With Vladimir Putin giving Barack Obama the back of his gloved hand in the Crimea, itÂ’s easy to forget what the two leaders have in common. Neither of them likes democracy very much.
In PutinÂ’s case that couldnÂ’t be more obvious, but Obama has given more than his share of signals to that effect in recent days, informing a complaisant Congress during the State of the Union that he was going to override them and take the law into his own hands by executive fiat if they didnÂ’t go along with his policies. His number one consigliere, Valerie Jarrett, repeated essentially the same thing during a recent interview on The OÂ’Reilly Factor.
Unfortunately, thatÂ’s about it in the similarity department (except they both seem to like sports). In two other major categories, the dissimilarities are striking. Putin is one tough dude and a patriot for his country. Obama is neither of these. In evidence I offer one five-letter word: Syria. I could offer a lot more, but I donÂ’t want to bore you. |