Despite Disaster, Burma Has a Forced Vote

As the swollen bodies of thousands of dead floated in the stagnant floodwaters of the Irrawaddy Delta Saturday, Burmese citizens were prodded by the country’s ruling generals to vote for the first time in 18 years in a rigged constitutional referendum.

The vote, just eight days after Cyclone Nargis caused the worst destruction ever wrought on the delta, …