~~~~~

El Presidente es El Diablo!

Dang! I've heard Bush called a lot of names, many by me, but the Devil? Satan, Beelzebub, The Horn-ed One... Nosafuge -- to be compared to the epitome of evil by another president can only mean one thing. I think, in the modern vernacular, the term is to be "Punk'd". Also, to suggest the president left behind a foul stench of Sulfur (what else has a sulfurous odor that humans can leave in their wake?), that's just brutal. You heard a lot of people come out and say that Chavez' comments were inappropriate, but from the sounds of laughter and speckled applause in the Assembly, it was at least entertaining. All that's left to do is add a laugh-track to the President's speeches and there's no where else to go. I think the footnote to all of this is that when reasonable discourse fails to point out the absurdity, simple ridicule (crass as it may be) can be very effective. There's an ulterior motive to this too. Chavez is, in large part, a populist in his country. He's speaking to his supporters, a base which is growing in South America, Cuba and elsewhere in the world. I wasn't sure how the Bushies were going to handle their worst nightmare, a democratically elected leftist leader sitting on massive oil reserves, but now it's gotten worse for them, at least from the perspective of the rest of the world. They're becoming a laughing stock. Maybe they should redecorate the White House in contemporary Pee Wee's Play House, just to be consistent. Or maybe a theme park with furry characters and rides. Decider World.