We all know what happened to Benito Mussolini and Clara Petacci:

Back in 1989, the Rumanian dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu and his wife Elena got similar treatment. Watch this amazing video and see the hurried trial, the aftermath of their execution (but not the actual shooting), and hasty burial, all occurring within a few hours. The edited footage of those hours is long, about 20 minutes, and often tedious, but well worth it to see the indignation of tyranny as it is about to get its just desserts.

In contrast, the Butcher of the Balkans, Slobodan Milosevic, and his wife Mirjana Markovic got off easy. Slobbo and Mira oversaw the slaughter of tens of thousands during the Balkan War of the Nineties. Slobbo finally got whisked away to the UN War Crimes Tribunal in Den Hague where he died as a result of assassination by poisoning, suicide by poisoning, or of a heart attack. Mira, often referred to as Slobbo's Lady Macbeth, hung around Belgrade for awhile and then fled to Moscow, her last known whereabouts.

Which brings us to our local entrants, Little Johnny and Big Janette Howard. In cahoots over crimes against humanity and democracy for eleven and a half years, one wonders what will happen to them? The dirty tricks employed in the closing days of the 2007 election campaign will only add to their caseload.

Of some peripheral interest: Nicolae Ceaucescu was an Aquarius. Benito, Slobodan and Johnny share the sign of Leo. Of the women, Clara was an Aquarius, Elena a Capricorn, while Mira and Janette share the sign of Cancer. Mira was born on 10 July 1942 and Janette's birthday is 11 July 1944. Hmmm.