The thing that really makes my skin crawl is the fact that all these leaders and politicians are playing right into the hands of the prophesies by dragging religion into their comments. This entire schmookle of a worldly mess has nothing to do with religion, yet there seems to be more and more of it mixed in and used as an excuse to fuel their agendas. It's becoming a mockery, almost like they all should have bumper stickers saying "My God's gonna kick your God's ASS", and in small print, "and then we'll split up the money and oil MY way".
Bush is a dumbass for constantly making religious references in his speeches, which confuse the sheeple by making them feel like it's a Christian vs Muslim thing. The terrorists are loving it, because such idiocy just serves to fuel their recruiting, proclaiming "Jihad", in return. The new Pope is a dumbass for not picking a better quote (I swear John Paul II must be rolling over in his grave!). And now Chavez is jumping on this religio-politico bandwagon, hoping to stir up people's chutzpah, and drive his campaign further, as well. It's all leading up to replaying history in a religious battle of epic proportions. In reality, though, the only reason religion is dragged into any political conflict is as a powerful motivator for the people they want to fight the wars for them. Propaganda.
*gets off her soapbox and runs away yelling, "Beam me up, Scottie!"*
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it." ~ Mark Twain