AH, JUST ANOTHER HUMAN BEING: Zarqawi, that is. Sad to see him go. That's the response of Michael Berg, father of Nicholas Berg, whose head was sawed off by Zarqawi himself, or so I seem to recall. If not Zarqawi, then one of his henchmen. Zarqawi, you see, is a very put-upon guy, a man who became a public executioner because he ran out of options you see, because we Americans did what we did. Make that: because George Bush did what he did.

"George Bush is the one that invaded this country, George Bush is the one that destabilized it so that Zarqawi could get in, so that Zarqawi had a need to get in, to defend his region of the country from American invaders."... In a telephone interview with Reuters from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, the father said: "I have no sense of relief, just sadness that another human being had to die."

Does Michael Berg here "slander" President Bush? No. George Bush might be offended by Berg's remarks, as might his wife and daughters. But George and Laura and their girls know that George has chosen to be a public figure. And people who voluntarily enter the public domain have a very difficult time proving damages by the slings and arrows of adversarial speech. Now, who will tell the New York women who became public figures when they stepped forward to accuse George W. Bush of "causing" September 11? Who will tell them the difference between being slandered and offended?