Worst president ever?

No, not Jimmy Carter. I didn't say "worst American president ever." Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe might well be the worst president in world history. Mugabe turned one of Africa's richest nations into an economic basket case, and now it appears he's been overwhelmingly defeated for re-election:

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party has claimed an overwhelming victory in the country’s general election, prompting a warning from President Robert Mugabe’s camp that the early declaration amounted to an attempted coup.

(Hat-tip: Hot Air.) Kind of sounds like Al Gore's people bitching about butterfly ballots in Palm Beach, or John Kerry's supporters whining about "disenfranchisement" in Ohio, doesn't it?

Unfortunately, Mugabe's thugs are a bit more dangerous than idiotic "progressive" ranters on the blogosphere. Getting rid of Mugabe could take a civil war:

To Robert Mugabe, today's presidential election in Zimbabwe is not so much a vote as war. From his campaign slogan - Get Behind the Fist, over a picture of Mugabe waving a firmly clenched fist - to speeches invoking the liberation war against white rule, the president of Zimbabwe has defined his campaign to extend his 28-year rule as the final struggle against British imperialism and its fifth columnists in the opposition.
"We must deliver the final blow against the British on March 29," he told one of his final election rallies. "We are in a war situation. This is a time to fight, not pleasure."

Mugabe's vicious demagoguery against whites -- and his economically disastrous practice of "expropriating" farms owned by whites -- is no different than how Hitler demonized Jews. It's a classic blueprint for despotism:

• Name a class of scapegoats. Ideally, the scapegoats should be a small and unpopular minority.
• Blame the scapegoats for all society's ills.
• Claim that the scapegoats are so evil that extreme measures are justified to defeat the scapegoat's nefarious schemes.
• Defame anyone who criticizes the anti-scapegoat measures as being "pro-scapegoat."

Condoleezza Rice just denounced Mugabe as a "disgrace" :

"We've made very clear our concerns about how this election might be conducted, given the very bad record of Mugabe concerning his people, the opposition and the region," Rice told reporters after meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

"We've tried to make a case ... that there needed to be free and fair elections in Zimbabwe as much as it was possible. It's difficult since really no international observation was allowed," the top U.S. diplomat said.

"But really, the Mugabe regime is a disgrace to the people of Zimbabwe and a disgrace to southern Africa and to the continent of Africa as whole," she said.

Pray that Mugabe exits peacefully. A civil war in Zimbabwe could be a bloodbath of such monstrous proportions as to make people forget Darfur and Rwanda.

UPDATE: Democrat=Socialist reminds us that Mugabe is good buddies with Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and says:

Who can blame the guy for fighting tooth and nail to hang on to his presidential palace, limo’s and pimped out suits?

(Photo via Dr. Flap.)