No wonder Bush is enamored and supportive of Colombia's president Uribe, they're two of a kind imperialistic, tyrannical presidents.  In 2000, the Supreme Court installed Bush by not allowing a recount go forward which ultimately showed that Al Gore had won the popular vote. In 2004 the Republican owned, unsecure, easily manipulated, vote changing touch screen machines that computer experts warned against gave the deciding vote to Bush.   Now Uribe and his supporters are engaging in election machinations, too.

The McClatchy Miami Herald reports: "Colombia plunged into political uncertainty Friday as opponents of President Alvaro Uribe accused him of acting like a ''dictator'' because he called for new elections that could allow him to extend his stay in office beyond the end of his current term in 2010.

"The controversy stems from a Supreme Court decision Thursday that raises questions about the legitimacy of Uribe's 2006 re-election, which gave the Colombian leader an unprecedented second term.

"Uribe responded immediately to that decision by announcing that he would end the legitimacy question by seeking Congressional approval for a referendum asking Colombians to replay the 2006 presidential elections. He won them in a landslide.

"Opponents said Friday that Uribe was using the court statement to seek his most cherished goal: capitalizing on his stratospheric popularity to get the Congress to allow him to run for president for a third term. Supporters have been collecting signatures to allow just that.

"If Congress lets him run again following his new gambit, Uribe could extend his term to perhaps 2014.

'' 'It's clear that his announcement pushes the country toward tyranny,' Sen. Jorge Enrique Robledo said by telephone from Bogotá. 'He's acting as if those with a lot of public support can do whatever they want. It's evident that he's trying to perpetuate himself in power, like a dictator.''

"The Supreme Court said that Congress' 2004 decision to allow Uribe to seek a second term two years later was tainted when the high court sentenced a congresswoman to prison for accepting jobs for supporters in exchange for providing what turned out to be the decisive vote in his favor. Before that vote, Colombian presidents could serve only a single four-year term.

"Uribe has not stated he wants to run for a third term, but he has not refused to rule it out either. Some observers have said that like many political leaders who have transformed their countries, Uribe has a messianic belief that without him in office, the country will backslide.

"Sen. Gustavo Petro, a leading Uribe opponent, was ceding no ground on Friday.

'' 'We're in the process of heading toward a coup d'etat,'' Petro said by telephone. 'He's trying to make legitimate his past election. That's what dictators do.' ''

 Dubya also has a messianic psychosis. He even claimed God speaks to him. These are two peas in a tyrannical pod whose arrogant imperialism and authoritarianism has damaged their respective countries.  The only difference is Uribe has a 70% approval rating while Bush's approval rating among the American people is in the toilet.