Hugo Chavez is free to show his a$$, trash President Bush, schmooze with leftist celebs, and bribe the poor with “free” heating oil — all on the streets of New York. The same can’t be said for Venezuelans who must put up with his “exercises” in “democracy”.
For what it’s worth, it was a smart move on part of Charles Rangel and Nancy Pelosi to stand up and denounce Chavez for coming into our house, enjoying our hospitality, and spitting in the face of the host on the way out. Angela Winters nailed it:
…[W]hen a foreign country disrespects the Presidency, you gotta say something. We don’t have to call a jihad or anything like that, but no matter how you feel about the President, you gotta have a problem with foreign countries disrespecting the office. You know, it’s like that wayward cousin you have that isn’t any good and you’ve told him to his face he aint worth s*$# and you can’t wait till he gets outta of your house, but if someone on the street starts talking bad about him, you’ll tell them to shut the hell up because that worthless SOB is family.”
However, the welcome gestures on part of Rangel and Pelosi were merely face-saving acts in an effort to stave off an upcoming election backlash. They haven’t reneged on their own spewings of Bush-hating vitriol (and they won’t); it just happened that Chavez (along with Hitler-wannabe Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) simply gleaned their best talking points, added a dash of Daily Kos, threw in a cup of Democratic Underground, mixed in a shameless plug for the self-loathing Noam Chomsky, and took off running with a nasty rant that put the Nutroots and Moonbats to shame.
The leftist establishment in America isn’t sorry that Chavez dissed our leader and our country, they’re just surprised that they got upstaged by the baddest Bush-basher of all. They indirectly challenged Chavez to play the dozens with them, and in the end, they got served.
perfectly stated.
Interesting the name calling the right does. Is this contributing to the discourse. It appears to me that any thing you don’t like, you have to call people names. A person has the right to be a socialist or even a marxist in this country and to disagree with you. I think it is a very adolescent response. It could cost you, your cause.
Ask me if I care.