[T]hugo may have been an improvement over others, but he had little use for the rule of law and had no problem expropriating private property to further his socialist aims.
Chris Hitchens had this to say about him and his conspiratorial and downright odd worldview:
In the fall of 2008, I went to Venezuela as a guest of Sean Penn’s, whose friendship with Chávez is warm. The third member of our party was the excellent historian Douglas Brinkley, and we spent some quality time flying around the country on Chávez’s presidential jet and bouncing with him from rally to rally at ground level, as well. The boss loves to talk and has clocked up speeches of Castro-like length. Bolívar is the theme of which he never tires. His early uniformed movement of mutineers—which failed to bring off a military coup in 1992—was named for Bolívar. Turning belatedly but successfully to electoral politics, he called his followers the Bolivarian Movement. Since he became president, the country’s official name has been the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. (Chávez must sometimes wish that he had been born in Bolivia in the first place.) At Cabinet meetings, he has been known to leave an empty chair, in case the shade of Bolívar might choose to attend the otherwise rather Chávez-dominated proceedings.
It did not take long for this hero-obsession to disclose itself in bizarre forms. One evening, as we were jetting through the skies, Brinkley mildly asked whether Chávez’s large purchases of Russian warships might not be interpreted by Washington as a violation of the Monroe Doctrine. The boss’s response was impressively immediate. He did not know for sure, he said, but he very much hoped so. “The United States was born with an imperialist impulse. There has been a long confrontation between Monroe and Bolívar. … It is necessary that the Monroe Doctrine be broken.” As his tirade against evil America mounted, Penn broke in to say that surely Chávez would be happy to see the arrest of Osama Bin Laden.
I was hugely impressed by the way that the boss scorned this overture. He essentially doubted the existence of al-Qaida, let alone reports of its attacks on the enemy to the north. “I don’t know anything about Osama Bin Laden that doesn’t come to me through the filter of the West and its propaganda.” To this, Penn replied that surely Bin Laden had provided quite a number of his very own broadcasts and videos. I was again impressed by the way that Chávez rejected this proffered lucid-interval lifeline. All of this so-called evidence, too, was a mere product of imperialist television. After all, “there is film of the Americans landing on the moon,” he scoffed. “Does that mean the moon shot really happened? In the film, the Yanqui flag is flying straight out. So, is there wind on the moon?” As Chávez beamed with triumph at this logic, an awkwardness descended on my comrades, and on the conversation.
Chávez, in other words, is very close to the climactic moment when he will announce that he is a poached egg and that he requires a very large piece of buttered toast so that he can lie down and take a soothing nap. Even his macabre foraging in the coffin of Simón Bolívar was initially prompted by his theory that an autopsy would prove that The Liberator had been poisoned—most probably by dastardly Colombians. This would perhaps provide a posthumous license for Venezuela’s continuing hospitality to the narco-criminal gang FARC, a cross-border activity that does little to foster regional brotherhood.
Many people laughed when Chávez appeared at the podium of the United Nations in September 2006 and declared that he smelled sulfur from the devil himself because of the presence of George W. Bush. But the evidence is that he does have an idiotic weakness for spells and incantations, as well as many of the symptoms of paranoia and megalomania.
He wasn’t a Socialist, he was a Populist, inspired by Simon Bolivar. He gave the Fascist Elitists and the rapacious Corporations some heartburn, and used the resources and money to build infrastructure, and help the Lower and Working Classes.
I’ve nothing ill to say about him.
I am saddened that already, the Fascist vultures are beginning to circle over Venezuela.
Yes he was a populist, (including a populist among the most despotic nations of the planet) buying votes with money and promises that have not made most people’s lives better and has ensured that there will be no real democracy in Venezuela for a long time to come.
Yes he was a populist, (including a populist among the most despotic nations of the planet) buying votes with money and promises that have not made most people’s lives better and has ensured that there will be no real democracy in Venezuela for a long time to come.
Pretty easy making comparisons with dictators. What does that prove?
The last American approved freedom loving rulers of Venezuela slaughtered over 3,000 of their people in the 1990s when the people - living in an oil and resource rich country - rioted because they could not afford to but bread anymore. That fact prove something? It does to me.
The last American approved freedom loving rulers of Venezuela slaughtered over 3,000 of their people in the 1990s when the people - living in an oil and resource rich country - rioted because they could not afford to but bread anymore. That fact prove something? It does to me.
I’m not sure what people were slaughtered. Far more than that are slaughtered every year by the rampant crime that the “populists” have been unable to deal with.
I repeat my point, if you want to give credit to a leader, try to find comparisons with decent leaders instead of just dictators like the past or the ones he hobnobbed with.
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... sorry about the rampant disregard for spell checking or proper grammar, the irony of it being Nazi's with grammar issues is not lost on me.
I won't admit to how many of the things mentioned in this video I used (or was guilty of)
RBS
WINDSOR, Ontario -- Assumption Park gives residents of this city lovely views of the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit skyline. Lately they've been treated to another sight: a three-story pile of petroleum coke covering an entire city block on the other side of the Detroit River. Detroit's ever-growing black mountain is the unloved, unwanted and long overlooked byproduct of Canada's oil sands boom. ...
A scowling Donald Trump raised his voice on the witness stand Wednesday while an attorney grilled him and then rolled his eyes at the "Apprentice" star's answers, prompting a federal judge to scold both men in open court and order them to behave. The admonition came during Trump's second and final day on the stand at a civil trial where he is accused ...
Gold Box Deal of the Day: Up to 55% Off Studio Ghibli Films on DVD and Blu-rayToday only, May 17, 2013, save up to 55% on select Studio Ghibli favorites, including Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo, Spirited Away, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and more on DVD and Blu-ray in our Gold Box Deal of the Day. More: Gold Box Deals Time ...
Zounds! Kenny Bunk has found the method to Obama's madness!
BTW, for what it's worth, I am becoming convinced that the key to "understanding" the Obama Phenomenon is Deconstruction Philosophy, Dadaism
More: Freeper Madness: Obama's True Agenda - Dadaist Islam!
John Rosenow is a fifth-generation dairy farmer, but times have changed since his Norwegian ancestors began farming in Cochrane, Wis. And Rosenow has changed with the times. Much of his workforce is now from Mexico, and Rosenow travels regularly to their village in southern Mexico to meet their families. [...] Rosenow’s business has grown. He and his workers now milk 550 cows, three ...
I grew up about 30 miles North of Chris Herren. Being the same age, I followed his career from Highschool through College at Fresno State then to the hometown Boston Celtics via the Denver Nuggets. So his fall from grace (after what appeared to be a remarkable recovery) was disappointing. This article... Herren tells Bromfield teens and parents tough truths ...sums up what Herren ...
It must be a slow news day for the right wing media, especially after President Obama shut down a couple of conspiracy theories, or at least somewhat. So, Drudge Report, Twitchy and the Weekly Standard have stumbled on to Obama's next dastardly deed. President Obama (wait for it) uses an umbrella when it rains. That rat bastard! Obama acts like he's the President ...
It's all about the paper. For many years I have been among that class of citizens anxiously desiring health insurance coverage for all Americans. I'd thought my reasons were sound: the country is fabulously wealthy; if we can afford luxurious salaries for sports people, media personalities, Wall Street financiers, the least we can do is ensure a minimal standard of life for the least ...
Should you ever be accused of terrorism, here's what you should do: Snitch on your friends, demand to be placed under witness protection, then fly out of the country. According to a stunning report from the Justice Department's internal watchdog, this is remarkably easy to do -- and it's actually happened. More: Terrorist Entered Witness Protection, Then Fled the United States Conversation overheard ...
Your sex appeal shoots through the roof! You achieve the status of "sexy man". Your wife sees you in a new attractive light which is the only light that allows her to see you this way. In fact, many other women notice as well--wherever you are. You morph into that man other guys envy and women adore. And until now, you had no ...
We are in the midst of the worst Washington scandal since Watergate. The reputation of the Obama White House has, among conservatives, gone from sketchy to sinister, and, among liberals, from unsatisfying to dangerous. No one likes what they're seeing. The Justice Department assault on the Associated Press and the ugly politicization of the Internal Revenue Service have left the administration's credibility deeply, ...
"Representative West's congressional and military experience along with his fearless approach to voicing key issues will provide a valuable point of view to the Fox News lineup," Fox News Vice President Bill Shine said in a statement. More: Allen West Named Fox News Contributor Its categorized as "Entertainment" since even the Fox News Channel itself makes a distinction between "Hard News" and "Entertainment". ...
Political discourse in America has reached levels of douchebaggery previously only theorized about but never observed, like conversational dark matter. We're in a whole new world of hating people based solely on their opinions on a few key issues, and since this is unexplored territory, our conversations about politics are usually only a couple notches beyond the "hold your breath until the other ...
Los Angeles leaders say the Los Angeles Police Department has undergone a dramatic transformation since federal oversight of the agency was ordered 12 years ago. The dismissal Wednesday of the so-called consent decree, which arose largely out of the Rampart corruption scandal and addressed basic problems of accountability that stretched back decades, delivered a largely symbolic, but nonetheless important milestone for the LAPD ...
Seems a good way to solicit ideas for touristing destinations and activities. Will have 4-5 days so some opportunity for visiting multiple sites. And since I do have an interest in history and military history items in that area will be welcome suggestions. (The USS Midway down in San Diego is already on the list.) If there is anything California-geology related that would be ...
I hate to have to point this out, but: I DID NOT WRITE THIS ESSAY. I'm just READING IT ALOUD. This essay came to my attention recently, and it's an excellent exercise for a skeptic or atheist to experience this feeling of loss of innocence and the painful feelings it summons. See it through to the end before posting, please. The source:samharris.org Next ...
Frank says: