Who's In Charge Here?

From June (We were busy that month trying to survive on $221.00/mo. cash & $168.00/mo. in food stamps. Pardon us for not getting it to you any sooner.): World leaders not very popular. When we saw the headline ("Is Gordon Brown the Leader of the Free World?") we suspected it had to do w/ the current American power gap. (Maybe we need a flexible inauguration date; as soon as the incoming prez is ready to rock, he should tell the outgoing bastard to step aside ASAP.) Turns out that's not it, but it's still interesting.

It's shocking that some of the world's most trusted leaders are autocrats. Has a gap emerged between democracy and global leadership? I was surprised at the low level of confidence around the world. With the decline of the U.S. President as a global leader for an extended period, you would think that some other leader would step into that breach and become a galvanizing focus as an alternative.

Goes on but never answers the question: What about that gap between democracy & global leadership? When one hears so-called leaders blathering empty praises of liberty, democracy & all the other lip-serviced & otherwise ignored concepts, one can only laugh, realizing that the vast majority of the human species want only full stomachs & something to distract them at night, in the few hours they can, if they're lucky, call their own.  It's no surprise that autocrats are better tolerated.