Lately people have been making good sport of bashing America's conduct during the recent Venezuelan coup - including a recent message from Brett Coster. The bashing centers around the following charge - that America supported coup against a "democratically elected" leader.
Unfortunately, it hardly appears that Chavez merits the title of "democrat" - even if this former coup leader *originally* secured power through the ballot box. After all, was not Adolf Hitler democratically elected? And if the America-bashers wish to charge us with supporting a regime change of *that* democratically elected leader, I proudly plead *guilty!* As for Venezuela... In office, Chavez has shown very little respect for democracy, consistently operating in a very heavy-handed manner, and playing fast and loose with Venezuela's Constitution. Moreover, this former coup leader has shown zero respect for democracy in other countries, making his best international friends despots like Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, and Muammar Qaddafi (or however he spells his name these days.) Most devastatingly of all, however, just hours before the coup, Chavez shut down all of the independent media outlets in Venezuela! What kind of democrat is that? The simple facts of the matter is that Chavez is doing to Venezuela what the Peron's did to Argentina - running a country with all kinds of potential into the ground! Under his rule, the economy of Venezuela is becoming desolate, and in foreign affairs it is becoming isolated. His only ideology seems to be that of using "Bolivarian" rhetoric to appease the masses and stay in power. And most importantly, Chavez ain't no democrat. Personally, I find it funny that these people criticized America for supporting despotic leaders during the Cold War, but when we wink and nod at the demise of a despot - well, we get bashed for that too. John D. ===== ---------------------------------------------------------- John D. Giorgis [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ba'atha delenda est! - Freedom is Not Free __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/
