CNN.com - Bush: 'Good riddance' to Saddam - Dec. 15, 2003: "Bush responded: 'Good riddance. The world is better off without you, Mr. Saddam Hussein.

'I find it very interesting that when the heat got on, you dug yourself a hole, and you crawled in it,' the president said. 'And our brave troops, combined with good intelligence, found you, and you'll be brought to justice, something you did not afford the people you brutalized in your own country.' "

I have two thoughts on this. My first instinct was to cringe at the John Wayne speak, but then I decided to give Bush a possible benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he and his friends just want to underscore Saddam's cowardice and dishonorable capture.

On the other hand, it sounds as if the President would really have admired Hussein if he had died fighting and possibly hurt some of our troops. I, for one, am glad that no more people died to catch this person.

Like I said, it may be perfectly explainable. But this president's third-grade morality and John Wayne view of the world seems to dominate his talk. "Bring it on." This is not a movie. This is real life where people actually die.