Bush's Mideast efforts are wobbly at best.(Main)

Byline: TOM TEEPEN

How stands President Bush's grand plan to spread democracy throughout the Middle East? Wobbly, and that's on a good day.

The latest: Egyptians have voted in a referendum to let their president dissolve Parliament at will, suspend civil liberties in cases he deems terrorism-related and limit the role of judges in overseeing elections. Into the bargain, the constitutional changes potentially grease the way for President Hosni Mubarak's son to succeed him, pharaoh-like.

The exercise was a farce. Independent observers figured turnout was at best five percent. Egyptian voters knew the outcome would be rigged Mubarak's way no matter how …