the violence from being shown on television. The proposed bill establishes 18-day jail sentences for anyone who broadcasts "false" or "imprecise" information and fail to correct such errors."

This vaguely worded law, which has been condemned by Human Rights Watch and the OAS, is exactly the cudgel Chavez needs to crack down on Venezuela's independent media which is now one of the only remaining bastions of the opposition.

Tech Central Station ran my article Egyptian Conspiracy Theorists about the conspiracy theories proliferating in Egypt about the Taba bombings. These theories are frequently chalked up to ignorance and poverty - but in fact are generated from the top to help distract from the regime's failings.

In particular I focus on Dr. Dhiaa Rashwan who from his perch at the al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (Egypt's leading think tank) insisted that Israel was behind the bombings. I'll quote myself:

"The al-Ahram Center is Egypt's most distinguished think tank. Dr. Rashwan's s statement is roughly equivalent to a Brookings scholar claiming the CIA masterminded 9/11. Although to truly understand the statement's significance in Egypt, imagine if Brookings was part of the same organization as the New York Times, and the U.S. President appointed the chairman of the organization. (The al-Ahram Center is part of the al-Ahram Foundation, a conglomerate that publishes Egypt's leading newspaper -- al-Ahram -- and numerous other periodicals. The government appoints the chairman of the al-Ahram Foundation.)"

Plus the article was another chance to cite leading Egyptian writer Tarek Heggy.

Maybe it is the three cups of coffee, but what a terrific morning.

My wife and I exercised our civic responsibility. We stood in line, took about 45 minutes each, with our neighbors. I made small talk and I voted.

In a profound sense, my vote does not matter. Yes statistically, Maryland's results are predictable, but in another important sense as well. My life, the lives of the overwhelming majority of Americans, will be fundamentally the same. We will remain a wealthy, comfortable, and free country. Our vote does not matter - because we can vote.

I also received a note from a friend in the Middle East - urging me to send any intelligence I get about the outcome his way. For him, this election matters. He worries that the once in a generation opportunity for freedom for his region will slam shut.

I hope he is wrong and that freedom is truly on the march. But I know human history - America is blessed. For much of the world it is all too fragile.