That would be a very tough question indeed because the the question involves more than character. It also involves power as part of the equation. Right now Bush's evil quotient is amplified by the amount of damage he's capable of as the commander in chief of the world's mightiest military, the most advanced intelligence service, and incredible economic influence.

If everything the Bush detractors (and there seems to be an awful lot of them around you right now) believe about the man's character are true, his potential for damage in the world greatly exceeds that of almost any other leader I can think of. Ahmadinejad, if he's the worst devil you can imagine, is but an annoyance in comparison simply because his influence on a world scale pales in comparison.

Let me put out to you striking character deficiencies I see in Bush that have a huge amount of evidence supporting them. I won't even include the ones that are purely conjecture.

1. He's made numerous public statements that indicate he believes his choices are dictated not through thought and analysis but the direct guidance of God.

2. He appears to be reactionary instead of a chess player type looking at the long term impact of his decisions.

3. He seems to only want to keep people around him that agree with his narrow view of issues. Deviation has been met with firing and public derision.

4. He seems to have little or no regard for human life and has overwhelmingly supported measures that have caused death with no real public remorse or compassion to the ones left behind.

5. His policies have widened the division between rich and poor with no indication he either sees that or cares.

6. He has continually supported policies that have eroded our Constitutional guarantees while using fear to rationalize the actions.

I could go on and on especially if I brought up the things that have huge amounts of of circumstantial evidence of some severe depravity. All told, were GWB the president of some third world country, he'd be no more bothering than a pimple. However, when taken in the context of being the leader of the most powerful country in the world, it's absolutely shocking.

You'll never understand that.

Art