Call It An Axis of Devil

By Carolyn Sayre

Yesterday the devil came here," Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez said last week at the U.N. "It still smells of sulfur today." The one who allegedly left the satanic traces was George W. Bush, who addressed the General Assembly the day before. But in painting the Prez as the devil, Chavez put him in good company. The insult isn't new--Satan has apparently possessed people on both sides of the political aisle, in books, on TV and all over the U.S.

GEORGE BUSH Like father, like son. In 1982, Bob Jones III-- of the eponymous Fundamentalist Christian school-- labeled the then V.P. "a devil" for not being conservative enough.

HILLARY CLINTON "Hillary is the devil," said right-wing radio host Jay Severin last year on MSNBC's The Situation with Tucker Carlson. Severin was outraged when she appeared with Billy Graham at a revival.

HARRY POTTER The Roman Catholic Church's top exorcist, Father Gabriele Amorth, told Vatican Radio earlier this month that the beloved boy wizard of fiction was the "king of darkness-- the devil."

THE U.S. President Bush may have put Iran in the "axis of evil," but Iran's Ayatullah Khomeini did it to the U.S. first. In 1979 he started what has become an Iranian tradition--calling the U.S. "the Great Satan."

BART SIMPSON O.K., so he may be just devilish, not quite the devil himself. But we bet Bart's long-suffering sister Lisa wouldn't really differentiate. She once called her mischievous big brother "the devil's cabana boy."