Why Bush and Ahmadinejad Deserve Each Other

Today, I watched Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s appearance on 60 Minutes with awe. In an interview with Scott Pelley, the Iranian president refused to provide a single straightforward answer to any of the questions posed to him (at least the ones aired on Sunday night’s broadcast). When faced with such queries as “Can you tell me that you are not sending to weapons to Iraq?” and “Will you pledge not to test a nuclear weapon?,” Ahmadinejad purposefully refused to make himself understood. He responded to “yes” or “no” questions with elaborate—even floral—musings about human nature, world history, et cetera. (He was similarly vague, evasive, and obtuse at Columbia University on Monday).

As the interview progressed, I realized how similar Ahmadinejad and US President George W. Bush are in their political styles and personal habits. Both craft elaborate parallel universes where they are defenders of freedom, peace, and morality. Both refuse to answer questions they do not like. Such refusals similarly take the form of fatuous counter-questions which provide neither context nor content to important issues. (My favorite is when Bush responds to reporters’ questions with “The question I thought you were going ask me was…” and then he answers that question). Both engage in mind-numbing discursive manipulation to frame issues and attack their critics.

Both are so convinced of their own righteousness that fail to see that their respective worlds are falling down around them. Their faith blinds them to problems of their own making. Both men lack any sort of intellectual curiosity (this is born out by their refusal to deal with difficult issues directly and their proclivities towards instant answers without even a millisecond for reflection). Both laugh and smile at inappropriate times, even when talking about death and destruction. Both hide behind affected piety (Ahmadinejad curiously affirmed "I am a Muslim. I cannot tell a lie." in the interview) and accuse the other of apostasy (Ahmadinejad vociferously denied that Bush was a Christian because of his policies in Iraq). When things get tough, they blame others because they have God on their side so obviously they have done nothing wrong.

Do these two deserve each other? Most definitely. But my question is, what have we, the American people, and the Iranians done to deserve them?