Ashton, I think you are being a little pessimistic here. So was I. I think Egypt could be moved much closer to Democracy. I see no hope for Saudi Arabia. Egypt does have some elections, and they do have a parliament. It might be the case that countries need an incubation period where they practice some democracy without necessarily having to drop their britches and go streaking. Russia is a good example of what happens in the latter case. Their internal governing mechanisms were not capable of supporting the freedom the won all at once. The courts and the rule of law need at least to be established. And I do mean real law, not the Shari'a law of keeping the mullahs in power.

The West might attempt to make a democracy in Afghanistan after kicking Taliban butt. But it will take years, at least two generations of relative calm and focusing the peoples' attention on education, working toward common economic ends, achieving a good fit between the relgious institutions and the government.

And I think your assessment of Bush is way wrong, but you already know that.

Ashton, I'm not trying to win the argument over whether he's up to snuff for the job or not. But my confidence in him is a result of observing that he got the best (in my opinion) people for the cabinet jobs even though many of them "outranked" him when it came to experience. And he doesn't appear to need to dominate them in order to see that his penis is right sized for him...unlike a former previous president.