Draft the John Wayne Dude

The question that should be on at least the occasional lip: is the Ragin' Cajun a Democrat? Can you imagine a better presidential candidate than Lieutenant General Russel Honore, the cussin' stogie-chompin' pitbull hero of this post-Katrina hell? First of all, he's not really Cajun: he's Creole, and he represents, in one person, almost the entire American electorate: he's white, black, Native American, probably Hispanic.

Now, the chances of his being a Democrat are, I'd say, about fifty percent. Generals are more likely to think like Republicans, certainly (although we have Wes Clark); but a guy raised in poverty on the Delta is way more likely to vote Democrat -- especially someone who's gone through life identified as African-American (in that charming, time honored American tradition, whereby if you have a nano-drop of black blood, it trumps every other aspect of your identity).

And consider this: "He admits he was one of those angered when the federal response to the emergency appeared to be slow in coming. "These are families that are just waiting to get out of here," he said of people in the New Orleans convention centre and Superdome. 'They are frustrated. I would be, too.'"

Even more to the point: "Army insiders say he is among the last of a dying breed in the US military, the type of commander who would not have any soldier do anything he would not be prepared do himself."

In short: he's the Anti-Bush.

And the man comes with an instant legend: born in a hurricane; reborn to battle the hurricane that destroyed his people. Honore's one of the few potential candidates who could take out any of the Republican heavyweights: Giuliani, McCain, Condi Rice, Colin Powell (not that we're likely to see Powell in the ring).

If you want to enjoy a pleasant daydream, try this scenario: Russ Honore in a presidential debate, torching the tail-feathers of some Bush-like Republican chickenhawk. If only we'd had him in the last round. Remember when W. expressed sincere, compassionate, heartfelt concern that drugs imported from Canada (the very same drugs that are sold in America) might kill you rather than cure you? Don't you wish that Kerry had unclamped a stogie from between his teeth and growled: "You know as well as I do, 'soldier' -- that's bullshit."