This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Jonn Lilyea

  • Countdown to the referendum in Venezuela

    I think Hugo Chavez is slowly coming to the realization that he should have spent more time working on his own population than on world opinion over the past few months. Hobnobbing with Ahmadinejad, Putin, the Castro brothers, probably played well in the anti-US international press, but it did nothing to advance his goals as the Supreme Leader of South America.

    His missteps in “maleta-gate” and pushing the Spanish King to tell him to shut up did nothing to endear him to his people. The Miami Herald (h/t PAXALLES) reported the other day that he even threatened to imprison a Venezuelan cardinal;

    Chávez threatened reprisals — and even prison — against Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino as church officials publicly criticized constitutional revisions proposed by the president — and to be approved or rejected in a Sunday referendum — as “morally unacceptable.”

    In a speech televised to this predominantly Catholic country, Chávez branded Urosa Savino as ”a thug,” ”stupid,” ”mentally retarded,” ”sycophant” and defender of “dark interests.”

    But rather than shying away from confrontation with a popular and powerful president, the church fired back.

    ”Let them jail the cardinal and we’ll see what happens in this country. . . . They are not going to shut us up with actions of that type,” Msgr. Ovidio Pérez Morales, president of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, said this week. The group is made up of the country’s bishops.

    It became evident that he’s got his people worried about his president-for-life schemes yesterday in the streets of Caracas (Washington Times’ Martin Arostegui);

    Protesters flooded the streets of Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, yesterday to oppose a package of constitutional amendments they fear would make Hugo Chavez president for life and abolish private property.

    “Not like this,” shouted tens of thousands of marchers carrying Venezuelan flags and dressed in blue — the chosen color of the opposition — as they streamed along Bolivar Avenue.

    On Sunday, Venezuelans will vote on a package of 69 amendments proposed by Mr. Chavez, who says he wants to remain president for the next quarter century, if not longer.

    One amendment would get rid of term limits, allowing Mr. Chavez to be re-elected indefinitely, while another could allow his government to seize private property.

    The latter amendment says:

    “All property will be subject to the contributions, burdens, restrictions and obligations that the law establishes in the spirit of public use or general interest. The expropriation of any kind of good may be declared without restricting the right of state officials during the judicial process.”

    The Wall Street Journal’s Jose de Cordoba writes about the basic worries of the average Venezuelans;

    Mr. Chávez remains popular with many poor Venezuelans, on whom he has spent billions on programs subsidizing food, education and health. They may like some of the proposed changes — like cutting the workday from eight to six hours and providing pensions for street peddlers and other informal workers — but many of the same supporters are cool toward Mr. Chávez’s plan for turning the country into a socialist regime. “This business which is mine may not end up being mine,” said Luis Peña, who runs a mom-and-pop store in a Caracas barrio and has previously supported Mr. Chávez. “We don’t want more socialism.”

    Perhaps Chavez’ biggest misstep in this process was making the referendum about his own future in Venezuela’s government;

    “Whoever says he’s for Chávez and votes ‘no’ is a traitor,” he told thousands of followers at one recent rally. He has told supporters he would consider stepping down if the constitutional changes lose.

    A Columbo-Americana’s Perspective has photos of the march yesterday here and here. And a video from Julia of The End of Venezuela as I know it. The Devil’s Excrement describes the march from the inside;

    It was a long and very tiring day, as I joined the march in favor of voting NO on Sunday’s Constitutional Reform referendum, which took place in Avenida Bolivar, Chavez’ favorite place to hold rallies, but which has been curiously banned for the opposition for exactly five years. This time around, the pressure from the student movement was too much for the Government, and as the students began calling to go to the Presidential Palace, the authorities yielded Avenida Bolivar to today’s rally.

    There were five separate marches from various places in Caracas and attendance was simply massive.

    Fabiola Sanchez of the Associated Press comments on the size of the crowds;

    More than 100,000 people flooded the streets of the capital Thursday to oppose a referendum that would eliminate term limits for President Hugo Chavez and help him establish a socialist state in Venezuela.

    Blowing whistles, waving placards and shouting “Not like this!” the marchers carried Venezuelan flags and dressed in blue _ the chosen color of the opposition _ as they streamed along Bolivar Avenue.

    “This is a movement by those of us who oppose a change to this country’s way of life, because what (the referendum) aims to do is impose totalitarianism,” said former lawmaker Elias Matta. “There can’t be a communist Venezuela, and that’s why our society is reacting this way.”

    No official crowd estimates were available, but opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez said about 160,000 protesters filled the avenue, and thousands more spilled over onto surrounding roads. The rally was among the largest by the opposition in recent years.

    Caracas Chronicles’ Francisco has some of the latest polling results;

    My sense is that C21 is closer to the mark than Datanalisis here, simply because they make more of an effort to poll the “hidden 25%”: rural voters. So if we can get more than, say, 65% turnout, I think the No will be very hard to beat.

    So this one’s in the bag, right? I mean, all the abstentionists are falling into line behind the No vote…CNR, AD, even Marta Colomina, for chrissakes. And turnout was 75% last December, so how could it possibly fall below that this time?

    Not so fast. Though it’s gaining in currency, that analysis badly distorts what the turnout challenge is really all about.

    Chavez has his cheerleaders, though – like this Badtux fellow who blames Chavez-ism on  George Bush (of course). Oh, and our policy of installing a “white-skinned ruling class” in Venezuela that oppresses the “darkskinned majority”. Buddy, you ought to take a trip to Venezuela sometime – your ignorance runs deep. 

    No matter how the vote turns out, I suspect Venezuelans are going to have a real tough day on Monday.

  • Dump debates

    I haven’t watched any of the debates – and I haven’t commented on many of them here. People who know me, know that I’m an old-fashioned kind of guy and that’s why debates never interested me. It all seemed like theater – theater forced on us by the networks who are convinced that they put John Kennedy in office after his debate with Richard Nixon.

    Abe Lincoln never campaigned or debated for his office (the famous Lincoln-Douglas Debates were two years before his election to the Presidency). People just knew his position on issues – which is why, without having said a word about slavery, or his intentions as President, the South made plans to secede while he was taking the train from his Illinois home, where he spent the election season, to his Inauguration. It’s also the reason why my fellow Marylanders plotted his assassination before the inauguration and he had to sneak through the State to Washington.

    Well, enough of the history lesson. The reason I bring all of this up is that stupid crap that happened last night at the Republican CNN/YouTube debate. If ever there was proof that we’re being manipulated by the media, it happened last night.

    Michele Malkin is STILL uncovering plants;

    Welcome to Horticulture Journalism 101. (Keep scrolling down for new updates to this handy CNN/YouTube illustrated plant guide.)

    So far, I count eight Democrat operatives from various Democrat campaigns. In addition to Michele, there’s Powerline, Powerline and Powerline, Hot Air, Patrick Ruffini, Glenn Reynolds, Gateway Pundit, Wizbang,JasonColeman, and another JasonColeman.

    Joe Scarborough says it’s “total crap” that CNN didn’t know these were plants according to Newsbuster’s Mark Finkelstein. Vivian Lee, also at Newsbusters, writes that CNN, which chose the YouTube videos, chastised the candidates for not answering any questions about healthcare – a subject for which CNN chose no questions;

    And shame on them for actually answering the questions they were asked instead of drifting off topic and discussing other things.

    Well, my whole point, I guess, is that we should dump these debates, for no other reason than that they are so carefully scripted by the candidates as well as the media, debates are useless now. It’s just an opportunity for candidates to make a four or five word sound bite that’ll propel them over the heads of the others – for one night.

    Then again, the malfeasance of the networks, the candidates and the questioners at these debates provide employment opportunities for thousands of super-attentive bloggers, apparently.

  • KosKids buy Chavez’ fake coup story (Updated)

    The article I picked up from the Canadian bogus organization that calls itself “Global Security” has spread across the ‘net. The article claims to be sourced from Chavez’ counterintelligence agency who intercepted a letter from a CIA agent named Michael Steere supposedly stationed in the US embassy in Caracas. But anyway, the KosKids are up in arms;

    A memo from CIA officer Michael Middleton Steere, addressed to CIA Director General Michael Hayden in Washington DC, has been intercepted by Venezuelan counter-intelligence; and it shows that the US plans to attempt another coup d’etat against the democratically elected government of Venezuela on the eve of a historic constitutional referendum that will democratize political power to the grassroots of the majority more thoroughly than anything we have seen in this hemisphere… ever.  This outcome by a major oil producing nation that has confronted the US government is intolerable to the American political class, not merely the Bush administration.  It is part of a continental drift of Latin America away from US domination; and it has world historic significance.

    It is very important that this CIA plot get maximum exposure immediately across the net, because the US media, the Republican and Democratic Parties, and the US dominant class, will do everything in their power to assist the desired outcome of this illegal and immoral interference by the United States government in the democratic self-determination of Venezuela.

    Widespread, rapid distribution via alternative media has the potential to expose and disrupt this CIA plot.  You can do something right now.  Get the word out.

    Read more here, and stay abreast of developments.  A Google News search of “Michael Middleton Steere” will help keep you updated.

    Be part of a real politics of resistance.  Help expose this international malfeasance now.  Be an ally to the Venezuelan people, whose government was democratically elected (unlike our own).

    The web address is; http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/28/18227/641 but you’ll have to paste it in your browser.

    First of all the story is obviously false. If there was indeed a plot against Chavez in the US Embassy, there’d be no hard copy for the Venezuelan counterintellegence agents to get a hold of – this isn’t the 1950s. Do they think the CIA still acts under conditions in John LeCarre novels? Am I the only one who thinks that it’s odd that this story breaks just as Chavez is losing support for his Constitutional rewrite?

    Secondly, even if it were true, who do these punk ass crybabies think they are to undermine our nation’s intelligence operations? Well, the Kos diarist is Stan Goff who has a website called “Insurgent American” so I suppose he fancies himself some kind of revolutionary and the commenters invoke Che Guevarra – so we know whose side their on.

    But the story is so obviously fake, Stevie Wonder can see it from space. 

    Venezuelanalysis.com has been busy writing stories about the coup plot, stories about anti-chavistas killing poor chavistas, and warning of the risk of anti-reform deception in the vote Sunday. The norteamericano propaganda mill is working over time.

    UPDATE: How could I have missed this? Kate from A Columbo-Americana’s Perspective points out that the memo was in Spanish. Why would the CIA be sending it’s memos around in Spanish?

    Even the New York Times let a column through today that question the veracity of the memo;

    State television also broadcast coverage this week of a memorandum in Spanish claimed to be written by the C.I.A. in which destabilization plans against Mr. Chávez were laid out. A spokesman for the United States embassy here was unavailable for comment on the report.

    Others analysts, including investigators who had previously uncovered financing of Venezuelan opposition groups by the United States government, expressed doubts about the authenticity of the memo, dubbed by Venezuelan officials as part of a plan called “Operation Pliers.”

    “I find the document quite suspect,” said Jeremy Bigwood, an independent researcher in Washington. “There’s not an original version in English, and the timing of its release is strange. Everything about it smells bad.”

    Of course, the standard Kos response will be that the Times is part of the Bush machine.

  • Venezuelan referendum fight turns hot

    Photo from Fox News Channel

    Associated Press reports that students clashed with police in Caracas today;

    Venezuelan students in gas masks clashed with National Guard soldiers on Wednesday in protests against President Hugo Chavez’s planned reforms to the country’s constitution.

    Soldiers outside the Metropolitan University in Caracas fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and students were seen carrying peers as smoke wafted through the air.

    Katy at Caracas Chronicles writes that opposition groups have turned 180 degrees and they’re urging everyone to vote;

    After a fourteen hour debate (!!), the radical opposition umbrella group Comando Nacional de la Resistencia has just abandoned its militant abstentionism. In a whiplash-inducing change of mind, they are now calling for people to go out and vote No on Sunday.

    One of Chavez ex-wives has turned on him, too (from the AP story linked above);

    Meanwhile, Chavez took fire from one of his two ex-wives who urged Venezuelans to reject the slate of proposed constitutional changes that would greatly expand executive power.

    Urging Venezuelans to vote “no” in Sunday’s referendum on the changes to the nation’s charter, Maria Isabel Rodriguez compared approving the referendum to a “leap into the dark.”

    Rodriguez, a journalist, also urged opponents to go to the polls to prevent possible vote-rigging.

    “It will be more difficult for fraud to take place if we all vote,” Rodriguez said at a news conference Tuesday. She divorced Chavez in 2004.

    The Devil’s Excrement writes that to distract people from the referendum, he’s ratcheting up the crisis with Columbia;

    Hugo Chavez broke relationships at least informally today with Colombia, saying that a long as Alvaro Uribe remains as President of that country; he will have no relations with him.

    […]

    Remarkably, the popularity of both Presidents was actually boosted by the bickering; as nationalistic sentiments were awaken by the conflict.  Thus, Chavez seemed to be looking for a quick fix to his weakling position in the polls.

    While the strategy has very negative consequences long term, Chavez’ immediate needs are more important. Colombia is Venezuela’s second most important trading partner after the United States and provides many basic foodstuffs at a time of widespread shortages with some basic items.

    At the same time one has to wonder about whether the initial spike in popularity may be offset Chavez’s stronger words now, particularly among the large voter population of Colombian origin in Venezuela, but we are sure pollsters that are advising the President have taken that into consideration.

    A Columbo-Americana’s Perspective has Spanish language links to Chavez’ split with Columbia. 

    Some group of crackpots calling themselves Global Research, an offshoot of Venezuelanalysis.com, has uncovered a secret memo from the CIA (ya know those things are laying around everywhere – any crackpot group can find one) detailing “Operation Pliers”;

    On a scarier note, an internal CIA memorandum has been obtained by Venezuelan counterintelligence from the US Embassy in Caracas that reveals a very sinister – almost fantastical, were it not true – plan to destabilize Venezuela during the coming days. The plan, titled “OPERATION PLIERS” was authored by CIA Officer Michael Middleton Steere and was addressed to CIA Director General Michael Hayden in Washington.

    The memo summarizes the different scenarios that the CIA has been working on in Venezuela for the upcoming referendum vote on December 2nd. The Electoral Scenario, as it’s phrased, confirms that the voting tendencies will not change substantially before Sunday, December 2nd, and that the SI (YES) vote in favor of the constitutional reform has an advantage of about 10-13 points over the NO vote. The CIA estimates abstention around 60% and states in the memo that this voting tendency is irreversible before the elections.

    Ohhhh – scary. Like a hardcopy of a CIA memo would even exist in Venezuela, in the US Embassy or otherwise. This ain’t the 50s, guys. SO Chavez is getting so worried about Sunday’s vote, he’s make the referendum about eveything except the Constitution.

    Gateway Pundit covers this, Hot Air has more on the CNN plot to assassinate Chavez and Michele Malkin has a round up of today’s Chavez news links. JunkyardBlog uncovers FARC subs. 

  • The Annapolis conference wasn’t a waste of time

    I’m probably all alone out here on this. I’ve read what a monumental waste of time the Arab/US/Israeli conference was yesterday and I’ve pretty much kept quiet on it. I guess I’ve got a bit of optimist left in me and I’m a bit of a dreamer.

    I read the blogs (even Don Carl’s post below) like PC Free Zone where Wild Thing called it a ‘worthless farce of a peace conference” and Dan McLaughlin at Redstate who warned us that “you can negotiate with terrorists, but you can’t negotiate about terrorism”. I agree with both of them – to a point.

    But anything that can get Ahmadinejad foaming at the mouth isn’t a complete waste of time (AFP);

    Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday predicted that Israel would not survive, as he lashed out at the US-hosted conference seeking to relaunch the Middle East peace process.

    “It is impossible that the Zionist regime can last,” state media quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in a cabinet meeting.

    “Deterioration is in the nature of this regime as it has been built on aggression, lying, crime and wrongdoing,” he added.

    He said the meeting which united Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Annapolis, Maryland had “failed already and was stillborn. It lacked the cornerstones of effective political work.”

    If it was “stillborn” how come your closest ally Syria ignored your pleas and went anyway? Mahmoud is feeling isolated like Chavez was feeling the last few weeks – and I suspect that was the whole idea in the first place. When Ahmadinejad starts one of his snot-slinging rants, we’re doing the right thing. 

  • CNN; The assassin network

    Hugo Chavez has accused CNN of plotting his assassination, according to Reuters;

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday CNN may have been instigating his murder when the U.S. TV network showed a photograph of him with a label underneath that read “Who killed him?”

    The caption appeared to be a production mistake — confusing a Chavez news item with one on the death of a football star. The anchor said “take the image down” when he realized.

    But Chavez called for a probe in an interview on state television, where he repeatedly reviewed a tape of the broadcast, questioning why the unconnected photograph and wording were left on screen for several seconds.

    “I want the state prosecutor to look into bringing a suit against CNN for instigating murder in Venezuela,” he said. “… undoubtedly it is part of the psychological warfare.”

    Yeah, the cheese has slid right off of Chavez’ cracker. But what gets me is the lengths to which Reuters will go to defend CNN;

    The anti-U.S. president often denounces plots to kill him without providing much detailed evidence. On Tuesday, he said a sniper trained his gun on him at a political rally this month.

    And

    Well-known for wild accusations and harsh insults, Chavez usually focuses his attacks against the United States during campaigns. With the Bush administration avoiding being drawn into a spat, he has become involved in disputes with Spain and Colombia and repeatedly lambasted the Roman Catholic Church.

    In defense of CNN Reuters does everything except send the men in white suits to pick up Chavez. But let him accuse the Bush Administration of trying to kill him and all Reuters gives us is “A Bush Administration official later denied that this Administration has as it’s official policy the assassination of pudgy lunatics in red shirts.”

  • BDS at Columbia

    Just perusing the usual sources, I ran across an article at The Weekly Standard this afternoon by John McCormack entitled “Columbia’s Concern” about a group of professors at Columbia University who’ve expressed their “concern” about the tone of University President Bollinger when he had the opportunity to question the president of the Islamic Republic, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad back on September 24th. Their letter to the university president reads in part;

    3) The president’s address on the occasion of President Ahmadinejad‘s visit has sullied the reputation of the University with its strident tone, and has abetted a climate in which incendiary speech prevails over open debate. The president’s introductory remarks were not only uncivil and bad pedagogy, they allied the University with the Bush administration’s war in Iraq, a position anathema to many in the University community.

    4) In the name of the University, the president has publicly taken partisan political positions concerning the politics of the Middle East in particular, without apparent expertise in this area or consultation with faculty who teach and undertake research in this area. His conflation of his own political position with that of the University is unacceptable.

    At the New York Sun link is also a list of the numerous professors who signed this letter back on Novemebr 12th, in case anyone is interested. The real intellectual vacancy here is the line that accuses Bollinger of aligning with the Bush Administration simply by asking tough questions of the half-pint mahdi-worshipper. Excuse me?

    Well, over at the Huffington Post, Alan Dershowitz explains it;

    It all seems so inconsistent unless you understand what the real agenda is, and then everything becomes completely clear and totally consistent. The agenda is Israel. If you’re against Israel — as Matory, Foner, and their ilk are — then they want you to have complete freedom to speak against the Jewish state (as they certainly should and do). If, on the other hand, you’re perceived as pro-Israel (or pro-American, for that matter), then suddenly you have no right to free speech. It is so transparently cynical that I’m amazed that any reasonable person actually falls for it.

    Well, Alan, were not talking about reasonable people. Eric Foner is the guy who wrote “He’s the Worst Ever“, the Washington Post piece last December explaining why Leftist history professors want to impress upon us that President Bush is the worst president in our history – the article the Left drags out everytime they want to show us their authority for making such an idiotic claim – it ends with this line;

    It is impossible to say with certainty how Bush will be ranked in, say, 2050. But somehow, in his first six years in office he has managed to combine the lapses of leadership, misguided policies and abuse of power of his failed predecessors. I think there is no alternative but to rank him as the worst president in U.S. history.

    McCormack writes that about 60 Columbia professors have come to Bollinger’s defense;

    Bollinger’s defenders appear to have most liberal foreign policy observers on their side, according to Andrew Grotto, a senior national security analyst at the left-wing Center for American Progress. Grotto says it’s simply a fact that Iran is “financing and cooperating” with “certain Shia insurgent groups” in Iraq. “I’m not aware of any serious debate that Iran is not meddling in Iraq,” he says.

    “Serious” is the operative word in that sentence, of course. Grotto is a critic of the Bush administration, but he says, “We need a serious debate about Iran policy, and we can’t have that unless we’re pretty straight on the facts.” Grotto also thinks it’s unproductive for people to argue that “if Bush says it, it must be false.”

    So I guess Columbia nor the entire Left are completely awash in BDS. But to simply state that criticism of the Islamic Republic should not be allowed because it is a political position is incredibly intellectually vacant. Has Foner or his fellow boneheads seen what goes on in Iraq and Iran? Or are they just being willfully blind.

  • Third night of Paris rioting

    Photo from Associated Press

    Associated Press reports that riots continued tonight in Paris;

    Youths rampaged for a third night in the tough suburbs north of Paris and violence spread to a southern city late Tuesday as police struggled to contain rioters who have burned cars and buildings and — in an ominous turn — shot at officers.
     
    A senior police union official warned that “urban guerrillas” had joined the unrest, saying the violence was worse than during three weeks of rioting that raged around French cities in 2005, when firearms were rarely used.

    Bands of young people set more cars on fire in and around Villiers-le-Bel, the Paris suburb where the latest trouble first erupted, and 18 people were detained, the regional government said. In the south, 10 cars and a library went up in flames in Toulouse, police said.

    Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs calls it a full-fledged war;

    More incredible than the story of urban warfare is the apolgist tone of the media, “angry Arab” immigrants. And, of course, no mention of Islam.

    Speaking of apologists, Hot Air has a video of Fox News Channel’s Shep Smith twisting and torturing one of those Leftist apologists with facts about the rioters.

    Gaius at Blue Crab Boulevard writes that over 1,000 French police were deployed. Michele Malkin catches AP actually identifying the “youths” by ethnicity;

    Youths, many of them Arab and black children of immigrants…

    That’s gonna cost someone their job.