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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hope Praytochange who wrote (756571)	12/29/2006 8:08:57 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769670

Bush tops bin Laden, Saddam as 'villain of the year' December 30, 2006 The Australian theaustralian.news.com.au WASHINGTON: It has been many months since George W. Bush topped the polls, but the US President has outflanked both Osama bin Laden and former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to seize the dubious honour of the ultimate villain of 2006. If it's any consolation for the beleaguered President, he also managed to take out the AP/AOL News Poll's 2006 hero of the year, albeit by a much smaller margin. Among entertainment celebrities, TV talk-show host Oprah Winfrey edged out actor Michael J.Fox as the best celebrity role model, while pop singer Britney Spears was the clear choice over Paris Hilton for worst. Asked to name the candidate that first came to mind for "biggest villain of the year", Bush won by a landslide, with 25per cent, followed by bin Laden, the al-Qa'ida leader, in second place with 8 per cent. Rounding out the top five villains were Saddam, who is awaiting execution, with 6 per cent; Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 5 per cent, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, 2 per cent -- from the three countries Bush once designated as the "Axis of Evil." In the poll, 13 per cent named Bush as their favourite, while 6 per cent chose the US troops in Iraq. The other top choices were TV talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, US senator Barack Obama, a possible Democratic presidential contender, and Jesus Christ -- each with 3 per cent. On the question of celebrity role models, Spears's bad behaviour claimed worst honours with 29 per cent. The 25-year-old pop singer and mother of two young sons recently filed for divorce from Kevin Federline, her husband of two years. She then followed with highly publicised nights out with party girls Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, including photographic evidence of Spears wearing no underpants, which raised questions about her fitness as a parent, not to mention her fashion sense. Spears apologised on her website, saying she probably went "a little too far" with her new-found freedom. Paris Hilton was the second-worst celebrity, attracting 18 per cent of the vote. The 25-year-old party girl and hotel heiress was arrested for drunken driving in Los Angeles in September while on a late-night hamburger run. Mel Gibson, 50, was third-worst celebrity with 12 per cent, no doubt as a result of his anti-Semitic tirade at police in Malibu, California, during his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving. He later apologised and said he harboured no animosity towards Jews. Rounding out the worst celebrity role model category were the couch-hopping Tom Cruise, 9 per cent; former Seinfeld star Michael Richards, 6 per cent; Nicole Richie, 5 per cent; Federline, 4 per cent; Lohan, 3 per cent; and Angelina Jolie, 2 per cent. In the best celebrity role model category, 29 per cent of adults chose talk-show host Winfrey. The philanthropist and entertainment mogul contributed $40 million ($50.5 million) towards the establishment of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, finished second with 23 per cent. Actor George Clooney, who has been advocating for refugees in the war-ravaged Darfur region of Sudan, finished third with 12per cent. Eight per cent chose Jolie and boyfriend Brad Pitt scored 2 per cent. Newlyweds Cruise and Katie Holmes tied at 2 per cent. Jolie and Cruise were the only celebrities to land on both the best and worst role model lists. The telephone poll of 1004 adults was conducted December from 19-21 by Ipsos, an international polling firm. AP