Chavez gets a bad rap
I've been posting on my other blogs today and cruising Blogtopia (y!sctp) leaving comments in my wake so I don't feel like breaking news tonight. I going to talk about Chavez instead. I still haven't read his speech but I've seen the excerpts and I want to talk about the reactions.
As I said earlier, I'm not comfortable with everything he's done. I'm particularly disturbed about his media censorship and the rumors that he plans to suspend his own term limits but that's not really any of our business. He was democratically elected by a majority of his people and from all accounts on the street is still revered by a large percentage of them, mainly the poor, as it always has been.
The reactions to his speech have been puzzling to me. The man called Bush the devil. That's how Lationos speak. It's an expression and haven't we all said the same, though perhaps couched in more couth terms? Chavez is a world leader of a sovereign nation with his own very good reasons to speak out against Bush. The man is actively trying to depose him behind the scenes and has been as long as he's been in office. Besides, Bush set the tone for debate with his own inflammatory rhetoric. If Bush gets to bandy about words like axis of evil and infidels and evil doers, Chavez can hardly be faulted for responding in kind.
Chavez speaks the truth, as only a macho Latino man can do. His message was well received in some places outside of the UN. He got a standing ovation from the college crowd at at Cooper Union in NYC where he "proclaimed himself 'a friend' of the people of the United States, but said he hopes next time, they'll choose, in his words, an 'intelligent president.'"
The message resonated there so why did the Democrats and other lefties leap to condemn him? Chavez is saying what they should be saying. Instead they're playing into this tripe at Investors Daily about "waves of revulsion." Because the guy called Bush the same thing Bush called Saddam? At least Chavez didn't threaten to invade us over it.
And please explain the logic of boycotting Citgo. Granted it's coming from the rightwingers but Chavez is anti-Bush, not anti-American. I mean damn that guy for offering our poor people fuel at a discount while Bush is offering oil companies tax breaks and cutting fuel assistance for poor Americans. Which one sounds anti-American to you?
Chavez may be arrogant and even a little nutty but he is only a threat to the White House, not to America. Playing into the meme that he is our enemy, is to play into another ill-advised White House agenda.
As I said earlier, I'm not comfortable with everything he's done. I'm particularly disturbed about his media censorship and the rumors that he plans to suspend his own term limits but that's not really any of our business. He was democratically elected by a majority of his people and from all accounts on the street is still revered by a large percentage of them, mainly the poor, as it always has been.
The reactions to his speech have been puzzling to me. The man called Bush the devil. That's how Lationos speak. It's an expression and haven't we all said the same, though perhaps couched in more couth terms? Chavez is a world leader of a sovereign nation with his own very good reasons to speak out against Bush. The man is actively trying to depose him behind the scenes and has been as long as he's been in office. Besides, Bush set the tone for debate with his own inflammatory rhetoric. If Bush gets to bandy about words like axis of evil and infidels and evil doers, Chavez can hardly be faulted for responding in kind.
Chavez speaks the truth, as only a macho Latino man can do. His message was well received in some places outside of the UN. He got a standing ovation from the college crowd at at Cooper Union in NYC where he "proclaimed himself 'a friend' of the people of the United States, but said he hopes next time, they'll choose, in his words, an 'intelligent president.'"
The message resonated there so why did the Democrats and other lefties leap to condemn him? Chavez is saying what they should be saying. Instead they're playing into this tripe at Investors Daily about "waves of revulsion." Because the guy called Bush the same thing Bush called Saddam? At least Chavez didn't threaten to invade us over it.
And please explain the logic of boycotting Citgo. Granted it's coming from the rightwingers but Chavez is anti-Bush, not anti-American. I mean damn that guy for offering our poor people fuel at a discount while Bush is offering oil companies tax breaks and cutting fuel assistance for poor Americans. Which one sounds anti-American to you?
Chavez may be arrogant and even a little nutty but he is only a threat to the White House, not to America. Playing into the meme that he is our enemy, is to play into another ill-advised White House agenda.
posted by Libby Spencer at 11:15 PM
8 Comments:
This was an interesting post. I had read about Chaves last week on a site called World Traveler. http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Bush_Gang/Bush_Chavez.html
McCarthyism is definetly alive and well in the Bush Administration. It takes people like you to get the truth out, since the goverment pretty much controls most of the media. I enjoyed reading the post. Keep blogging.
Thanks Neal, for stopping by and for the encouragement.
Read this and then tell me if that changes how you think and feel about Chavez.
I have nothing good to say about the man, except he's right about Bush being an asshat. Anybody with an ounce of sense knows that, though.
Hey Browyn - nice to see you in comments again. Interesting article but it doesn't change my mind about Chavez. As I've said, I don't support his policies, just his right to enact them without our interference. Refusing to sell us oil is of course worrisome, but as leader of a sovereign country that's his right. It's not like we don't engage in the same practices to force our view on other coutries. Look at what the ten years of sanctions did in Iraq for instance.
I don't think he lived up to his potential as a great leader but again, that's between him and his people who elected him.
I agree. His people want to put up with his shenanigans, that's their problem.
People in other countries probably say the same thing about us, although a goodly portion of us are champing at the bit to get every one of those asshats out of our government :)
What worries me is when I hear people gush and love on Chavez, simply because he mouthed off about Bush. Those people fixate on that and forget all the bad about the man. It's very strange, how people can do that.
Of course, I don't have a problem with Citgo bannination (by business, not government), because in a wonderful free market, buyers can decide that sort of thing. And of course, sellers can decide to pull out of a market, too. It's nice to be able to hate everything a guy stands for, but also be able to let him be an asshole because he's in his own country.
I've been gone for a while because we moved back home to Kentucky (from Idiots Out Wandering Around), started new jobs, are getting married, and are dealing with morning sickness *grins*
It's been a busy couple of months!
Good point Bronwyn. People shouldn't be holding him up as a hero simply for badmouthing Bush when they don't understand that he's made mistakes in VZ. But I can't deny I loved having him do it.
On a brighter note, congrats on the move, the impending nuptials and morning sickness? A little Bronwyn on the way? How wonderful.
We won't find out if Sprout is made of puppy dog tails or everything nice until we meet face-to-face, but even now (at 14 weeks), I get the feeling that Sprout will be a little Jeffrey, rather than a little Bronwyn.
Time will tell :)
LOL Bronwyn. As they say, as long as it's a healthy baby.... How wonderful though. Big hugs and congrats. Please keep us up to date on progress if you can find time.
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