Kissing Cousins

Today, the similarities between Barack Hussein Obama and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are striking. Both men are ideologically driven; neither has the support of his people; and each one has vowed to ram through his agenda despite the lack of wider support. As such, both men see themselves as greater than consensus, and uniquely chosen – one by God, the other by history – to single handedly usher in the next new age that, according to each, has been denied to mankind by the evil it commits or condones.

Obama took no exception at being labeled the ‘messiah’ while he was running for office. He gave no indication that he thought some of his more ardent supporters might be wrong when they claimed that he could walk on water. It’s not as if he gently deflected their clearly premature adulation as Jesus did, saying, “You say so.” No, he donned the multi-colored mantle and paraded it proudly before a world audience, ecstatic and smiling. And he came to believe that his mere presence would automatically realize any ‘what ifs’ he had memorized from the wish lists of his leftist university mentors.

Ahmadinejad too is a product of his nation’s increasingly insular elite. He was schooled in Islamic Bible stories. As Allah is said to be stern, ruthless and without mercy, Ahmadinejad too has become a reflection of the god he both loves and fears.

Both leaders have their backs to the wall. Neither one can countenance compromise. Indeed, neither one respects others enough to give them a fair hearing. Ahmadinejad brutalizes his opposition while Obama belittles his. This cannot end well.

What did the Fuehrer do when the war appeared lost; when more and more of his own generals began to plot against him? He doubled down and took increasingly more reckless chances. “The German people have failed me,” he was said to have declared before taking his own life. In his own mind he could never hold himself personally responsible for the eternal shame he had brought to his nation.

Similarly, both Obama and Ahmadinejad will never yield. They will do whatever it takes to force the foot into the glass slipper. Even after the carriage has turned into a pumpkin, they will still be desperately trying to crush bone and hack off toes. I predict, they’ll have to be physically pried away from the sharp-edged illusions that grip them.

Democrats are not stupid. They can see where it’s going. The party is imploding. They are trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the bomb. Unlike Obama, they still envision that the nation can survive the blast and float into some safe harbor for repairs.