The President in talking about freedom and democracy is sparking a wave of very positive democratic sentiment that might help us override both Islamic fundamentalism that has formed in that region and also some of the hatred for our policies of invading Iraq.

If you look just at the decades after 1934 you know it's hard to point to really inspired and positive support from outside of Haiti to Haiti and much easier to point to either small-minded or downright mean-spirited policies.

Now is the time for the U.S. and the nations of Western Europe who engaged in the slave trade throughout this hemisphere to come forward in a positive way to assist in undoing the harm that was caused by their past colonial policies in the hemisphere.

We're in an illusion about what our role is in world politics and foreign affairs and our policies are killing and destroying and doing a lot of things that we are not aware of.

And yet there are still people in American politics who for some reason cling to this belief that America is better off adopting the economic policies of nations whose people who immigrate here from there.

But while we all pray for peace we do not always as free citizens support the policies that make for peace or reject those which do not. We want our own kind of peace brought about in our own way.

Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism and find criticism subversive.

Unfortunately after Sept. 11 there was an outburst in America of intense suffering and patriotism and the Bush administration was very shrewd and effective in painting anyone who disagreed with the policies as unpatriotic or even traitorous.

Zoos are becoming facsimiles - or perhaps caricatures - of how animals once were in their natural habitat. If the right policies toward nature were pursued we would need no zoos at all.

All of this suggests that while citizens became more comfortable with President Bush after September 11 and thought him to have the requisite leadership skills they continue to harbor doubts about his priorities loyalties interests and policies.