Watching the speech by Ted Cruz at the Republican National Convention, the way it played out seems so obvious. Perhaps a literary analogy will convey a sense of the forces at work here.
The Joker finally has a shot at becoming the Mayor of Gotham City. At last his brilliant and diabolical plan to sow mayhem from within, to tear down the very fabric of rationality and rule of law, to turn society itself into a bad joke, is within his grasp.
So the Joker invites his old friend and sometime rival — Lord Voldemort, all the way from Hogwarts — to give a key speech at the convention. Sure there’s bad blood between the evil clown and the evil misanthrope. After all, the Joker did attack both the wife and father of He Who Must Not Be Named.
But in the end they are both fighting on the same side, right? Wrong.
For Lord Voldemort, still nursing his wounds, is not one to forgive a grudge. When all is said and done, the old Death Eater is not willing to go along with the plan.
Surely, the Joker must have thought, the Dark Lord will hold his nose and go with the program. He wouldn’t dare cut off his own nose to spite his face.
But what the Joker forgot is that Lord Voldemort doesn’t actually have a nose. Silly, silly Joker.