Remember Tim that it was not too long ago that Britain had empirical designs on the rest of the world. This "leader of the free world" nonsense is an aberation of history and has been practiced ad nauseum by almost every country. I do agree, however, that the current
US preoccupation is a little more crazy than you would find elsewhere recently.

The "free world" is being eroded here in the US with the trashing of the Constitution, habeas corpus, and spying on American citizens by a dictatorial White House. Also, in the conduct of an illegal war and subsequent occupation of Iraq.

The "leader of the free world" is a propaganda device not unlike that used by "der Fuehrer" or "Il Duce".

Frank