Is FBI chief Robert Mueller a villain? Time magazine reports he has treated FBI agent Coleen Rowley shabbily. Rowley risked her career by informing Congress and the American people that the bureau had major blind spots in protecting us against terrorists. Mueller has not rewarded Rowley. He did, however, single out FBI supervisor Marion (Spike) Bowman for "exceptional performance." One problem: Bowman was the guy who fought Rowley over searching the computer of suspected 9/11 terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui before the attack. What was exceptional about that bonehead call, Mr. Mueller? Unless you have an explanation, you are a bureaucratic moron and a villain.

Another federal villain is Immigration and Naturalization Service Director James Ziglar. Under his leadership, INS has endangered all of us, and it was done with arrogance. When Malvo, the accused sniper triggerman, was designated for deportation by the Border Patrol in Washington state, INS supervisor Blake Brown overruled the patrol and released Malvo into the custody of his mother, also in this country illegally. The rest is history. But did Ziglar say a word about it or produce Brown to explain the situation? No way. So Ziglar is another bureaucratic villain who has now resigned. Maybe he'll go back to trading bonds at Paine Webber.

It would be easy to call Pope John Paul a villain in the priest-pedophilia scandal. After all, he could have fired Law and other villainous American cardinals months ago. But the pontiff did nothing, even after the evidence became overwhelming. The Pope even refused to meet with a few victims during his visit to Canada this year. His public relations guy said he was "just too busy." With what? This is the biggest scandal ever to hit the North American church, and the Pope's too busy?

But I believe John Paul is not calling the shots anymore. He is obviously ill, and my sources tell me that at times he is barely lucid. Apparently, his handlers keep bad news from him. If you saw him at Midnight Mass last week, the Pope could hardly keep his eyes open. So I am saying this: There is villainy inside the Vatican, but the Pope may not know about it through no fault of his own. Then again, I might be wrong about that.

The leaders of North Korea and Saudi Arabia are obvious villains for doing everything they can to hurt America. But what about German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder? Now here's a classy guy. After the U.S. spent trillions bringing down the Soviet Union, which led to the reunification of Germany, Schroeder sells out America to win reelection. He fires up anti-American sentiment and declares Germany will not participate in the forced removal of Saddam, no matter what.

Nothing like keeping an open mind, eh, Gerhard? The man is a villain and an ungrateful boor to boot.

Finally, there are legions of villains walking the hallways of the television industry, but VH1 has become the Murder Inc. of Tubeland. Its series "Music Behind Bars" features convicted killers and rapists playing in prison rock bands. Family members of the victims asked VH1 not to feature the killers because the thought of it reopened all the old wounds. But VH1 continued to air the series, even after almost every sponsor dropped out. For this, VH1 chief Christina Norman attains villain status, as does the show's host, actor Dylan McDermott. TV doesn't get any worse than this.

Although I'd better be careful, 2003 is poised to hit us with villains galore. And next year, we'll be right here with the list.

Originally published on December 30, 2002