It is amazing that whenever Bush and US officials speak of "democracy" in the Middle East, they always single out for praise the most pro-US governments in the region, regardless whether they deserve the praise. I thought about this today as I watched the Lebanese Minister of Defense face a group of Lebanese citizens on Future TV who mercilessly grilled him for 2 hours (did not watch the whole thing). You cannot do that in any Arab country. And Lebanon is the only Arab country where the president is retired from office ALIVE, and where he--never had a woman president--is mocked, ridiculed, and criticized in the Lebanese press. Don't get me wrong. Lebanese political system is not perfect, and I have been very critical of it, for its sectarianism, nepotism, favoritism, Muslim and Christian clerical political manipulations and agiations, and the heavy Syrian AND French AND US intervention in its affairs. But You never hear US praise for the Lebanese democratic system, because the US government does not like Lebanese foreign policy. Instead, US government praises Morocco, Jordan, and Bahrain, of all places. Jordan just yesterday arrested people who were openly critical of US and Israel. That is a crime in the Kingdom of Hashemite Torture.