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Windows 06
Bush and Britney top thumbs-down list

Washington, December 29
Bad guy of 2006: US President George W Bush. Good guy of 2006: President George W Bush. When Americans were asked in an AP-AOL News poll to name the villains and heroes of the year, Bush topped both lists, in a sign of these polarised times.

Among entertainment celebrities, Oprah Winfrey edged out Michael J. Fox as the best celebrity role model, while Britney Spears outdistanced Paris Hilton as the worst.

Bush won the villain sweepstakes by a landslide, with one in four respondents putting him at the top of that bad-guy list. When people were asked to name the candidate for villain that first came to mind, Bush far outdistanced even Osama bin Laden, the terrorist leader in hiding; and former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who is scheduled for execution.

The President was picked as hero of the year by a much smaller margin. In the poll, 13 per cent named him as their favourite while 6 percent cited the troops in Iraq.

On the question of celebrity role models, a pop singer’s bad behavior claimed worst honours. When asked to choose from a list of names, nearly three in 10 adults, or 29 percent, bestowed the honor of worst celebrity of the year on Spears.

The 25-year-old pop singer and mother of two young sons recently filed for divorce from Kevin Federline, her husband of two years.

She then followed with highly publicised nights out with party girls Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, including photographic evidence of Spears wearing no underpants, which raised questions about her fitness as a parent. — AP