It's hardly surprising that Malaysia's sycophant mainstream media hasn't carried the equally unsurprising rebuke of remarks by ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad that southern Thai Muslims be given political autonomy, even independence, from the kingdom.

And it barely comes as a surprise that Mahathir should again deride US president George W Bush for telling "obvious lies" about the reason for going to war against Iraq. Mahathir had urged American Muslims to vote against Bush in the presidential elections. Mahathir said a Bush victory would be a "disaster" for Muslims.

There's some truth in Mahathir's claims about Bush. With his deep Judeo-Christian fundamentalist credo, Bush will surely further roil against Muslims everywhere, including America.

In the wake of 9-11, Muslims have become easy targets of the Bush administration, distrusting them for the most part. But let's be truthful: the problems with Muslims today is about them, too, and their interpretation of Islam and use of Islam as not only a political tool but also a tool of mindless, bloody murderous violence.

But Bush has won his second term, and that clearly says something about Mahathir's so-called influence: it's waning, to the point of it becoming utterly insignificant and inconsequential. Mahathir is not the opinion-maker he and his cronies reckon that he is, at least not in the non-Muslim world and, I dare say, increasingly less in the latter too.

Here's Mahathir's two-facedness: he has doled out his share of lies, spin and spiel. He's like any other two-bit politician anywhere. But here's the real hypocrite Mahathir: in 2000, Mahathir had endorsed Bush's candidacy over Al Gore.

Here's another of Mahathir's hypocritical claims, and this one goes to the heart of the southern Thai Muslim problem.

Firstly, his advocating autonomy for southern Thai Muslims goes against the grain of Asean solidarity on non-interference in the domestic affairs of a member state. But I'm sure Mahathir will claim he's speaking as a private individual now. Still, we know the waffles of Asean are the same waffles of Mahathir - all are blithely hypocritical and tendentious.

Secondly, what did Mahathir do, though, when Muslims in Aceh were struggling for their autonomy against their Javanese rulers?

Here, Mahathir was conspicuously silent. Still is. Like a mouse, he has been too gutless to speak out against Jakarta, and against his best mate Suharto, and the bumbling succeeding others, because of Jakarta's regional clout on account of its military muscle, and economic and societal volatilities which Malaysia (and Singapore) have long feared would spill over into their borders.

More, Mahathir, in his magnanimous humanitarian gesture, and the humbug statesman by which his sycophant media in Malaysia have constantly hailed him, in fact repatriated Acehnese refugees into the waiting arms of Indonesia's military thugs, rapists and murderers.

Mahathir should zip it. He's such a flagrant, pusillanimous clown today - as he was during his heyday in political office.

And about the only press that'll give Mahathir's spin, spiel and hypocrisy coverage is the equally pusillanimous mainstream media in Malaysia and in the Arab world. Fittingly.