Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Pat Robertson Finally Goes Nuts



For years we've wondered about Pat Robertson, the staunch conservative founder of the Christian Coalition of America and star of that thrill-a-minute TV show "The 700 Club." Seems like the older he got, the more bizarre his comments and behavior became. Well, it looks like Roberts has finally gone certifiably mad, publicly calling for the assassination of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. It's no secret that Chavez is no fan of the U.S. and of President Bush. But these days, neither is half the world. Chavez accuses Bush, the CIA and Israel of plotting the failed military coup against him in April 2002. Further, the administration hugely miscalculated the situation, announcing its support for the new Pedro Carmona government, only to see Chavez regain power after three days of violence. Chavez also survived a nationwide strike in 2003--including state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PdVSA)-- by opponents who called for an early referendum on the President's rule. The strike was fueled by fears that Venezuela under Chavez would become a Cuban-style communist state. Segue to Robertson, who believes killing Chavez will prevent him from making Venezuela a "launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism." His rationale? "You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop." Venezuela is the world's 5th largest exporter, and supplies the U.S. with 13% of our oil imports. The U.S is Venezuela's largest client. Robertson continued: "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with." So what do we think will happen to Robertson now that he has insanely injected himself into the political landscape once again? What will the Bush administration's reaction be? Will the president publicly rebuke Robertson's comments? Can you imagine the reaction in reverse if, for example, some lunatic Islamist cleric in Iran or Iraq called for the assassination of Bush? Rightly so, we'd be outraged at this reprehensible, despicable act and would call on the world community to denounce and condemn, and probably would seek a U.N. resolution for same. Let's wait and see what Bush's reaction will be. Hopefully we'll be surprised. Andy

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

it's not that hugo chavez doesn't like the U.S.,he has said that he has nothing against the american people, it is that he doesn't like our administration. and do you really blame him?