Doogie's friend

Our kitchen television at my office is locked on Fox News, so throughout the day when getting a drink or eating lunch, I stay up-to-date on the latest events.  This evening as I walked through, I saw that someone had scored an interview with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.  I stood there thinking that there was something about the guy, something familiar.  He speaks English quite well, though he has one of those pinched little mouths and a bit of a speech impediment (or, I guess it could just be that our words are hard for him to say and it makes it sound lispy).   He is well-dressed and well-spoken, regardless of whether he may, or may not be, a child-gassing homicidal maniac.

I finally figured out the familiarity.  He looks like Doogie Howser's best friend, all grown up:
 

Max Casella

Bashar al-Assad

 Forget Kerry, Obama, Putin or the U.N.  Send Neil Patrick Harris to Syria to get this thing worked out.