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Know Your Omars

Little vs. Suleiman? Oh, indeed.

by
Marc Tracy
February 01, 2011
Omar & Omar.(Moshe Milner/GPO/Getty Images/HBO/Len Small/Tablet Magazine)
Omar & Omar.(Moshe Milner/GPO/Getty Images/HBO/Len Small/Tablet Magazine)

With it looking more and more likely that Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman will rule Egypt, at least for a time, we were wondering how President Obama feels about him. Then we remembered that Obama has said his favorite Wire character is Omar Little. And that got us thinking …

ENEMY
Omar Little: Brother Mouzone.
Omar Suleiman: Muslim Brotherhood.

HELP FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:
Omar Little: A trip to NYC to cool off for a while.
Omar Suleiman: $1.5 billion a year.

FRIEND IN HIGH PLACE
Omar Little: President Obama.
Omar Suleiman: President Obama? (Spoilers after jump)

CHILDHOOD REBELLION
Omar Little: From West Baltimore ghetto, hotbed of drug dealers; robs drug-dealers.
Omar Suleiman: From Qena in southern Egypt, hotbed of Islamic fundamentalists; tortures Islamic fundamentalists.

ASSASSINATIONS
Omar Little: Assassinated Stringer Bell.
Omar Suleiman: Prevented assassination of Hosni Mubarak.

CREW
Omar Little: Extremely small, ever-changing crew.
Omar Suleiman: Extremely large, ever-changing.

NON-COMBATANTS
Omar Little: Anyone not in the game.
Omar Suleiman: Anyone who doesn’t try to oppose the regime.

DAYS OF REST
Omar Little: Observes Sunday truce.
Omar Suleiman: Fought in Six Day War.

CURSES?
Omar Little: Has never used an obscenity in public.
Omar Suleiman: Has never used an obscenity in public.

MOTTO:
Omar Little: “You come at the king, you best not miss.”
Omar Suleiman: TBD

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.