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

Category: Jimmy Carter

  • 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.

  • Ban ki-Moon; Hope at last for Haiti

    The UN’s Secretary General Ban ki-Moon wrote a piece this morning in the Washington Times celebrating that there’s “Hope at last for Haiti“. I hate to remind the new Secretary that there’s always been a lot of hope for Haiti, but not much progress. Ban writes;

    There may be worse slums in Haiti, but none so infamous for its violence and grinding poverty as Cite Soleil in the heart of the capital city, Port-au-Prince. Drinking water is scarce, public sanitation nonexistent. Most of its 300,000 residents have no electricity; fewer have jobs. The neighborhood’s mayor was blunt when I met him during my visit to Haiti last week. “Here,” he said, “we need everything.”

    And yet I also saw hope in Cite Soleil. At the mayor’s offices, a new local government is putting down roots in a community it long ago abandoned. Across the street, I toured a newly refurbished school. Youngsters greeted me, excited by the prospect of resuming their education. Nearby, young men played soccer.

    Good for them. I truly mean that, but whatever happened to the hope we had back in 1994?

    The day after former President Jimmy Carter helped negotiate the agreement to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti, The Los Angeles Times described him as a person with “a preternatural patience and an unshakable faith in his fellow man.”

    But in the eyes of President Carter and The Carter Center, another factor was at work. The situation in Haiti exemplified how nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) like the Center can work with a government to prevent violent conflict and to promote peace and human rights.

    “President Carter was able to help the U.S. avert a war in Haiti because of the Center’s long history of involvement there,” said Marion Creekmore, director of programs at The Carter Center. “We try to be available to assist countries that are struggling to build democracy.”

    Thirteen years ago, the Carter-Clinton cabal negotiated away millions of US taxpayer dollars to pay off General Cedras and his cronies and they promised us that they would fix Haiti. Within months, Haiti fell off the media’s radar screen and our failures there never saw the light of day.

    No one published pictures of the hundreds of Haitians imprisoned on Guantanamo Naval Base in worse conditions than the current population enjoys. No one has bothered to mention the hundreds more that have landed on our shores in the ensuing years (the reason we were given for getting involved there in the first place).

    But not to worry, the UN has finally figured it out. I’m so relieved.

  • How the inmates began running the asylum

    What a nutty week, huh? We have Palestinians from the Gaza Strip begging the Isralis to let them into Israel so they can get away from other Palestinians and human rights organizations demanding that Israelis treat injured and ill Palestinians. From the AP by way of the Wall Street Journal;

    Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the army on Wednesday to allow into Israel any of the hundreds of Gazans holed up at a fetid crossing who might desperately need medical treatment.

    A teenager with leukemia was on his way through shortly after, the military said. Additionally, Israeli officials allowed all foreign nationals in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to cross over to Israel.

    In related news, Israel’s Supreme Court was hearing a petition Wednesday by a human-rights group, demanding that Israeli authorities offer immediate medical treatment to 26 critically ill Palestinians hospitalized in Gaza.

    Israeli aircraft, meanwhile, fired missiles at two rocket launchers in northern Gaza, in the first aerial attack since Islamic Hamas militants took over the coastal strip late last week. No injuries were reported. Earlier in the day, Israeli tanks entered southern Gaza, and four people, including at least two militants, were killed in an exchange of fire, Palestinian hospital officials said.

    And of course, Jimmy Carter, being the dumbass country hick playing diplomat, blames the Bush Administration;

    Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was addressing a human rights conference in Ireland, also said the Bush administration’s refusal to accept Hamas’ 2006 election victory was “criminal.”

    “Criminal”. And, of course, Carter doesn’t stop there. He claims that the murderous Hamas organization, a group of thugs masquerading as politicians (although that’s very thin line to begin with, I suppose) were elected fairly and democratically – by other terrorists;

    Carter said Hamas, besides winning a fair and democratic mandate that should have entitled it to lead the Palestinian government, had proven itself to be far more organized in its political and military showdowns with Abbas’ moderate Fatah movement.

    Except that Hamas has been terrorizing the Fatah government, and dragging it’s opponents into the street and gunning them down – I guess that’s a more effective way of winning the next election – would Jimmy call that fair? All of Hamas’ opposition in the graveyards?

    Here’s a story of Carter’s heroic Hamas from Conflict Botter;

    They surrendered. A Hamas gunman shot one of the 12 soldiers in the leg and told the rest to run away. As they fled, they opened fire, Iki said, shooting them all in the legs as they tried to run away. A Hamas gunman came up and executed each wounded soldier, continued Iki. Iki was lucky, the execution bullet hit him in the side of the neck and he didn’t die. He lay semi-conscious on the street for an hour and a half bleeding. The bus driver who had driven the Hamas militants to the fight checked his pulse at one point and found he was alive. He started to help him.

    “Leave him or we’ll shoot you,” a masked militant said.

    Ya hafta wonder what is going through Carter’s head (if anything at all). Everyone (and I mean everyone) agrees that Jimmy Carter was a walking abortion as President, but everyone always qualifies that with “but he’s a good man”. How does this statement fit into the category of “a good man”? He’s actually encouraging Hamas to continue their murderous rampage through the streets of Gaza – and he calls that “more organized than Abbas’ moderate Fatah”. I very rarely use the expression, but this warrants it – WTF? 

    Here’s the conflict that Carter is having with his own statements; if the US has no business interfering in Palestinian politics, why should what we give the Palestinian government have any impact? I mean, all we did was not give them money and weapons. If I don’t like Walmart, am I still required to give them my money? 

    It’s like Carter’s other idiot cause – Cuba. If communism is so great, if Cuba is such a paradise why does it need trade with the capitalist US in order to survive? It’s trading with the whole rest of the world – why should trade with one nation out of 170 impact it so?

    To quote Investors Business Daily’s editorial (h/t Blue Crab Boulevard);

    The statement was so malevolent and illogical as to border on insane. Carter wasn’t honest enough to say he was rooting for terrorists who started a terrifying new war in the region and trashed what little democratic rule the Palestinians had. Instead, he tut-tutted the West for being insufficiently sensitive to the fact that Hamas thugs were democratically elected in 2006 in an “orderly and fair” vote.

    When one party has started a civil war, democracy isn’t exactly the issue anymore. Just being elected does not justify making warfare on your fellow citizens. 

    But everything Carter says conflicts with itself – I found this great article in the Jerusalem Post that calls Jimmy Carter “Father of the Iranian Revolution“;

    The truth is the entire nightmare can be traced back to the liberal democratic policies of the leftist Jimmy Carter, who created a firestorm that destabilized our greatest ally in the Muslim world, the shah of Iran, in favor of a religious fanatic, the ayatollah Khomeini.

    Carter viewed Khomeini as more of a religious holy man in a grassroots revolution than a founding father of modern terrorism. Carter’s ambassador to the UN, Andrew Young, said “Khomeini will eventually be hailed as a saint.” Carter’s Iranian ambassador, William Sullivan, said, “Khomeini is a Gandhi-like figure.” Carter adviser James Bill proclaimed in a Newsweek interview on February 12, 1979 that Khomeini was not a mad mujahid, but a man of “impeccable integrity and honesty.”

    The shah was terrified of Carter. He told his personal confidant, “Who knows what sort of calamity he [Carter] may unleash on the world?”

    Who knew that Carter would still be unleashing his calamities on the world thirty years later? The JPost goes on;

    In his anti-war pacifism, Carter never got it that Khomeini, a cleric exiled to Najaf in Iraq from 1965-1978, was preparing Iran for revolution. Proclaiming “the West killed God and wants us to bury him,” Khomeini’s weapon of choice was not the sword but the media. Using tape cassettes smuggled by Iranian pilgrims returning from the holy city of Najaf, he fueled disdain for what he called gharbzadegi (“the plague of Western culture”).

    Carter pressured the shah to make what he termed human rights concessions by releasing political prisoners and relaxing press censorship. Khomeini could never have succeeded without Carter. The Islamic Revolution would have been stillborn.

    Gen. Robert Huyser, Carter’s military liaison to Iran, once told me in tears: “The president could have publicly condemned Khomeini and even kidnapped him and then bartered for an exchange with the [American Embassy] hostages, but the president was indignant. ‘One cannot do that to a holy man,’ he said.”

    What was holy about the murderous rampage that was carried out in Khomeini’s name throughout Iran? What was holy about the 444 days our citizens spent in captivity? And remember why the hostages were taken? Because Carter gave sanctuary to the shah and his family from being murdered by the Islamic Revolution.

    Remember why we propped up Saddam in the 80s? Because we were afraid of the murderous Islamic Revolution spreading – and so were the Gulf States which plowed money into Saddam’s war. Which is why Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 – he was deeply indebted to Kuwait and Gulf States and figured the Kuwaiti oil fields would give him some fiscal relief by eliminating one debtor and gave him cash to pay off the others.

    Now Carter has deepened the conflict by allowing Chavez, who rules by decree these days, to seize power in Venezuela with his petrodollars and form an alliance with Iran. And he still doesn’t get it;

    Carter said the consensus of the U.S., Israel and the EU to start funneling aid to Abbas’ new government in the West Bank but continue blocking Hamas in the Gaza Strip represented an “effort to divide Palestinians into two peoples.”

    I guess murdering the opposition in the street doesn’t have the effect of dividing the Palestinians into “two peoples” does it? Although, this Hamas government is a demonstration of how voters get the government they deserve. Palestinians voted for Hamas because Hamas hates Jews and thinks they have a mandate from God to kill Jews – so anything they do in the space of time before they get to kill all of the Jews should be OK with God, too. And with Jimmy Carter as well, apparently.

    In other related news, Aunt Agatha at Bloodthirsty Liberal mirrors my thoughts on Ahmed Yousef’s piece in the NYTimes explaining to us poor, ignorant Zionists and those guilt-ridden Leftists looking for an excuse to continue supporting the bloody Palestinians “What Hamas Wants“.

    Boker Tov, Boulder reports that the peaceful Palestinians fired off two more Kassam missiles into Israel.

    Israel Matzav tells us that the New Hamas “government” (for the want of a better word) warns that the new Sharia Law in Gaza is going to apply to the dhimmis still in Gaza. That should be a warning to dhimmi-wannabes here in the US, but, I guess it probably won’t.

    I figured that I’ve been spending too much time on that buck-toothed, shriveled up, has-been-that-never-was moron, Jimmy Carter, so instead of repeating myself over-and-over, I created a Jimmy Carter category and ya’all can just go click that link on your right and it’ll take you to all of my brilliant thoughts about that dull, little POS Jimmy Carter and I swear I’ll never type his name again. Cuz Don Surber and I share a common shame – we both voted for Carter once.

  • Democrats; the party of car salesmen

    Yesterday’s Democrat radio address told us that Republicans don’t care about our gas mileage, according to the Washington Examiner;

    In their weekly radio address, Democrats on Saturday called for a new direction in energy policy, away from gas-guzzling automobiles and reliance on foreign oil.

    “America deserves more fuel efficient cars,” Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington said. But she added “the only way consumers are going to get more out of a tank of gas is if the president and his party help deliver votes in a narrowly divided Congress.”

    It’s widely expected the Senate will approve some sort of increase in auto fuel economy as part of an energy bill it hopes to finish in the coming weeks.

    The Senate bill would require automakers to increase the fuel economy of new cars, SUVs and pickups beginning in 2020 to a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon. It currently is 27.5 mpg for cars and 22.2 mpg for SUVs and small trucks.

    Cantwell claimed that we need to head in a new direction. This is the same direction that Democrats have been harping about since the last time Rosie O’Donnell shaved her legs. A new direction for our indepedence from foreign oil would be drilling our own available reserves and increasing refinery capacity – like Jimmy Carter promised that Democrats would do in his “Malaise Speech“;

    …when this nation critically needs a refinery or a pipeline, we will build it.

    That was in 1979 – we haven’t built a new refinery since 1977 mainly because Democrats have stood in the way of new refineries and new drilling operations. So, in the meantime, Cuba, with China’s help, is exploring the Gulf of Mexico’s waters between Cuba and the US. Have the Democrats done anything about that? Nope – they think that somehow blocking drilling while demanding better CAFE standards from automakers (who are already struggling in the marketing) makes more sense and can be called a “solution” to our energy woes. DO they think that back-ass-wards Cuba and China will care much about the environment off of our own coast?

    Cantwell said;

    “America’s strength lies in our ability to invent new and better ways of doing things,” she said. “The challenge we face now is transforming America’s energy policy – one that is well over 50 years old and too reliant of fossil fuels – to one that will make America a global leader again in energy technology and get us off our over-dependence on foreign oil.”

    So Democrats think they can mandate science. Just by making government standards, business will automatically develop solutions in response.  Are we being governed by kindergarten students?

    They also think that Americans won’t mind being told that we have to drive under-powered crap-boxes like the Japanese inflict on our national sensibilities these days. Real Americans love their cars and I don’t think the Democrats are going to get much mileage out of telling Americans what cars they should drive. 

  • Communist Victims Memorial unveiled

     

    Yesterday, President Bush dedicated the new memorial to Victims of Communism here in Washington, DC. From the Washington Times‘ Kristen Chick;

    President Bush yesterday told hundreds of people whose countries had emerged from the grip of communism that their sacrifices would not be forgotten as he dedicated the Victims of Communism Memorial to the millions oppressed and killed by totalitarian regimes.
        “We’ll never know the names of all who perished, but at this sacred place, communism’s unknown victims will be consecrated to history and remembered forever,” he said to more than 500 people just blocks from the Capitol. “We dedicate this memorial because we have an obligation to those who died, to acknowledge their lives and honor their memory.”
        The memorial is the only such monument in the world, according to its founders, who estimate that communist governments have killed more than 100 million people.
        Mr. Bush compared the Cold War to the fight against terrorism, saying that the “evil and hatred” that inspired totalitarian regimes to kill millions is shared by terrorists today.  

    I took this picture about 20 years from a hill over looking part of the East German border about 20 miles north of the town of Coburg;

    This was one of the legal border crossings into East Germany – that narrow road in the bottom of the picture. This picture is the East German checkpoint on that same road;

    That’s how I remember Communism – a giant prison walled-in from the North Sea across Europe to Yugoslavia. Everyone remembers that Berlin was walled, but people tend to forget that there was a wall across all of Europe.

    I remember in the early 80s when there were Claymore-type mines attached to the razor-wire fence which would slice-to-shreds anyone above the weight of a sparrow who disturbed the fence. An entire population isolated from the world by mine fields and fences. It’s hard to imagine that even today, just a decade or so later.

    Oddly, at least in my mind, the world seems to have forgotten about the evil that men do to each other. In fact, people have ho-hummed Communism for years now – despite the cost in human lives. Books like Martin Ami’s Koba the Dread; Laughter and the Twenty Million  and the meticulously researched and footnoted Black Book of Communism should be required reading in schools everywhere – to teach the horrible lessons of the past that we should never forget.

    But, I guess it’s inevitable that Mao’s and Stalin’s deniers should crop up – just like Nazis’ Halocaust deniers. Jimmy Carter certainly didn’t learn his lesson from the Pol Pot regime. While Carter ranted and raved about arpartheid in South Africa, millions of Cambodians were butchered by Communists and millions of Vietnamese were “reeducated” or escaped in rickety boats. 

    If communism was really remembered as it actually was, no one would be forming a new communist bloc of nations in South America today unopposed.

    And, to prove they aren’t Mao’s China anymore, China threatens to step up war preparation against Taiwan because President Bush shook hands with Taiwan’s representative at the ceremony, Joseph Wu. 

    More on the lack of media coverage of the event from Newsbusters’ Michael Chapman.

    I may put some more pictures of the Inter-German border on this post tonight if I can remember which file I put them in when I get home.

    Well, I couldn’t find where I hid my scanned photos of the Border, but I found an early draft (in .pdf) of a book I started years ago that includes a bunch of photos and some stories tentatively titled Hier Grenze.

  • Bolivarismo failing before it barely starts (Updated)

     

    Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez subscribes to a Latin American version of the British “Third Way” politics (it’s supposed to be an alternative between capitalism and socialism – but it’s really just a step towards socialism) called “bolivarism” – meant to recall Simon Bolivar’s revolution against Spain which led to the liberations of that continent. Bolivar is often called the South American George Washington. Well, this latest move of Chavez’ – shutting down RCTV, the last opposition Television voice on the Venezuelan airways – might have been a step too far according to Bloomberg;

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s shutdown of the country’s most-watched television network has set off growing condemnation in Latin America and may derail his drive to become the region’s leader.

    Brazilian senators today debated a motion to “condemn” Chavez after he called lawmakers there “parrots” of the U.S. for criticizing his decision to close the broadcaster. Chavez last month branded Chile’s legislature “a bunch of fascists” after the body passed a resolution objecting to his plans.

    “I’m afraid that if we don’t raise our voices to denounce this situation, we could become accomplices through omission,” Chilean senator Jaime Naranjo, a member of President Michelle Bachelet’s socialist party and head of the senate’s human rights committee, said in a telephone interview today. “As Chileans we know how important international solidarity is when a country starts to violate human rights.”

    Well, how does Chavez respond? Like everyone else, he blames Bush,according to Associated Press;

     President Hugo Chavez has claimed that a right-wing conspiracy led by Washington is out to demonize his government for forcing an opposition TV channel off the air.

    Speaking during an event Thursday with the visiting leader of Vietnam’s communist party, Chavez said “international rightist, extreme-rightist and fascist movements are attacking Venezuela from everywhere — from Europe, the United States, Brasilia.”

    He targeted Brazil’s Senate for approving a motion earlier in the day including a call for Chavez to reopen the channel.

    “Nobody should interfere,” Chavez said, accusing lawmakers in Brazil of “repeating like a parrot what is said in Washington.”

    “To those representatives of the Brazilian right, I say that it is much, much, much more probable that the Portuguese empire will again install itself in Brasilia than that the Venezuelan government will return the expired (broadcast) concession to the Venezuelan oligarchy,” Chavez said.

    Fianlly, the Carter Center speaks out against Chavez – not Carter himself, but the Carter Center;

    Also Thursday, the Atlanta-based Carter Center joined the European Union , the Chilean Senate, the U.S. government, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders and others who have said RCTV’s removal could chill free speech in Venezuela.

    The organization founded by former President Carter, which has observed past elections here, expressed concern that “non-renewal of broadcast concessions for political reasons will have a chilling effect on free speech.”

    “A plurality of opinions should be protected,” it said. “The right of dissent must be fiercely defended by every democratic government.”

    The center said if the government wants to deny renewal of a license based on alleged crimes, “these should be tried through the justice system before a decision is made.”

    Paris-based media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders accused Chavez of seeking to stamp out the country’s opposition media entirely.

    “Media that criticize the government will be snuffed out one by one until only the pro-government media are left,” it said. 

    I watched Telemundo’s new sbroadcast tonight and some Venezuelan Madeleine Albright look-alike spokeswoman for the Chavez regime accused President Bush and his State Department of fueling the protests. As if Chavez can’t believe that Venezuelans would stand up to his revolution without being incited from outside. Of course, he realizes that maybe he’s not as popular as he thought and he needs to stir up his base using the world’s favorite boogeyman.

    Bloomberg quotes Chavez a little differently than AP;

    “The extreme right and the fascists are attacking Venezuela from the U.S., Europe and Brasilia,” Chavez said in a televised speech yesterday. “Nobody should be butting in here.”

    I guess Cindy Sheehan is writing his material now – no wonder she quit the US.

    In spanish-language news, it’s being reported by AP that Venezuelans are leaving with their money and going to Panama – like the Cubans flocked to Miami to escape Castro. I guess the more things change the more they stay the same.

    Not surprisingly, the International Action Center (founded by Ramsey Clark – you know, Saddam’s lawyer pal who’s always complaining that this Administration is always violating someone’s civil rights) is sending out an email to defend Chavez’ violation of every Venezuelan’s basic human rights and to anounce their intent to start a media campaign defending Chavez’ government. MFVOV has a copy of the email and the letter from the Venezuelan ambassador reassuring Nancy Pelosi that no Venezuelans’ rights are in danger.

    Red Alert warns us that Chavezistas are right here in the US and has the video of Chavezistas shooting at unarmed Venezuelan patriots. Babalu Blog details Jimmy Carter’s role in silencing Chavez’ media opposition.

    I’ve discovered an interesting blog about events in Venezuela called Venezuela News and Views (hat tip to The Reaction my current battlebuddy on Real Clear Blogs – Saturday versus Boing Boing and the Daily Kos) for anyone who is interested.

    I think this thing happening  in our hemisphere is at least as important as the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. And if it’s true that an important reason we freed Iraqis and Afghanis from their respective oppressors, this should be prominent on our radar screens, too. Maybe moreso – continued oppression of the middle class in South America can only expand illegal immigration here. In fact I remember last year that a boatload of Peruvians were bound for the US until mother nature intervened and sunk their leaky boat off the coast of Panama. So it’s not that hard to imagine a wave of Venezuelans since Congress would rather talk than build a wall.

  • Jimmy, Cindy, Joe and Hugo (Updated 5-29)

    Fox News is broadcasting that Adam Housely (who live blogged the protest), on the scene in Caracas, Venezuela is reporting that the crowds fairly peacefully protesting Chavez’ decision to shut down the popular, dissenting RCTV television station are being fired upon by federal troops with rubber bullets, tear gas and shot guns are being fired over their heads. The reporter also said that the crowd wasn’t budging – which means that if Chavez intends to squelch this dissent he will have to ratchet up his response.

    Chavez claims were that RCTV was engaged in “subversive” activities. How many times have we heard that phrase used in the last 50 years?

    Housley made the point that international media is the only way to get word out about Chavez now because he’s shut down the last dissenting media voice in Venezuela. Housley also displayed what appeared to an expended low-base 12-guage shotgun shell he claims he recovered from the ground after federal troops fired it in the air (the video of Housley appeared to be via cell phone).

    There’s nothing to link here yet, just some background in a generic AP story on Fox News;

    Inside the studios of RCTV — the sole opposition-aligned TV station with nationwide reach — disheartened actors and comedians wept and embraced in the final minutes on the air.

    They bowed their heads in prayer, and presenter Nelson Bustamante declared: “Long live Venezuela! We will return soon.”

    Chavez says he is democratizing the airwaves by turning the network’s signal over to public use.

    Germany, which holds the European Union presidency, expressed concern that Venezuela let RCTV’s license expire “without holding an open competition for the successor license.” It said the EU expects that Venezuela will uphold freedom of speech and “support pluralism.”

    I’m sure Chavez is quaking in his stumpy little boots having seen the Euro-weenies “expect” all kinds of civilized behavior in the last few years.

    My question is how do Jimmy Carter, Cindy Sheehan and Joe Kennedy feel about their pal, Hugo now? Will they rush out to condemn, not only the poor treatment of protesters, but the silencing of opposition – which is a basic human right according to our own traditions. 

    I’d guess not. The Left in the United States kept silent about Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot, Fidel Castro, even North Korea for several decades. I’m waiting for evidence that our own administration has done things worse than Chavez has done. I guess the authors of the Black Book of Communism will be able to write a Hugo Chavez chapter, now. And Joe, Jimmy and Cindy will go down in history as Chavez’ enablers.

    Because, why should the Left acknowledge that socialism is a morally bankrupt philosophy that runs counter to basic human rights?

    A-ha! found the story at that CNN place. Must be new network, I’ve never heard of CNN before.

    National Guard troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets Monday into a crowd of protesters angry over a decision by President Hugo Chavez that forced a critical television station off the air.

    University students blocked one lane of a major highway hours after Radio Caracas Television ceased broadcasting at midnight and was replaced with a new state-funded channel. Chavez had refused to renew RCTV’s broadcast license, accusing it of “subversive” activities and of backing a 2002 coup against him.

    Two students were injured by rubber bullets and a third was hit with a tear gas canister, said Ana Teresa Yepez, an administrator at Caracas’ Metropolitan University. She said about 20 protesters were treated for inhaling tear gas.

    The new public channel, TVES, launched its transmissions with artists singing pro-Chavez music, then carried an exercise program and a talk show, interspersed with government ads proclaiming, “Now Venezuela belongs to everyone.”

    Got news for ya, pal. Venezuela only belongs to Chavez. Criticize him and see for yourself.

    With her usual clarity, The Anchoress picks apart the media’s coverage of Chavez’ “liberation” of the Venezuelan people from the truth.

    Update: Apparently, Chavez is in the process of tossing out the international press, too, according to AP:

    Venezuela said Monday it was filing charges against US cable network CNN for linking President Hugo Chavez to Al-Qaeda, and against a Venezuelan TV network for encouraging Chavez’s assassination.

    I guess it was only a matter of time.

    Not surprisingly, we read at the Daily Kos, (via Little Green Footballs) that the American Left – who like to call themselves “liberals” and “progressives” and the true defenders of human and civil rights, the inheritors of the Jeffersonian legacy – support Chavez’ actions of the type Thomas Jefferson had the foresight to preempt in the very first amendment.

    I guess the Left forget that our Constitution’s Bill of Rights was written to protect the minority from the heavy-handed majority in just such circumstances. And that the Constitution protects all citizens from government. It’s not to protect government from criticism – and the Declaration of Independence was a universal declaration for the liberty of all people, not just those living in the English colonies, to exercise the rights and protections given us by our Creator.

    It’s not a multiple choice test which has fluctuating correct answers depending on the season or culture.

  • Jimmy Carter: Portrait of an abject failure

    There’s an old saying that goes: “Let your life serve as a warning to others”.  In Jimmy Carter’s case, that’s an understatement.  In the “worst president in history” category, it’s a tie between Jimmy Carter and Bubba Clinton. Neither was keen on national security, and both were dismal failures at foreign policy. They were however, adept at smooth-talking minorities and poor into believing that age-old myth of the “Democratic party being for the “working class”.  All one needs to do is study the history of the Unions in this country to see the result of that lie.
    The former Georgia peanut farmer never met a dictator he didn’t like.  His approach to foreign dictators is stomach-turning.
    Of Saddam Hussein, Carter said: “Even if his effort is successful [Colin Powell addressing the U.N. Security Council] and lies and trickery by Saddam Hussein are exposed, this will not indicate any real or proximate threat by Iraq to the United States or to our allies.”  Instead, Carter wanted a “a sustained and enlarged inspection team, deployed as a permanent entity until the United States and other members of the U.N. Security Council determine that its presence is no longer needed”.
    Evidently, 12 years of Hussein’s nose-thumbing trickery wasn’t convincing.
    During his disastrous administration he declared that Yugoslavia’s Marshall Tito was someone “Who believes in human rights”, and told Nicolae Ceausescu that “Our goals are the same: to have a just system of economics and politics”.
    Thanks to hapless foreign policy decisions which resulted in the abandonment of the Shah, mishandling of the Iranian hostage crisis, and botched rescue attempt, this myopic simpleton was responsible for thousands of deaths, and left the door wide open for a succession of Iranian Ayatollahs and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
    His antics with the former Soviets weren’t much better.  During Leonid Brezhnev’s tenure, the Soviet Union expanded militarily and engaged in several coups funded by the Kremlin. Carter’s reputation as a foreign policy wimp encouraged the Russians to install Communist regimes in Vietnam, Angola, Somalia, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Grenada, Nicaragua, and South Yemen.  All the while, the American military was underequipped, underfunded, and underpaid.
    As if Carter’s bumbling as President weren’t enough, it pales in comparison to his post-Oval Office behavior.  He cuddled up with Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista regime, wrote letters to members of the United Nations opposing any interference with Iraq’s aggression in Kuwait, traveled to Pyongyang and praised Kim Il-Sung, announcing that that Pyongyang was a “bustling city where shoppers pack the department stores”.  That’s great news of the rest of North Korea; since they have virtually no electricity and a diet consisting of grass soup.
    Included on Carter’s past and present A-list list of friends:  Yasser Arafat, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Syria’s late Hafez al-Assad, Ethiopian tyrant Mengistu Haile Mariam, and former Haitian butcher and junta leader Raul Cédras.  It reads like a who’s who of global despots.
    He refuses to let go of the office he was kicked out of in 1980.  His free-lance anti-American diplomacy is an embarrassment and a disgrace.  His arrogance and stupidity doesn’t just affect himself. The problem is that he gives aid and comfort to America’s enemies and there is a segment of like-minded sycophants who endorse his grotesque behavior.
    Do us all a favor, Jimmy.  Stick to building “Crack houses for humanity”.
          

    GI JANE

    sfcmac@wordpress.com