Newsweek assistant managing editor Evan Thomas tells Chris Matthews that Obama is sort of like a god standing above the country. Just when you thought MSNBC couldn’t get any more slavering and fawning, they pull a hack editor-at-large out of a hat who knocks one out of the ballpark.

Over the weekend on Inside Washington, Thomas said Obama, in regard to the conflict in the Middle East, is a “great teacher” who “stands above everybody.” He did say that “there’s some condescension” in this attitude. “But, he stands above everybody and says, ‘Now, listen. You people have to stop blaming each other unreasonably. You have to get along here and I am going to show you the way.’”

It was classic example of the cult of personality. “A cult of personality arises when a country’s leader uses mass media to create a heroic public image through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are often found in dictatorships,” Wikipedia summarizes.

Stalin and Mao were experts at manipulating the cult of personality. Both dictators portrayed themselves as larger than life and endowed with unrivaled wisdom. Thomas is doing the same thing with Obama.

The ultimate result of the dictatorial rule of Stalin and Mao was mass murder on an unprecedented scale.

Can we expect the same from Obama?