Who is Amy Ridenour? What is the American Defense Council? No one in America has ever heard of these people or organisations. Yet they are given prominence on the front pages of Malaysia's newspapers. According to Bernama and the New Straits Times, these people seem to be as influential as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

What nonsense!

The tables have turned. Now it is my chance to criticise the Malaysia propaganda machine for interfering in the internal affairs of my country, America, and trying - however ineptly - to influence American public opinion.

The Dr Mahathir Mohamad propaganda machine used to say that Anwar Ibrahim was an American lackey. But now, according to Amy Ridenour, whoever she is, Anwar is a closet Taliban terrorist.

And as for Malaysia, according to the American Defense Council - a heretofore unknown organisation with no website and no telephone number - Malaysia is the most democratic nation in Asia.

If you are going to try to sway American public opinion, you are going to have to do a better job than this. You should hire someone with credibility - someone who knows what they are talking about and is respected by their colleagues. And you had better be sure that they have their facts straight.

There should be a lot of egg on peoples' faces in KL right now. No one in America is paying the slightest attention to this silliness, because it is so far off the mark. No matter how large the headlines are in the NST, no one in America is listening. Someone is wasting a lot of money.

If you want to sway American public opinion - well, as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. Grant people their freedom of speech, and press, and assembly, and then maybe we'll believe that Malaysia is a great democracy.