Eleven of Twelve

So the Dirty 11, rather than the full Dirty Dozen, regain membership in Japan's least exclusive club.

Chapter closes in saga of LDP postal rebels
The Yomiuri Shimbun

With their readmission, the latest development in the saga of the Liberal Democratic Party's postal rebels can be considered the close of a chapter.

The 12 postal rebels were among those ousted last year by the LDP over their opposition to the party's postal privatization policy. The group, which includes former Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma, submitted a joint petition Monday, seeking to rejoin the party.

Of the 12, 11 also submitted written pledges to support postal privatization and reflect on their past antiparty conduct. The exception was Hiranuma who has not changed his stance of opposing the privatization of Japan Post. The 11 legislators are to be readmitted to the party.

While they had a difference of opinion with the party over the privatization of the postal services, the postal rebels share the party's views when it comes to political principles and basic policy issues such as national security, education and the Constitution.

As such, it was only reasonable for some to point out the absurdity of their being apart from the party.

Nonetheless, the turmoil within the party over the issue of readmitting the postal rebels has made it difficult for voters to understand the situation.

So Nakagawa Hideanao (I am toying with calling him Nakagawa the Good, differentiating him from the head of the policy research council, Nakagawa the Barking Mad) held his ground, saving the LDP's shreaded reputation from annihilation.

Good for him (bad for the Democrats).

That being said, what the [expletive deleted] is up with the Yomiuri Shimbun? Its editorial stance toward the Abe-led LDP has verged upon the fellatial.

Is the sycophancy an attempt to compensate for the massive fall in revenue resulting from the Giants having stunk so bad for so long (C'mon, they have just signed Ogasawara Michiro, an Amaterasudamned freak of nature. If they just put him, a pitcher, a shortstop and a catcher out there--that's a team) that even Nippon Terebi hesitates broadcasting Giants games anymore?

Seriously, even the Sankei Shimbun, which is in extasy over one of its own taking over the prime ministership, holds a less Panglossian view of the goings on in Nagata-chō.