Pat and Mahmoud

What do Pat Robertson and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have in common?

They are both prone to making incredibly offensive and hateful remarks.

How are Robertson and Ahmadinejad dissimilar?

Robertson believes Israel should make no concessions or compromises, while Ahmadinejad thinks Israel should be "wiped off the map."

Also, Robertson is not in the process of amassing a nuclear arsenal, at least to my knowledge. Ahmadinejad foresees nuclear power in Iran's future.

One more difference--

I don't think the Bush Administration has included Robertson on the "Axis of Evil" list, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were considering it.

There is no question that Ahmadinejad is an enemy of America and the entire free world. He's dangerous. He's evil. I suspect he wants to be counted among history's horrors.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's president said Thursday he hoped for the death of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the latest anti-Israeli comment by a leader who has already provoked international criticism for suggesting that Israel be "wiped off the map."

"Hopefully, the news that the criminal of Sabra and Chatilla has joined his ancestors is final," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency.

Ahmadinejad was referring to Sharon, who as defense minister in 1982 directed Israel's ill-fated invasion of Lebanon. An Israeli commission found him indirectly responsible for a massacre of Palestinians in the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps by Christian Phalangist soldiers.

..."Hopefully, others (criminals like him) will join him too," ISNA quoted Ahmadinejad as telling a group of clerics in Qom, a holy city 80 miles south of the capital, Tehran. He spoke a day after the 77-year-old Sharon suffered a massive stroke and underwent surgery.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack termed the remarks "hateful and disgusting."

"And this is a man who wraps himself in the cloak of a peaceful religion, Islam, and yet you hear remarks like this coming from him," McCormack said. "This regime has isolated the Iranian people from the rest of the world in a matter of months — through its actions and its statements."

The statement attributed to Ahmadinejad ultimately "is sadly not surprising given what we have seen come out from this president before," McCormack said.

In the last two months, Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust a "myth" and said if Europeans insist it did occur, then they should give some of their own land for a Jewish state, rather than the one in the Middle East. He also called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

This guy is like the schoolyard bully - the miserable, self-loathing misfit looking for a fight to prove he's a tough guy.

Much like Saddam Hussein, I think that his growing chain of taunts will eventually strangle him.

Ahmadinejad is truly a menace.

Do you think if Ahmadinejad had a massive stroke, Ariel Sharon would have responded the way Ahmadinejad did?

No way.

When Ahmadinejad said that Israel should be wiped off the face of the map, did Sharon respond by lobbing a nuclear warhead into Tehran?

Of course not.

Whether you agreed with Sharon's policies or not, you have to admit that he was sincere in trying to achieve a lasting peace.

His current condition is a tragedy which will have painful consequences that are going to reach far beyond the pain experienced by those closest to him, his family and the Israeli people. The loss of Sharon has the potential to be equivalent to a massive sinkhole destroying the main highway on the road to peace. His stroke will have global ramifications.

Did I expect Ahmadinejad to wish death on Sharon?

Certainly.

Did I expect Pat Robertson to be a total doofus once again?

Let's say it didn't surprise me as much as it sickened me.

When is he going to learn?

Does he stop to think before he talks? Are his outrageous statements intentional?

I'm beginning to think he's just a publicity whore, willing to sell himself for a little attention from the media.

From AFP:

US evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine retribution for "dividing God's land" of Israel, igniting his latest trademark controversy.

As the Israeli prime minister battled for life, Robertson seemed to suggest to viewers on his "700 Club" television show that Sharon was being punished for his policies in Gaza and the West Bank.

"The prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who, quote, 'divide my land.' God considers this land to be his.

"You read the Bible, he says, 'This is my land.' And for any prime minister of Israel who decides he's going carve it up and give it away, God says, 'No. This is mine.'"

Robertson, who frequently provokes outrage with his remarks, said he was "sad" to see Sharon fall sick, and that he was a "very likeable person."

"I prayed with him personally. But here he is at the point of death. He was dividing God's land, and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU, the United Nations or the United States of America."

"God said, 'This land belongs to me, you better leave it alone.'"

Robertson also appeared to suggest former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, murdered in 1995, had also paid the ultimate price for talking peace.

"He was tragically assassinated, and it was terrible thing that happened, but nevertheless, he was dead."

Robertson's latest blast drew immediate condemnation from Israel's ambassador to the United States.

"Such things are very outrageous. I would expect this only from people like (President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad in Iran ... I wouldn't expect it from any of our friends," ambassador Danny Ayalon told CNN.

The US Anti-Defamation League also piled on Robertson's "outrageous and shocking" comments.

"His remarks are un-Christian and a perversion of religion. We would hope that good Christian leaders would distance themselves from Pat Robertson's remarks," the ADL said in a statement.

"It is pure arrogance for Robertson to suggest that he has divine knowledge of God's intent and purpose based on his interpretation of scripture."

Robertson is a disgrace.

I'm sure he has had family members stricken with devastating health problems. Was it divine retribution that brought on those conditions? What's Robertson's explanation when anyone suffers? Does he really believe that it's punishment from God?

I hope that Robertson fans are beginning to see that this man has some serious issues. I hope they realize how much he and Ahmadinejad have in common. I hope they understand that's not good.