Birds of a Feather

These two are:

Daniel Ortega and Arnaldo Aleman, a right-wing former president of Nicaragua and a self-proclaimed left-wing current president of Nicaragua, united by their desire for power and ass-covering.

I soured completely on Ortega when this happened:

President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua did some family shopping while in New York for the United Nations session. For bulletproof eyeglass lenses, $300 a pair sounds like a bargain, and considering all the different suits and combat fatigues he wears, six pairs are understandable.

Meanwhile, the three pairs of Gucci frames he bought for his wife, and three more Fioruccis for his daughter, can only contribute to family harmony.

Ordinary Nicaraguans, of course, must still bear rationing and shortages officially blamed on ''contra'' raids and the U.S. economic embargo, but they have at least gained a clear lesson from their President's eyeglass shopping spree (total bill $3,500). Say what you will about Nicaragua's new socialist order; rank hath its privileges.

His supporters from the 1980's, to no one's surprise, have also turned on him:

Dora María Téllez, leader of one of the parties, the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), a breakaway group, staged a 12-day hunger strike to protest against the "dictatorship of Daniel Ortega", her former comrade. A legendary Sandinista guerrilla who led audacious strikes against the Somoza dictatorship in the 1970s, Tellez remains revered by many on the left.

The celebrities and intellectuals who backed the government in the 80s wrote an open letter in her support: "None of these demands is irrational and a government that wants popular support ought to respond to them. Political representation is a right. It is a right to protest against mechanisms that shut down this space. Dora Maria represents a broad sector of Nicaraguan society that ought to be listened to."

The letter was signed by: Chomsky, a US academic; the British novelist Rushdie; Jagger, a human rights activist and former actor; and several others, including writer Ariel Dorfman, journalists Eduardo Galeano and Mario Benedetti, and human rights campaigner Tom Hayden.

The public has also turned on him. A recent poll had 56% of the public rating his performance as bad or very bad. Unfortunately, they're stuck with him for another three years. It's all about the power for him and Aleman.