Courage is an absolute necessity for a leader; there is nothing that inspires people quite like courage does. We expect to see our leaders as fearless in the face of danger, unafraid despite the fact that they may be in harm's way. We also expect them to be intellectually courageous; unafraid to voice an unpopular opinion, unafraid to speak out against the majority when the majority is wrong, unafraid of the backlash that comes from going against said majority.

This one is a no brainer. One need only look at September 11 to see George's true colors. In a time of unprecedented national crisis, when the American people needed to hear from the President, needed to see him in Washington as a symbol of America's strength and to show the terrorists that we are not afraid, Georgie Porgie ran away. He played hopscotch all over the country, not arriving back in Washington until evening - some eight hours after the attacks had ended. Donald Rumsfeld was pulling people out of the Pentagon wreckage, Rudy Giuliani was right down at ground zero, and the fraud was running with his tail between his legs. As far as intellectual courage goes, it's the same story. Bush takes all of his cues from the far right, which in turn tells him what his position is on any given issue. He would no more go against the right wing than he would join the Democratic party, which doesn't say much about his convictions. In fact, it's hard to even grade him in this area because he obviously has never had an original thought in his life, much less stood behind it in the face of adversity.

Any true leader needs to have very thick skin. Being in a position of authority, there are always going to be people who disagree with you, many of them vehemently so. Thus, being able to handle criticism is absolutely essential, as we can't have leaders who get furious or fall to pieces every time someone criticizes them; they need to be able to brush it off and keep leading.

By any measure, Bush fails miserably. I have never seen an administration so sensitive to criticism as this one. I first saw it way back during the 2000 Presidential campaign, when I attempted to go to www.bushsucks.com and was brought to Bush's home page. The same thing happened with every other derogatory Bush site I could dream up. I then found that Karl Rove had bought up all the internet domain names he could think of that were unflattering to Bush, as sort of a pre-emptive strike against those who would mock King George. Then, there was the phony story about a direct threat to Air Force one that was invented to cover Bush's ass from the criticism he was getting over not coming back to Washington after the 9/11 attacks - which turned out to be a fabrication. Lastly, there is the current political climate in the US which labels anyone who speaks against Bush as a traitor or terrorist. This isn't happening on it's own; it's being pushed as hard as it can by the White House to stem any criticism of the idiot in Chief.

Perhaps the most important trait for a leader to possess is honesty. Simply put, if people do not trust their leaders, and believe them to be honest, there is no way they can respect them. Of course, in politics, one has to take this with a grain of salt, as it is no secret that lying is as ingrained to most politicians as breathing. But even given this loose interpretation, Bush again fails miserably. Examples, you say?

• He lied about governing as a moderate if he got elected.
• He lied about bringing "honor and dignity" back to the white house.
• He lied about his military service in the Texas Air National Guard.
• He lied about never having been arrested.
• He lied about his tax cut being affordable.
• He lied about the impact his tax cut would have on the economy.
• He lied about his budget.
• He lied (and continues to lie) about the impact oil drilling would have on the ANWR.
• He lied about signing a patients rights bill while Governor of Texas.
• He lied about his environmental record as Governor of Texas.
• He lied about his relationship with Ken Lay and Enron.

I could fill page after page, but my fingers would get tired. Suffice it to say that Bush blatantly lies about anything and everything, so long as it furthers his right wing agenda or helps line the pockets of his rich supporters.

To be a leader, one has to have some sense of where one is leading his followers, why one is leading them there, and what they are all going to do when they get there. Charisma can get one far, but for people to truly believe in a leader, they need to believe that he\she is more knowledgeable than they are; otherwise, why are they following this person in the first place?

I can just hear the conservative's refrain now. "If Bush is such an idiot, how was he able to get a Bachelor's degree from Yale and a Master's degree from Harvard ?" The answer ? Connections and money. There's an old saying, "any fool can buy a college education", and Bush certainly proves this to be true. There is no question his family name got him into Yale, and little doubt that it got him into Harvard as well. Just look at his grades from prep school; do you honestly believe he was Yale material if his last name were not Bush ? And the last time I checked, a "C" average was not enough to get one into Harvard Business school; unless, again, one's last name is Bush. His grades in school notwithstanding, it doesn't take a real keen mind to ascertain that he's not the sharpest hoe in the shed. He can't give a speech without reading every word from the teleprompter, and often has trouble doing even that. He never gives unscripted press conferences, because his handlers know if he speaks off the cuff that A) he will mangle the English language in ways never before heard, and B) he will inevitably say something that is either offensive, untrue, or at odds with his administration's stated position. He is widely acknowledged to be intellectually incurious and lazy, hardly the mark of intelligence, and does not appear to be in any hurry to remedy the situation.

A true leader always puts the interests of his people above his own. It's absolutely necessary, as a leaders job at it's most basic is to further the common good. Often, what is good for the people is not necessarily good for the leader; yet he\she must do what is best for the majority.

And once again, Bush comes up short. His entire term in office so far has been an attempt to give away as much as possible to the wealthy and to corporate America, at the expense of the average American. Does anyone seriously believe he has the best interests of the common man in mind when 80% of his tax cut goes to the top 2% of earners ? When he proposes oil drilling in the ANWR and in national parks ? When he guts any and every environmental regulation he possibly can ? When he yanks family planning funds from foreign countries because they might mention the word abortion ? When he pretends that global warming doesn't exist ? When he encourages the attorney general to gut the Constitution ? When he takes away funds for the boys and girls clubs of America ? When he slashes money earmarked for libraries ? Do I really need to go on?