United Socialism of Chavez
And the dismantling of even the flimsy facade of democracy in Venezuela continues:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has told his political allies to join him in a single socialist party, or leave his government.
Mr Chavez wants to create the United Socialist Party as an umbrella group for dozens of groups that back him.
Three of the parties — Fatherland for All, the Communist Party and Podemos — have so far resisted the idea.
The three parties have seats in the pro-Chavez assembly and Podemos has some governorships.
“If you want to go, leave. In reality you are not indispensable,” Mr Chavez said during his television programme Hello, President.
He added that he considered the three parties to be “almost in opposition”.
“I don’t want allies like that.”
The only funny thing here is the name of his stupid TV show. Chavez has already granted himself the power to enact so-called “revolutionary laws” by decree (i.e., naked tyranny), and now he’s trying to smother not just the opposition but his own allies. He evidently wants no opposition and no dissent whatsoever, even from those who are inclined to support him. It’s a move to one-party rule, the rule of one man, himself.
Hello, President? Goodbye, liberty and democracy.
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20 Responses to “United Socialism of Chavez”
Quick! Someone chase down Harry Belefonte and get a quote on what a progressive move this is, as compared to the tyranny of Bush.
This Castro-wannabe is even more dangerous, exporting unrest to other Latin American nations. Ruining his own nation is not enough; he needs to be muy importante throughout Latin America and the rest of the “South” against “evil imperialism” [sic] originating from the USA in the form of the “devil” Bush.
We should not hesitate to destroy his Kalashnikov factory, and much, much worse should befall him and others like him if even one US citizen is harmed in the region by the likes of him and his ilk, beginning with the destruction of his oil facilities so he no longer can fund his scummy and dangerous behavior south of us, nor buy the votes of losers here at home with his assistance-bribery program.
*snicker* “The Perpetual Bolivarian Revolution, Incorporated”
Damn I can only get gas at BP now…
Testâ„¢
I don’t think we need to be too worried about Chavez. History has proven again and again that centralized control simply doesn’t work. In a few years, when the economy of Venezuela is in shambles, I think Chavez will have someone tell him “In reality you are not indispensable.”
The two things which might allow him to hold on to power longer would be failure to deal with the world’s oil habit, which empowers whoever happens to have oil, regardless of economic savvy, and aggressive rhetoric like DLS is spewing which makes the Venezuelan people feel like the need a strong leader to deal with the strong tactics of the US.
Kevin H. said:
> I think Chavez will have someone tell him
> “In reality you are not indispensable.�
… and replace him.
> aggressive rhetoric like DLS is spewing
BS
>which makes
non sequitur
Quit while you’re ahead, not behind.
DLS, how would you feel if another country said they thought it was a good idea to bomb buildings on American soil. I bet you wouldn’t like it, and I bet you would want a strong leader who would deal with the situation decisively.
Now why on earth would you imagine the situation would be any different to the people of Venezuela? It isn’t a question of who’s leader is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ it is about being scared for your friends and relatives who might work at that plant, or the hardships they would face because that building got destroyed.
Kevin -
Well, while it may not work, it doesn’t necessarily lead to loss of power and control. Just ask Castro, or the Chinese leadership.
Castro might be an icon, but he has very little say in how things happen in the world, and China today is only a world power because they open up their economy to international investment and play relatively nice with the US, both of these states are in direct contradiction to the scary situation presented by DLS.
Also, I would be willing to bet that in 25 or 30 years when China stops growing at extreme rates, that the new middle class in China are going to look around and be very unhappy with the corruption rampant in the Chinese government. It may be possible for the Chinese government to introduce openness and accountability, but that openness, combined with a free market, would make the China of tomorrow a very different creature than the old Communism of the 40′s and 50′s.
Kevin H. asked:
> DLS, how would you feel if another country
> said they thought it was a good idea to bomb
> buildings on American soil. I bet you wouldn’t
> like it,
I certainly don’t like Iran.
However, the USA isn’t asking for it, either, and you are misleading people if you say merely “buildings,” taken out of context (a Kalashnikov factory, that Chavez will exploit to enrich himself further while exporting more unrest outside his nation).
> It isn’t a question of who’s leader is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’
Right and wrong have very much to do with it.
If a single US citizen is killed (would you require that first?) … that factory should be destroyed.
Psychology tells us that on the personal scale, in how people react to aggression, “us and them” weigh a whole lot more heavily than “right and wrong”.
We want the people of Venezula to be on our side because we are right, not against us simply because we are “the others”. Aggressive rhetoric and actions dramatically increase the likelihood of the later.
I am very much a concrete realist, and certainly try not to be motivated by revenge. I would not want the factory to be destroyed until that action would actually benefit the world as a whole. We quickly jump into a murky pond of hypotheticals, but it is not so much the current number of US citizens killed that would concern me, as that has already happened and cannot be rectified, but rather the potential to set a precedent that leads to more US citizens dieing in the future. However, that certainly has to be weighed against the possibility of war, which will certainly kill many people. I guess it all comes down to what you value in the end, and ‘honor’ is quite low on my list.
Kevin H. wrote:
> Psychology tells us that on the personal scale,
> in how people react to aggression, “us and them�
> weigh a whole lot more heavily than “right and
> wrong�.
You have a point. In fact, this is related to the #1 reason why a (ground) invasion of Iran is wrong. All the Iranians who are not fans of the government, and even may be friendly to the USA, would promptly become patriots and our enemies if we invaded.
> We want the people of Venezula to be on our side
> because we are right, not against us simply because
> we are “the others�.
I note the priority here in contrast to that of the preceding statement.
> I am very much a concrete realist,
As am I, though I am not as hard as, say, Nixon might have been in being willing deal with the lousier people on the planet.
> and certainly
> try not to be motivated by revenge. I would not want
> the factory to be destroyed until that action would
> actually benefit the world as a whole.
Once it’s operational, then your test has been met, unless you want to actually confirm the presence and use of the weapons elsewhere first.
I doubt we’ll destroy the factory, much less attack something more important, the Venezuelan oil infrastructure, to cut off the revenues. (With both Venezuela and Iran, we are dependent on their petroleum; Iran additionally has threatened to attack the oil infrastructure of any nation helping us conduct an attack on Iran, predictable and quite effective as a threat.) But the factory exemplifies the real as well as political threat Chavez has been creating, despite the denials of those who are not realistic.
This would be like the Democrats telling Lieberman to come back to the Democratic party or he will be booted off any committee his is on. In other words, no one would bat an eyelash.
As for Chavez’s executive powers, the NeoCons are trying to get Bush to do the same. Issue executive orders therefor bypassing congress.
Oh, and DLS, people wouldn’t trying to kill Americans so much if your country wasn’t filled with dickheads like you. 9/11 was a suck punch, it was blowback. Anyone who had been paying attention to America’s foreign policy over the past 30 years, (or longer), knew it was coming. It was just a matter of when and what group.
BrotherAlpha,
I’m all in favor of candid conversation. But comments like that are not helpful.
- nicrivera
BrotherAlpha is further proof that this once grand site is morphing into KOS lite, and at times DU lite.
IMHO
United States President George W. Bush has told his Federal Prosecutors to join him politically, or leave his government.
Michael,
Do you believe that a ‘My way or the highway‘ attitude is BAD in Venezuela only or do you see the same abuse of power is happening here?
Tee hee! It is fun to see how angry Chavez makes you “people”. If you want to be less angry, you should, perhaps, try actually researching the issues you are bitching about. Then you would discover that the AP/Reuters/Miami Herald/NYT reports consist of bullshit and quotes from right wing morons who are angry that Chavez has a plan to rid the world of rich people. That day cannot come soon enough …
Maybe we should be focused on our own little dictator in the White House instead of diverting our attention to the leaders of other sovereign nations. Let Venezuelans handle Venezuela.
> KOS lite, and at times DU lite
The truth rubs the most loserish leftists raw.
I shake my head and smile when I read a thread where fellow posters from the right display their heartfelt ‘Eeyorian’ thought process. It reminds me of my pesimistic youth as a Young Republican living in ‘Pooh Corners’…