Democracy usually involves choosing the lesser of two disappointments.

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"Two big disappointments on the first day cost us, " added Collins.

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In the OBR's view, the lesson of the past two years of disappointments is that the financial crisis did more damage to the economy than we thought, and the eurozone crisis and rising energy and food prices have done more damage on top of that.

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Its last two earnings calls have been complete disappointments and a number of shareholders seem to be throwing in the towel.

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The 2008 Beijing Games provided the latest disappointments, with a men's team sporting the likes of two-time world player of the year Ronaldinho and future AC Milan star Alexandre Pato crashing out in the semifinals to Argentina, losing 3-0 and ending up with the bronze medal.

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He showed no disappointment in his playoff-free two seasons with the Sabres after waiving his no-trade clause to join the high-priced disappointments.

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To some extent, the show has benefited from the failure of two other Disney musicals, "Tarzan" and "The Little Mermaid, " both commercial disappointments on Broadway.

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