Who edits this thing?

The Washington Post today carries a profile of Khalid Agami, a Saudi professor who is running for a seat in his country's upcoming nation-wide election for local officials. The Post informs us that "Agami is running for office in November as part of a cautious experiment by the Saudi royal family." Except that the the royal family announced a few days ago that it was postponing the elections for a second time, so that the first round is now scheduled to begin in February, not November. I read a blurb about the postponement yesterday in the NYT, but here's a story with a September 12 dateline. Seems like a pretty big oversight to run the Post story without an update on the situation. Regardless, these elections will mostly serve as window dressing (women may not even be allowed to vote, it's unclear at this point) for one of the least democratic states in the world. Since 9/11, and with all the discussion about oil and geopolitics that's taken place since then, the Saudi royal family has received a lot more attention than I imagine they'd care to attract. Perhaps they're hoping that this "dose of democracy," as the Post calls it, will divert attention away from their special blend of oligarchy and theocracy. It was nice to see today that the State Department has added the kingdom to its list of countries that severely repress religious freedom. I don't doubt that the Bush administration occasionally exerts minimal pressure on the royal family to bring its nation up to at least 17th century standards of freedom, but I also don't think we'll be seeing meaningful democracy in that country for quite a while.