We in England are watching in horror as the saga of this election unfolds. How it must be over there we can only imagine.

Bush jnr's remarks on dictatorship were reported on the main BBC and most independent news outlets, and what we heard filled us with alarm. It was "...this whole thing'd be a lot easier if it were a dictatorship... so long as I were the dictator (snorty laugh)". We note also that some bulletins edited this out, preferring to concentrate on the Greenspan meeting.

Now what happens ? Either this man is incompetent, lacking in all understanding about common diplomacy OR senile to the point that took Reagan a whole decade OR he sort of means every word of it. Remember, many dictatorships have been declared in couched terms, mock apologies, talk about responsibility, or jokery. The blatant approach has been comparatively rare in modern times but with the Death Row forming the backdrop to much of this man's electoral success, we cannot rule anything out.