Over in Pakistan, things have gone in a somewhat predictable fashion. Since Musharraf stacked the Supreme Court with friendly faces, they've responded in kind and dropped all the challenges to his continued rule.

So it seems there is nothing standing in the way of him holding an election with himself as the only voter and declaring victory for himself. It's a done deal.

Back in Washington DC, you aren't likely to see any action against Musharraf, despite the peace treaty with the Taliban that he negotiated earlier this year. He's still acknowledged as an ally in the war against islam  on terror.

But the real reason that Washington is keeping quiet is purely self-serving. Pakistan has nukes - at least one or two. As long as they control the person in charge of the nukes, said nukes will stay out of the hands of islamic extremists. But as soon as you go about changing regimes and opening up the potential for political and social reforms, you open up the possibility of turmoil. If you've got turmoil, you don't know exactly what will happen to the nukes.

If we were able to step in and grab the bombs and spirit them away from Pakistan, you'd see Musharraf vanish from the world stage in a New York minute. There would be no further reason to keep him around.