DRUDGE FLOATED THE RUMOR on Friday that George W. Bush is currently reading ("thumbing through") Natan Sharansky's The Case for Democracy. I happened to be at Barnes&Nobles on Saturday evening, so I glanced through the introduction. I must say, if you throw the phrases "after 9/11" or "because of 9/11" or "everything changed with 9/11" in the first chapter, I'm probably going to toss your book across the Starbucks Cafe. He does have an interesting paragraph in which he summarizes his thoughts: "I am convinced that all people desire to be free. I am convinced that freedom anywhere will make the world safer everywhere. And I am convinced that democratic nations, led by the United States, have a critical role to play in expanding freedom around the globe."

Most of what he writes I cannot disagree with, except to say he (and most academics as well) use the word "democracy" as if it's interchangeable with "freedom." This is just not the truth in reality.