THE WORLD IS "MORE PEACEFUL AND FREE UNDER MY LEADERSHIP" SAYS BUSH

Dubya says he's going to run for reelection on peace and security, and declared that the world is "more peaceful and more free under my leadership.

I've seen more leadership coming from Al Sharpton, or the slugs in my garden (apologies to Sharpton).

This guy really does think we are simpletons. OK, grand sweeping statements aren't limited to cerebrally-challenged presidents. But Bush has less claim to these kinds of statement than anyone since Nixon.

I think he is misunderestimating we the people.

We know, for instance, that Pakistan not only still harbors terrorists, but it's own leadership is on shaky grounds as its population becomes increasingly fundamentalist.

We know, for instance, that the Taliban are regrouping in Afghanistan, that the warlords have as much power as ever, that the opium trade is fueling both activities, and that Karzai will be lucky to survive.

We know, for instance, that North Korea is holding the region and the West hostage to its own nuclear megalomania, and this administration seems impotent.

And we know that anti-semitism is seeing the biggest revival since the pre-WW2 era, and that inevitably will lead to less peace, not more.

We know that this administration's efforts to defuse the Israeli-Palestinian mess are....well, what efforts? The Roadmap to Peace? And that took three years to introduce, and lasted how many weeks?

Iraq? Today the administration links the bombings to "an emerging alliance between remnants of the former regime and foreign fighters who came to wage a so-called holy war against US forces." This is stated as exculpatory. Oh give us a break. Is there anyone to the left of Attila the Hun who didn't foresee this, and know it was happening months ago?

Which reminds me--Osama? One gets the feeling that Bush's plan now is simply to not acknowledge his existence. When was the last time you heard Bush refer to bin Laden? Audio tapes still come regularly, and it's clear that bin Laden is still orchestrating terror and inciting hatred as strongly as ever. I've heard nothing, absolutely nothing, from this administration regarding attempts to find or disenfranchise Osama. How many of the 150 or so billions allocated to Iraq would it have taken to mount a campaign against the real threat to our security?

And we know that Bush's defacto support of General Boykin is enraging even moderate Muslims around the world. As one pundit pointed out, if Boynton had publicly criticized the administration's policies, he'd be gone in a minute. But apparently it's OK for him to make the most inflammatory and ignorant comments heard from these shores since 9/11, and the administration is effectively silent.

Thus has Bush addressed the hatred Islamic fundamentalists (among many others) feel for America. Has he even come close to acknowledging that he understands where that comes from and what needs to be done? "They hate freedom," is his mantra. That'll work.

So do you feel more secure than you did three years ago?

Canadian citizenship is becomingly increasingly attractive.