Meanwhile in Iran

You don’t tug on Superman’s Cape. You don’t spit into the wind. You don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and you don’t mess around with…

… the Ayatollah Khamenei.

Close allies of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been accused of using supernatural powers to further his policies amid an increasingly bitter power struggle between him and the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

[At least 25] people said to be close to the president and his chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, have been arrested in recent days and charged with being "magicians" and invoking djinns (spirits).

  UK Guardian

With Sarah Palin as our president, we would probably see a lot of the same kind of charges flying around here.

[T]he feud [between Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollah] has taken a metaphysical turn following the release of an Iranian documentary alleging the imminent return of the Hidden Imam Mahdi – the revered saviour of Shia Islam, whose reappearance is anticipated by believers.

Hmmmm….where have I heard that story line before?

The arrests come amid a growing rift between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei which has prompted several MPs to call for the president to be impeached.

On Sunday, Ahmadinejad returned to his office after an 11-day walkout in an apparent protest over Khamenei's reinstatement of the intelligence minister, who the president had initially asked to resign.

I’m kind of surprised he had an office to return to after 11 days.

Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, a hardline cleric close to Khamenei, warned that disobeying the supreme leader – who has the ultimate power in Iran – is equivalent to "apostasy from God".

And that’s what happens when you mix politics with religion. Just ask Henry VIII. Unfortunately for Ahmadinejad, his “Pope” is in country.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.