1. On September 17, 2001, George W. Bush tells us that Osama bin Laden is, like "an old poster out West," "Wanted, Dead or Alive."

2. Bush gets distracted, attacks Iraq.

3. In his final debate with John Kerry this month, George W. Bush claims, "Gosh, I just don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those exaggerations." He's lying: in March he said of bin Laden, "I truly am not concerned about him.

4. This week, the apparently desperate George W. Bush campaign distributed literature in Pennsylvania showing ten images of the burning World Trade Center towers, bearing text that claims John Kerry doesn't have what it takes to fight terrorism.

5. The very much alive and un-smoked-out-of-his-cave Osama bin Laden--perpetrator of the 9/11 attacks--re-surfaces at a suspicious moment via videotape to portend new attacks on the US.

Conclusion: Bush is skillful at politicizing the carnage of September 11, but he's clueless about bringing its mastermind to justice.