I don't really understand what all the fuss is about regarding the possibility that Obama might be "moving to the center." Since those halcyon campaign days that will live forever in liberal imaginations, B.O. has made a bee-line toward his center after faking us all out with his pose as a pragmatist dedicated to healing the partisan divide in Washington, D.C. and our nation.

While he campaigned as the re-incarnation of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the legislative pudding B.O. has produced proves his ideological perspective and leadership style are much more akin to those of lumbering bureaucrat Leonid Brezhnev, than of the inspirational American presidents his toadies in the endangered mainstream media most frequently select for comparison. Although Brezhnev served 18 years at the helm of the former U.S.S.R. during a period of maximal Soviet military power:

His tenure as leader has often been criticized for marking the beginning of a period of economic stagnation, overlooking serious economic problems which eventually led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Another apt leader for comparison to Obama would be Erich Honecker, long-time leader of the German Democratic Republic (1971-1989.) An example of Honecker's forward-thinking was the construction of the Berlin Wall and his promotion of "consumer socialism." According to Honecker:

Neither an ox nor a donkey is able to stop the progress of socialism.

Nor bitter-clingers, nor ditch-driving Republicans either, if Mr. Obama's could have his way. Or maybe a better comparison to Obama's peculiar leadership magic would be Nicolae Ceausecu, President of Romania from 1974 to 1989. Ceausescu became anathema to Romanian society after being supported by "an increasingly erratic personality cult" in his later years in office. Old Nick's sycophants hardly compare with the Obama cultists led by Keith Olbermann, Chris Mathews, Van Jones and their fellow travelers. Ceausescu created the title for himself of "Genius of the Carpathians" which certainly sounds Obamian.

While Obama is an outrageous spendthrift with the American people's money, Ceausescu made him look like a piker. Twenty years after his death, the Romanian people are still looking for some of the billion or more dollars pilfered by the slippery old Commie. Ceasescu

...became eager to be seen as an enlightened international statesman, able to mediate in international conflicts,...(and, after visiting the People's Republic of China, North Korea and North Viet Nam), took great interest in the idea of total national transformation.

Sound like anyone we know? While our miserably failing president clearly shares some qualities with those vintage Communist losers, the one leader whose ideology and style most closely resembles B.O. is the architect of the quasi-socialist utopia now suffered by our neighbors in the Great White North, Pierre Trudeau. Like Trudeau, Obama was a socialist in his youth but tacked to the center and joined the liberal Democrat party in order to gain his first political seat. Both leaders studied law at Harvard and helped form their leftist political views in the formerly more hallowed halls of Cambridge. While Obama kept his radical views beneath the radar in the states, Trudeau's open advocacy of radical leftist causes earned him blacklisting in the U.S. in the 50's. The Canadian leader was a friend of Fidel Castro and promoter of the People's Republic of China, long before the Chinese began to show signs of at least minimal political common sense.

Like B.O., Trudeau cut a glamorous figure, associating with rock stars including John and Yoko Lennon. His wife was even rumored to have had an affair with Rolling Stone Mick Jagger. Trudeau's appeal to the young and impressionable created a wave of popularity that became known as "Trudeaumania," quite similar to the rabid, mindless enthusiasm generated by the lap-dog media for Obama leading to his election in 2008.

Admittedly, Obama is a total lightweight compared to Trudeau. After all, the Canadian P.M. had some actual work experience prior to being elected to office. Still his legacy, including his promotion of the Canadian "Just Society" and advocacy for universal health care are right up Obama's alley. Trudeau, like B.O., was a hard-core Keynesian, having studied under Marxist economist, Harold Laski. Not surprisingly, Canada under Trudeau was dogged by inflation and unemployment. Free-spending Pierre ballooned Canadian debt from $18 billion to over $200 billion by the end of his term. Modern Canada is often derided by conservative pundits as Trudeaupia.

Hopefully the emergence and enthusiasm of the Tea Party can help us prevent America from devolving into B-Opia. I submit that Obama already fits neatly in the center of the Democrat political spectrum. There is no point in comparing B.O. with Ronald Reagan, Binyamin Netanyahu, or Margaret Thatcher. Clearly Obama fails miserably in any comparison with successful conservative leaders.

Ralph Alter is a regular contributor to American Thinker.