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

Author: Jonn Lilyea

  • Disparging the vision against tyranny

    In a half-mocking tone, Peter Baker in the Washington Post describes another Bush failure – his failure to end tyranny;

    By the time he arrived in Prague in June for a democracy conference, President Bush was frustrated. He had committed his presidency to working toward the goal of “ending tyranny in our world,” yet the march of freedom seemed stalled. Just as aggravating was the sense that his own government was not committed to his vision.

    As he sat down with opposition leaders from authoritarian societies around the world, he gave voice to his exasperation. “You’re not the only dissident,” Bush told Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a leader in the resistance to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. “I too am a dissident in Washington. Bureaucracy in the United States does not help change. It seems that Mubarak succeeded in brainwashing them.”

    Baker goes on to blame the failed Bush vision of ending tyranny in the world on bureaucrats in the State Department, Republican candidates for president, even the Vice President.

    But Baker doesn’t blame Democrats – you know, those guys who stood on the roof of Hussein’s palace on the eve of our attack and declared Hussein to be a more honest broker than the President. Those guys who deliver false messages of peace to tyrannts against the advice of the White House, the guys who do their best to keep the Iraqis scared that we’re going to pull out and leave them to their own devices.Those folks that coddle every dictator they can get their puny arms around. Sacrificing the lives and well being of our planet’s citizens for purely political reasons. All for the Bush Derangement Syndrome – sacrificing human lives at the alter of Al Gore’s and John Kerry’s political defeat – such petty, petty little cretins.

    And those career diplomats in the State Department who figure that turmoil in the world is their job security:

    But some officials worry about alienating a friend in a region where Russia is reasserting influence. Assistant Secretary of State Richard A. Boucher has argued for giving Nazarbayev more time to reform. The discord has gotten so personal that rivals have dubbed him Boucherbayev. In an interview, Boucher said those promoting democracy are not responsible for the broader picture. “We have to work on an overall relationship,” he said. “The issue of democracy is not to be able to denounce people. The issue is to make progress.”

    Still, after an invigorating start in 2005, progress has been harder to find. Among those worried about the project is Sharansky, whose book so inspired Bush. “I give him an A for bringing the idea and maybe a C for implementation,” said Sharansky, now chairman of the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center in Israel. “There is a gap between what he says and what the State Department does,” and he is not consistent enough.

    The challenge Bush faced, Sharansky added, was to bring Washington together behind his goal.

    “It didn’t happen,” he said. “And that’s the real tragedy.”

    What a rational person can’t tell these arrogant imbeciles is that those tyrannts who oppress their people don’t respond to kind words and cajolery – that’s why we call them tyrannts. Regimes who hang dissidents in public, threaten the media and the families of dissident students don’t respond to diplomatic gestures. No matter how hard you wish it to be so.

    I’d never thought I’d see the day that the US government wouldn’t stand behind the President on such an essential issue as spreading Democracy and improving conditions for people world wide. Yet, here we are.

  • Democrat feud; DLC vs. Kos

    Donald Lambro of the Washington Times reports a growing rift in the Democrat Party between the Democrat Leadership Council and the internet lunatic fringe;

    The groups held dueling conferences this month, and the Yearly Kos Convention clearly came out on top. It drew 1,500 liberal activists — including 500 bloggers — and a half-dozen Democratic presidential candidates, led by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. The New York Democrat has been embraced by the DLC as one of its own.

    The DLC drew 350 elected officials to its conference but was snubbed by all the presidential candidates. However, Mrs. Clinton’s husband, a former DLC chairman, delivered the keynote speech.

    Markos Moulitsas Zuniga stepped up his war of words against the DLC this month. The founder of the Daily Kos blog and the annual Kos conference considers DLC members “Republican-lite,” as opposed to true Democrats.

    “The DLC doesn’t want a victorious Democratic Party unless such victories happen using their formula. We’ve been there, done that, and it simply didn’t work,” Mr. Moulitsas wrote in his blog last week. “Even working out of their own playbook, we couldn’t get that magical majority of the popular vote. We lost control of the House and Senate. Things truly seemed hopeless. We as a movement sprung from those failures.”

    The article goes on to say that the KosKids consider Hillary Clinton the DLC’s candidate and they don’t think she can run against her own negatives.

    “She is also the DLC candidate, literally,” [Kos] wrote earlier this year in a blog that quoted from a Ford memo accepting the DLC chairmanship in which the former congressman wrote, “I assume there will be an effort to help Senator Clinton’s campaign, and I would support such an effort.”

    Well, who does that leave?

    Barack Obama, who has decided he’s going to cut back on his debates because everytime he opens his mouth these days, everyone discovers that he really is a blathering idiot and little more than a nice suit. So that’s quite a strategy – hide the candidate from discussing issues until the election. We could even put up a cardboard cutout of him at the Inauguration ceremony if they’d be more comfortable with that. I’m sure the Kossacks will like him for the obvious reasons – they think Americans would feel too guilty to vote against a purportedly Black man. They would – so the rest of us will, too.

    Or maybe openly hypocritical John Edwards, the prettiest girl in the presidential campaign, who can only seem to raise enough cash when he mentions Ann Coulter’s name. Victory-hungry Democrats won’t tolerate the scandals that’ll erupt around him if he won the nomination. I figure his happy face will collapse before the primaries begin.

    Or maybe the prince of peace Dennis Kucinich, who is quickly becoming the heir apparent to the mantle of perennial presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche, the original moonbat.

    Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd nor Joe Biden will get the KozKranks’ support – they’re too conservative (as Democrats go) on the war and taxes. So who does that leave?

    There’s still time to get Cindy Sheehan, I suppose – that’s one candidate all of the KozKids can get behind. Maybe the DLC can put lipstick on that pig. 

  • Edwards profited from Katrina forclosures

    Oddly enough, I’d just finished reading Dadmanly‘s excellent post critiquing John Edwards’ article in Foreign Policy when I happened across this Page One story from Christopher Cooper from the Wall Street Journal;

    As a presidential candidate, Democrat John Edwards has regularly attacked subprime lenders, particularly those that have filed foreclosure suits against victims of Hurricane Katrina. But as an investor, Mr. Edwards has ties to lenders foreclosing on Katrina victims.

    The Wall Street Journal has identified 34 New Orleans homes whose owners have faced foreclosure suits from subprime-lending units of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Mr. Edwards has about $16 million invested in Fortress funds, according to a campaign aide who confirmed a more general Federal Election Commission report. Mr. Edwards worked for Fortress, a publicly held private-equity fund, from late 2005 through 2006.

    Asked about the matter, Mr. Edwards yesterday pledged that he would personally provide financial assistance to New Orleanians who are facing foreclosure by Fortress-affiliated businesses or have lost their homes already. “I intend to help these people,” the former North Carolina senator said.

    He also promised to cleanse his portfolio of any investments that may be profiting from their losses. “I am going to divest” from any Fortress funds that have a stake in the subprime lenders that filed the foreclosures, he said in a telephone interview. “I will not have my family’s money invested in these firms.”

    Mr. Edwards didn’t give details on how or when he was going to proceed, either to alter his holdings or to aid borrowers. He said he plans to begin making amends to New Orleans homeowners first by contacting them and “seeing where they are in the process.” He said his help may come from his own cash or in collaboration with a charity that specializes in repairing homes.

    Seems to me, Edwards, the prettiest girl running for President, is such a great humanitarian, he would have already been aware of the money he’d made in conjuction with foreclosures on Katrina victims and he’d have already made amends – it was nearly two years ago, afterall – and while he was an advisor for Fortress Funds. But then again, the entire $16 million he has invested in Fortress is somehow tainted, wouldn’t you say?

    But, if he really wanted to make things right, he’d just hand each of those victims of the evil hedgefund 1/2 million bucks each out of his $16-large. I mean that’s what he’d do if he’s meant what he said all along.

    Ack! I just noticed that Michele Malkin has the same story on her front page – and as usual she does a much better job.

  • So, who’s the Census Bureau work for?

    According to this bit of performance art from the Associated Press (by way of Fox News), the Census Bureau is worried that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau might actually enforce the law;

    The Census Bureau wants immigration agents to suspend enforcement raids during the 2010 census so the government can better count illegal immigrants.

    Raids during the population count would make an already distrustful group even less likely to cooperate with government workers who are supposed to include them, the Census Bureau’s second-ranking official said in an Associated Press interview.

    Deputy Director Preston Jay Waite said immigration enforcement officials did not conduct raids for several months before and after the 2000 census. But today’s political climate is even more volatile on the issue of illegal immigration.

    Enforcement agents “have a job to do,” Waite said. “They may not be able to give us as much of a break” in 2010.

    So? The more illegal aliens they catch, the fewer you have to count, goofball. And maybe the illegal immigrants are mistrustful of the government because they’re in violation of our laws.

    I might remind you that there was a criminal in the White House in 2000 – someone who didn’t give much thought to enforcing the law as much as he thought about writing new laws he wouldn’t enforce. The only illegal aliens he was worried about were 7 year-old Cuban boys.

    Every ten years I get a threatening letter from the Census Bureau that they can prosecute me for not filling out their form (which is a lie by the way) yet they want other agencies to suspend law enforcement activities for them? Dumbasses.

    In related news, Herndon, Virginia voted to keep their Day Labor center open and to fire the previous operators who don’t understand that they work for their employers and should do what their employers tell them to do;

    The vote ended the uncertainty over whether Project Hope and Harmony, the faith-based nonprofit that runs the site, will be allowed to continue in that role permanently.

    “It will be a big disappointment for us and the workers” when Hope and Harmony leaves, said Bill Threlkeld, director of the group, which is affiliated with Reston Interfaith. The group will consider remaining until a new manager is found but will continue its practice of not checking immigration status.

    Council member William B. Tirrell Sr. said “the rule of law” took priority over workers’ needs. “The law is the law is the law,” he said. “We can’t decide by whimsy what laws you’re going to enforce.”

    How hard is it to check whether someone should be allowed to work in the US before helping them locate work? Jeez.

    And of course the “immigration advocates” are convoluted when discussing their position;

    Immigration advocates said immigrants who are legally able to work in the U.S. are only a small fraction of the undocumented immigrants in the country.

    “I think the Town Council has basically positioned themselves with some options still open,” day-labor center operator Bill Threlkeld said. “We’re not particularly happy with some of the conditions that we were fighting to have in place.”

    Um, Bill you’re not an “immigration advocate”, you’re an accessory to a felony. And, ya know the “big duh” here is that only a small fraction of illegal immigrants have permission to work – that’s kinda the point of the whole thing.

    The city of Herndon voted Wednesday night to keep the day-labor center in the city open but made it a rule to check workers’ identification before allowing them to work.

    Workers won’t necessarily need a driver’s license, but they will have to be able to prove they can legally work in the U.S.

    Immigration advocates said that defeats the purpose of a day-labor center.

    Again, kinda the whole point. Facilitating a criminal act is a criminal act. Working without permission to work is not legal. Do I need to get my crayons out to explain it to ya? From the Examiner;

    The new council has been trying all year to secure a new operator for the site who would check the immigration status of the workers there, a move that would dramatically alter the nature of the center and likely thrust many of the workers back out into the community.

    Or, they could thrust themselves back home and focus on making their hometowns prosperous and stop the brain drain from Latin America.

  • Politics of the surge

    Bad news for the Democrats is always good news for the country. And the bad news is that the latest strategy in Iraq seems to be working. Even Der Speigel, the German publication and certain writers for the NY Times can’t help but notice that Iraq is a becoming a safer place. And of course the Left is rushing out to blunt the good news and provide al Qaeda, the Democrat Party’s military arm, some hope. from the Washington Examiner;

    Pro-surge analysts contend al Qaeda is on its heels and desperate in the face of a six-month-old U.S. troop reinforcement.

    But Anthony H. Cordesman, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, offered a gloomy assessment.

    “Al Qaeda is far from defeated. It still has major support from some tribes, and significant al Qaeda operating areas exist,” Cordesman said. The struggle against al Qaeda has become perhaps the most important military objective in Iraq. The outcome will likely determine whether warring sects can reconcile and whether U.S. troops can start coming home next year.

    […]

    While the U.S. command has trumpeted the killing and capturing of scores of al Qaeda leaders this summer, Cordesman concluded, “Al Qaeda continues to show considerable resilience in rebuilding its leadership and key cadres.”

    As if to underscore Cordesman’s analysis, al Qaeda struck this week in what may turn out to be its most deadly coordinated attack of the war. Four massive truck bombs exploded in three Iraq villages near the Syrian border. The death toll may reach 500.

    So because the cowards are still able to attack unarmed citizens with massive stocks of home-made explosives, that proves we’re not doing damage to al Qaeda.

    Curt of Flopping Aces illustrates the internals from the latest propaganda poll from CNN;

    Quite curious how in the world CNN can spin a poll where they ask a question of only half a sample and proclaim it proof that America distrusts our military leaders:

    Of course, the reason that Americans can’t trust their military officers (if it were even true) is because they don’t get the news of the war from outlets like CNN. they have to get the truth from sources like Bill Roggio;

    Al Qaeda in Iraq continues to face opposition from Sunni insurgent groups. In the Buhriz district in Diyala province, the 1920s Revolution Brigades assisted Iraqi police in fending off an attack of upwards of 60 al Qaeda fighters. Multinational Forces Iraq identified the Sunni insurgents as the “Baqubah Guardians,” however IraqSlogger reported the al-Ishreen Revolution Brigades (1920s Revolution Brigades) engaged in the fight. Multinational Forces Iraq described the fighting, and notes the coordination between the insurgent group, the local police, and US attack helicopters:

    And you have to red all the way to the bottom of the Examiner story to read;

    “I think that we are within sight of defeating this organization in Iraq if we continue to press, but it will be able to conduct periodic spectacular attacks for a long time to come,” he said. Cordesman conceded that the six-month surge of five U.S. Army brigades and 30,000 extra Iraqi troops in Baghdad “did enable [the coalition] to make some gains against al Qaeda.”

    Most analysts also agree that Anbar province, once the most restive Sunni area in Iraq, has become one of the quietest, as Sunni tribal leaders end an alliance with al Qaeda and join the coalition. Attacks in its two largest cities — Ramadi and Fallujah — are down sharply.

    And outlets like the Washington Post and the Associated Press still call al Qaeda “Sunni insurgents” just in case someone might get the idea that this isn’t a civil war like it was a year ago;

    U.S. troops clashed with suspected Sunni insurgents holed up in a mosque north of Baghdad and launched an air-to-ground Hellfire missile into the structure. One American soldier was killed in the fighting, the military said Friday.

    The soldier was killed and another was wounded when troops stationed at a nearby outpost came under heavy small-arms fire from the Honest Mohammed Mosque late Thursday in Tarmiyah as they targeted about six insurgents who were believed sheltered inside, according to the military.

    And the Washington Post buries on page 18 that there is a coalition taking root among Sunnis, Kurds and some of the Shi’ite factions in Iraq;

    As Iraqi politicians flew north on Thursday to survey the devastation in two villages ruined by bombings, Shiite and Kurdish political leaders in Baghdad announced the formation of a new alliance intended to begin mending the fractured government and defuse the forces behind such violence.

    For weeks, politicians have discussed an alliance among the four leading Shiite and Kurdish parties, with the hope that marginalized Sunni factions would join the coalition. But politicians from the largest Sunni bloc in parliament said they would remain apart from the new group, asserting that the ruling Shiites still have not met their demands for greater participation. The Sunnis’ stance effectively undermines the coalition’s chances of breaking the political gridlock that has frustrated U.S. and Iraqi officials.

    And of course, they blunt the good news with minority opinions where they should find some hope instead;

    “We have lost hope, frankly, that this coalition will be the ideal solution to the strangling political crisis that the country is going through,” said Abdul Kareem Samarrae, a Sunni lawmaker, on al-Hurra television. “We hope that this is a genuine chance to solve those problems, but we think that this is merely a political cover for a government in its last few days or weeks.”

    What the media and the Democrats have disregarded is that the reason the surge is working is because Americans have demonstrated our resolve to the Iraqis – for the last three years iraqis have been reticient about making any real commitment to their own security because of the cut-and-run talk that pours out of the crooked mouths of Demorats and their willing accomplices in the press.

    The surge proves to Iraqis that this President and this administration is committed to the Iraqi people, while the Democrats are committed to their defeat – and the defeat of this nation as well.

  • Hezbollah recruiting in Venezuela

    Just when you think things in Venezuela can’t get more weird, things get more weird. I just ran across this from Jungle Mom at The Jungle Hut;

    If the United States were to attack Iran, the only country ruled by God, we would counter-attack in Latin America and even inside the United States itself. We have the means and we know how to go about it. We will sabotage the transportation of oil from Latin America to the US. You have been warned.

    Sounds like Ahmadinejad! This statement is from Hezbollah Latin America, also known as Hezbollah Venezuela. Signed by Teodoro, called Commander Teodoro. He was a guevarists guerrilla that organized disorder in the Maracaibo region in the past. He was in born Ciudad Bolivar, and was converted to Islam. (Funny how commies convert to Islam!) He is a Chavista.

    Teodoro is running a social experiment among the Guajiros of Venezuela. Anyone who has paid attention to the news of Venezuela will realize that the evangelical missionaries were removed by the government of Chavez and no new religious worker’s visas have been granted for over 2 years.

    While Chavez accuses the North American missionaries of being “spies” and genocide, coercing conversions to Christianity, Chavez proclaims that Shi’ite Iranian “missionaries” are welcome to live and work among the tribes.

    Any anti-American port in a storm. I’d guess it’s to make little suicide bombers that can slip across our borders and blend in a little better than an Arab.

  • Links for a busy day

    I’m a little backed up workwise so I found a bunch of people with my opinion on various subjects – since they all write better than I write, anyway, you’ll enjoy hearing it from them a lot more than if I repeated their thoughts.

    Blackfive reminds us that today is National Airborne Day-so all ya’all nasty Legs give thanks that we sacrificed our leg joints for you.

    The Gentle Cricket and Crotchety Old Bastard discuss the draft (and the Democrats)

    Invincible Armor points and laughs at the New York Legislature’s latest attempt at being everyone’s nanny.

    Israel Matzav tells us that UN troops are scared of actually doing anything to keep peace in Lebanon.

    Todd Anthony at Flopping Aces discusses the consequences of withdrawing from Iraq, and Aunt Agatha at Bloodthirsty Liberal gives us a historical perspective on the withdrawal from Viet Nam.

    Gateway Pundit has round up of links on the Peruvian earthquake.

    Hot Air has all the links you need to find out about Flat Fatima and Her Magic Bullets. (Sounds like a Harry Potter book doesn’t it?)

    And Kamangir, a blog I’ve only recently become acquainted with, has so much good stuff today on the condition of the Iranian people and the utter garbage theey’re subjected to in the way of news everyday, there’s no way I can point to a single post. His blog is so good on the subject, just go and read it all.

    Jeff at Protein Wisdom gets into the spirit of the Dutch clergy.

    Soldier’s Dad, my drinking/smoking buddy from the MilBlog Convention, catches the Iranians in yet another lie.

    Mark Masferrer tells a tale from Cuba that sounds more like a storyline from The Sopranos

    And from Doctor Helen (h/t Ace)- all ya’all men 35 – 44 are most miserable. I’m here to tell ya that by 52 it’ll all be over with. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been – mostly because there are no more teenagers in my house, and because I have friends like my readers.

  • Chavez is suddenly news

    Apparently the newswires finally noticed that Chavez is working to rewrite Venezuelan Constitution this morning;

    President Hugo Chavez called for changes to Venezuela’s constitution Wednesday night, delivering a key address pitching reforms that are expected to allow him to be re-elected indefinitely.
     
    Chavez, speaking to the National Assembly, said the changes affect “less than 10 percent” of the constitution but would bring Venezuela “new horizons for the new era.” Chavez, who is seeking to transform Venezuelan society along socialist lines, denied he wants lifelong power as his opponents allege.

    “They accuse me of making plans to be in power forever or to concentrate power. We know it isn’t like that. It’s power of the people,” Chavez said. “So many lies in the world. I doubt there is any country on this planet with a democracy more alive than the one we enjoy in Venezuela today.

    Since we already know that Chavez rigged his last election and he had Jimmy Carter certify it for him, there’s nothing that can stop him from rigging the next several elections, too. And since he silences his opposition (as he did RCTV) and he has the unerring support of Hollywood’s biggest spaztards, and military support of Iran, we can be sure he’ll continue in perpetuity as the leader of Venezuela como su Tio Fidel. The Devil’s Excrement writes that the government is cracking down even more on the press, accusing them of terrorism against the State.

    Poor Daniel of Venezuela News and Views wrote last night that Chavez’ latest rant (Chavez calls them a cadena which means chain) lasted for hours and since he commands the television stations now, each carried his hours-long cadena – and Venezuelans were forced to go to the internet for news about the earthquake in Peru. Daniel links to Bruni of Cuentos Intrascendentes, who in turn summarizes Chavez’ reform plan;

    The two articles of reform;

    Article 1: All of the power belongs to the People

    Article 2: Hugo Chavez changes his name. He is now called Hugo People

    Somewhere this morning I read that Chavez proposed a mandatory six-hour work day be added to the Constitution. I can’t find the link again (so if anyone else sees it, let me know). It’s just more populist drivel from the little socialist goofball. It’ll give the impression that the unemployment rate in Venezuela has gone down, but there’ll be less money in Venezuelans’ pockets as a result. But more time for them to protest, he’ll find out eventually.

    And of course, no matter how anti-American a foreign dictator gets, you can always find a Democrat to cuddle with them. From Kate at A Columbo-Americana’s Perspective;

    Macon, GA mayor C. Jack Ellis has become enamored with the robolución bolibanana to the point where he sent Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez a letter expressing his solidarity with him. Ellis defends his praise of Chávez citing his “humanitarian efforts.” Humanitarian efforts, eh? I do wonder to what Mayor Ellis might be referring. Is silencing opposing opinions now considered to be a humanitarian act? Or maybe he means putting people on a political blacklist because of the way they voted in the 2004 recall referendum.

    Don’t be surprised when I tell you that C. Jack Ellis is awaiting a legal name change to Hakin Mansour Ellis. From Wikipedia;

    In February 2007, Ellis made headlines by announcing his December 2006 conversion to Islam, including plans to legally change his name to Hakim Mansour Ellis. Ellis, who had previously been a practicing Christian, became a Sunni Muslim during a trip to the west African country of Senegal, saying it was like going “back to [his] roots” — claiming that some West Africans brought to America as slaves practiced Islam.

    Um, C. Jack, buddy, Muslims were the folks who sold African slaves to the Europeans. And now, you want to honor them by claiming that becoming a Muslim is getting back to your roots? Dumbass. More on Ellis from The Foxhole and Right Truth.

    That’s the type of folks that Chavez attracts – the intellectually lazy with a superficial understanding of the world around them. That’s why Chavez’ empty promises have made him so popular – empty promises to empty heads.

    Empty promises like oil to the Caribe for the next century and beyond;

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pledged on Saturday to meet Caribbean nations’ oil needs for years to come, and urged the region to unite and seek greater independence from the U.S.

    Mr. Chavez deepened past pledges to share his country’s oil wealth as he addressed a summit of nations taking part in Venezuela’s Petrocaribe oil initiative, which supplies fuel under preferential terms.

    “If we truly unite .. the grandchildren of our grandchildren will have no energy problems,” Mr. Chavez said. He predicted oil prices will soon hit $100 a barrel but said “the Caribbean shouldn’t have problems this century and beyond.”

    “Venezuela puts this oil wealth at the disposition of our peoples of the Caribbean,” Mr. Chavez said. “It belongs to all of us. We’re going to share it like Christ. .. It will be enough for everyone.”

    He sounds just like all of the other caudillos in Latin American – promises and no substance. 

    And fingers are flying over the $800,000 found in Buenas Aires airport a couple of days ago. According to the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board the story goes like this;

    When customs officials found $800,000 in a suitcase at the Buenos Aires airport 10 days ago, maybe they were surprised. Then again, maybe not. The plane containing the case was chartered by the state-owned Argentine energy company, Enarsa, and was carrying a high-ranking Argentine official and three amigos from the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PdVSA.
    Investigators aren’t sure where the money came from or where it was going. Claudio Uberti of the Argentine Planning Ministry had been on a trip to Caracas, and the PdVSA trio asked to hitch a ride. A Venezuelan businessman on board is said to be the owner of the bag — though even that is unclear. Maybe they’d just seen “The Godfather: Part II,” and were inspired watching Fredo carry the suitcases to Michael in Havana to invest with Hyman Roth.

    The incident has caused an uproar in Argentina, and Mr. Uberti has resigned. The suspicion is that the cash was intended to play a role in October’s presidential election, in which Cristina Fernandez, the wife of President Nestór Kirchner, is the Peronist candidate. Mr. Kirchner has lined up with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez against the U.S. and market economics, and in return Mr. Chávez has financed the Kirchner government to the tune of more than $5 billion, with $1 billion more pledged last week. Political parties in Peru, Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua and Ecuador have complained in the past about Mr. Chávez’s meddling in their presidential elections.

    And of course, it’s Bush’s fault;

    Mr. Chávez calls the episode a “U.S. plot,” naturally. But even the Argentine government concedes that it looks bad, claims to know nothing of the money, and wants Venezuela to apologize. Those dictator allies sure can be embarrassing.

    And the Left blogs rush to back Chavez.

    Blogs by Boz has a link summary and reports figuratively (so far) rolling heads.