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Pick Obama’s Brain
May 16, 2013 | 61 comments
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Remembering Herb Romerstein
May 10, 2013 | 5 comments
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Obama’s Planned Parenthood Love Fest
April 29, 2013 | 69 comments
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Happy Earth Day… and Lenin Day
April 22, 2013 | 33 comments
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Bill Casey’s Centennial
April 5, 2013 | 69 comments
At Large
Hugo Chavez: Faithful to Death
Will President Obama delegate Dennis Rodman to represent the U.S. at the Venezuelan’s funeral?
There’s an old joke amongst anti-communists and Cold Warriors. It goes like this: Hardline East German communist Walter Ulbricht died and went to Hell. There, the Devil gave him a choice between the socialist sector and the capitalist sector. Devoted to the end, Ulbricht stuck to the faith, saying: “I’ll go to the socialist sector.” “Good choice,” averred the Devil. “Over in the capitalist sector, they’re getting the full, hellfire treatment. But in the socialist sector, they’ve run out of coal.”
Say what you want of Hugo Chavez, of his tactics, of his beliefs, and of perhaps where he might be right now, but this much is certain: he stuck to the faith.
Many of us were downright amazed when Chavez, in his late 50s and desperately ill from cancer, opted to go to Cuba for treatment. It was a surefire death sentence. Only the most hopelessly devoted communist would be so naïve, so stupid. Loaded with vast wealth he stole from his people, Chavez effectively chose acupuncture and leeches and snake-handling to the 21st-century healthcare widely available anywhere in the West.
And yet, the Venezuelan dictator clung to his religion. He went to Havana. It sure as Hell didn’t save him.
Chavez apparently gained some measure of comfort near the aging breast of his dying, bearded, beloved Fidel. He had so much in common with Castro, admiring the totalitarian’s unparalleled, unprecedented seizure of power and resources, all in the name of redistribution and “social justice.” Like Fidel, he pilfered enough riches from the ostracized affluent class to make himself one of the world’s wealthiest leaders. As he did, he churned the propaganda, blaming his nation’s every ill on his predecessors and on the alleged criminality of the very same rich — as Fidel has done, as the left has always done.
A few years back, my wife and I were in Washington meeting with an old friend from grad-school days, a native of Venezuela named Daria. When we introduced her to another acquaintance, she remarked with a sad smile, “I’m from Venezuela. We’re communist now.”
In Chavez’s partial defense — and this isn’t saying much — he never achieved the scales of collectivism and depths of depravity of Fidel Castro, or of the world’s really bad communists. Venezuela didn’t become Cuba or the Soviet Union. Needless to say, Hugo Chavez was no Joe Stalin—even as, remarkably, he died on the 60th anniversary of Stalin’s death.
Nonetheless, like any man of the left, he had his enemy groups, and he used them to full advantage. Some of these assorted villains were flagged in a curious Washington Post obituary which headlined Chavez as a “passionate” albeit “polarizing” figure. What earned him even this slight compliment from the Post? Who knows? The same article noted that Chavez referred to the Catholic Church hierarchy as “devils in vestments.” But perhaps the Post was impressed less with Chavez’s opprobrium for the Catholic Church than his encomiums for Barack Obama.
Of course, Chavez was a big fan of Obama. He made this clear the first year of Obama’s ascension. In an extraordinary statement at the United Nations that September, Chavez sniffed, “It doesn’t smell of sulfur here anymore.” This was a swipe at former President George W. Bush. Waxing almost spiritual, Chavez mused: “It smells of something else. It smells of hope.”
Ah, yes, even to Hugo Chavez, Barack Obama equaled hope; the theological virtue of Obama. The Venezuelan caudillo inspiringly invoked David Axelrod’s legendary campaign slogan.
And like Obama, Chavez just as quickly jettisoned the hopeful rhetoric when shameless demagoguery better suited his intentions. Like Obama, he excelled at blaming things on the rich, on profit seekers, on greedy corporations, on nefarious jet-owners and millionaires and billionaires, on banks, on investors, and, of course, on George W. Bush. Unlike his saintly Obama, Chavez called George W. Bush a “devil.”
Chavez often seemed to invoke the Devil.
Alinsky-like, Chavez was superb at isolating his targets and demonizing them, calling them “degenerates,” “squealing pigs,” and “counter-revolutionaries,” with all the thuggish panache of the typical left-wing demagogue.
In this, and more, Hugo Chavez was faithful to the very end. Did he really think he would be healed in Havana? Was there no other hope? Or, in the end, maybe faith was all that Chavez had. He should have learned from millions of Cubans over the last 50-plus years: faith in Fidel leads only to destruction and death.
Photo: UPI
About the Author
Paul Kengor is professor of political science and executive director of The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. He is author of the new book The Communist: Frank Marshall Davis, The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mentor. His other books include The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism and Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century.
TLP| 3.6.13 @ 7:16AM
He stuck to the "Faith" all right. He had $2 BILLION of The People's Money in HIS Account.
I read stories today, like the one where Sean Penncil Dick is in Mourning, where people were lamenting the fact that he Killed the Free Press, and Torutured and Killed anyone who spoke out against him, and I thought - Why does that sound so familiar?
And then it hit me.
We've got one of those, too.
He Pilfered $2 Billion of the Country's Wealth for his own Personal Use? He shut down a Free Press? He tortured and imprisoned people who spoke out against him?
That sounds like President Death to America.
I believe that if you look see what His Majesty and Her Highness have spent on Vacations? You'd discover that they are quickly closing in on the $2 Billion mark.
Does anyone believe that we have a Free Press anymore? Where are all the Stories on the 2,000 High Powered AUTOMATIC WEAPONS that this President GAVE to the Mexican Drug Cartels? Over 1,000 Mexicans have been MURDERED with these Guns, yet nobody's Resigned, and no-one's gone to Prison?
Why did President Party Girl fly off to Las Vegas, the morning after he did NOTHING, while 4 Americans were being Murdered on the View Screen in front of him?
Why was he Lying about a Video? Why did he instruct everyone in his Administration to Lie about a Video?
See how The Great Bob Woodward has been ATTACKED by the same people who USED TO worship the ground he walked on.
Because he Dared Speak Truth to Power. Truth, to a Liar.
Alan| 3.6.13 @ 7:59AM
Sean Penn, you mean that useful idiot #1, the same Penn who makes millions off of a capitalist system and then preaces against it, you mean the same Sean Penn who can't find a leftist/muzzie tyrants @ss he wouldn't kiss? That one? The great intellectual Sean Penn? You mean the one who made that prison movie with that leftist skank Sarandon? That Sean Penn?
Anthony| 3.6.13 @ 8:54AM
Not to worry, los dos amigos, Sean and his pal Hugo will soon be reunited in hell for eternity.
TLP| 3.6.13 @ 9:22AM
Not that one.
The other one.
SUBVET| 3.6.13 @ 11:25AM
Timmy..........I keep telling ya......Daniel 2:21
Albert Constantine Jr.| 3.6.13 @ 8:24AM
I wonder what kind of golf game Hugo had.
Anthony| 3.6.13 @ 1:46PM
Albert, Hugo will be burning up the courses now, he will!!!
Albert Constantine Jr.| 3.6.13 @ 8:24AM
I wonder what kind of golf game Hugo had.
round-about| 3.6.13 @ 10:58AM
Does anybody on here go by the name of Holy Ghost?
I'm looking for the Holy Ghost.
anna k from emory u| 3.6.13 @ 12:41PM
Now you're just being silly.
TLP| 3.6.13 @ 1:45PM
Now you're just being silly.
D. Thompson| 3.6.13 @ 6:09PM
Now all of you are just being silly. All of you except round-about.
Occam's Tool| 3.6.13 @ 12:31PM
Hugo Chavez's grave has been pissed on. Film at 11.
TLP| 3.6.13 @ 1:43PM
In the Wall Street Journal, this morning, a Venezuelan woman was asked about the Death of Hugo Chavez: "I celebrate his death, because he did a lot of harm to Venezuela, he handed the country to Cubans, he left behind crime, the hospitals are collapsed," said housewife Lisbeth Aulasr. "But I don't doubt chaos is coming."
A Future lament, perhaps, should our Dear Leader kick the bucket.
Just change "Venezuale" to America, and "Cuba" to the Chinese.
Occam's Tool| 3.6.13 @ 6:23PM
AAAAAAAHHHHH, the pause that refreshes. Back to work now. Film at 11.
Cobalt| 3.6.13 @ 7:24AM
Dennis Rodman should really be Obama's Secretary of State.
Von Mises Jr| 3.6.13 @ 9:33AM
Dennis Rodman is the new de facto Secretary of State just as Valerie Jarret and Susan Rice ran the State Department while Hillary was dispatched to dance with dictators.
But not to worry. The regime substituted ignorance once again for a pompous fool. It is a toss up.
Riff Raff| 3.6.13 @ 9:44AM
Dennis Rodman as O'Bozo the Klown's Secretary of State. Hmmm... Makes sense to me. And he can re-use Hilary Clinton's wardrobe.
Von Mises Jr| 3.6.13 @ 9:51AM
Rodman looks like a XL. Hillary is clearly XXX.
Riff Raff| 3.6.13 @ 1:56PM
I'm sure Rodman could have them taken in. He probably knows lot's of designers on a first-name basis.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 3.6.13 @ 7:42AM
"Chavez often seemed to invoke the Devil."
...and now Chavez gets to meet him and spend a lot of time with him...
Jack in Wi| 3.6.13 @ 7:58AM
Hugo Chavez RIP. I don't know where Chavez ended up? But I did see a picture of him with a rosary around his neck and begging a Catholic congregation to pray for him.
C.B.| 3.6.13 @ 8:22AM
And Obama has an American Flag lapel on his suits.....your point?
Occam's Tool| 3.6.13 @ 12:32PM
Jack, you would wish this Commie scumbag RIP.
TLP| 3.6.13 @ 1:47PM
What's wrong with that, O.C.?
I hope he Rots in Piss, as well.
Occam's Tool| 3.6.13 @ 6:21PM
TLP: I agree with you, but I don't think that's where Jack was going with this.
C. Vernon Crisler | 3.6.13 @ 2:51PM
He hates America. That's enough for Jackboot.
Crassus| 3.6.13 @ 4:54PM
At least he hated the Jews. That's good enough for Jackie Pooh.
Minuteman78| 3.6.13 @ 8:10AM
As this news ran across the banner on Fox last night, all I could think was,
Yes, there is a God.
Stephie| 3.6.13 @ 10:32AM
Yeah there is a God, but he seems to be ignoring us right now.
I keep praying tho.
SUBVET| 3.6.13 @ 11:29AM
Stephie.......keep the faith girl....Daniel2:21
markenoff| 3.6.13 @ 2:38PM
Maybe it is better that way. What chastisement awaits when He pays attention to the millions of unborn children that have been murdered in our country?
CJW| 3.6.13 @ 8:26AM
I know several persons who reside and own businesses in Venezuela. They are unable to evict tenants who do not pay the rent. The "courts" delay and do not enforce eviction orders, the police do not investigate burglaries and robberies of the "rich" and there has been a breakdown of the rule of law with Hugo. Many have moved to Florida.
TLP| 3.6.13 @ 1:51PM
I know several persons who reside and own businesses in THE UNITED SATES, as well as Landlords. They are unable to evict tenants who do not pay the rent. The "courts" delay and do not enforce eviction orders, the police do not investigate burglaries and robberies of the "rich" and there has been a breakdown of the rule of law with OBAMA. Many have moved to the Bahamas, and Singapore.
Anthony| 3.6.13 @ 8:58AM
Well Hugo, that sulfuric smell in your nostrils ain't coming from George W. Bush and the U.N.
It's the real deal now, and for all time.
Enjoy you stay in hell.
WB| 3.6.13 @ 9:12AM
Yawn! So, another tinhorn dictator kicks the bucket? Good riddance ...
Arnie| 3.6.13 @ 9:17AM
You guys are so ugly and vile. You'll probably be sitting beside him.
Riff Raff| 3.6.13 @ 9:41AM
Not really. Wishful "thinking" on your part. It was Chavez who was ugly and vile, extorting other people's money and other people's property, and impoverishing a nation just so he can pad his OWN bank account and stand in front of crowds and proclaim himself a hero. Chavez was all ego and no brains, no heart, and absolutely no sense of justice. In other words, a typical Communist.
That you would elevate such a vile person is telling of YOUR morals and intelligence.
Stephie| 3.6.13 @ 10:36AM
He probably thinks that the fat boy dictators in North Korea "take care of their people" too.
I read a comment yesterday on a CNN blog talking about NK and the horrors those people endure. The commentors said this is all propaganda and America is the real evil.
How do we fight such lines of thought?
CJW| 3.6.13 @ 9:43AM
Troll alert. purpie trolling as arnie.
Anthony| 3.6.13 @ 11:07AM
Sorry for you loss Arnie. Losing Hugo must be of great consternation to those of you on the left.
Our condolences, NOT!!!
And it won't be us who'll have Hugo waiting to greet us, pal.
Arnie| 3.6.13 @ 11:18AM
Sorry dipwads, I'm not elevating anybody. I really don't care a rat's *ss about him. I have Venezuelan friends that have told me quite a bit about him. They say he did manage to do quite a bit for the poor there, but he was also a two bit egomaniac that dominated the media, and generally had an aggressive attitude towards anybody who spoke out against him....even within his own party.
Anyway, however he was, it still doesn't change the disgusting behavior that is so typical on this website.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 3.6.13 @ 12:08PM
...yet you keep coming back each day. Maybe General Soros can arrange for a transfer for you...
Arnie| 3.6.13 @ 1:08PM
Albert, no one is paid to come on this website. But you guys are definitely paranoid and prone to wild conspiracies to explain the world.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 3.6.13 @ 1:48PM
"Albert, no one is paid to come on this website..."
Some times it is what you say, some times it is what you don't say.
Still, since you state you are unhappy with the state of the others here, and are obviously unloved and unwanted by most of the others here, in the absence of being paid to post, your appearance in spite of these conditions is an indication that you're quite unwell.
TLP| 3.6.13 @ 2:05PM
According to Arnie: I have Venezuelan friends that have told me quite a bit about him. They say he did manage to do quite a bit for the poor there, but he was also a two bit egomaniac that dominated the media, and generally had an aggressive attitude towards anybody who spoke out against him....even within his own party.
Now, change "Venezuela" to "The United States" and "He HAD an agressive attitude towards anyone who spoke out against him....even in his own Party" to "He HAS an agressive attitude towards anyone who SPEAKS out against him....even in his own Party" and he's just described his Halfrican Wet Dream, in the White House. (Just ask Bob Woodward)
And, the only thing he's "Done for the poor" is to make them even Poorer, and Arnie doesn't have any "Friends" in this Country.
Anthony| 3.6.13 @ 1:52PM
Prone to wild conspiracies did you say Arnie? You mean like Anthropogenic Global Warming? Or Bush knew of 9/11?
Those kind of wild conspiracies???????
CJW| 3.6.13 @ 2:01PM
You forgot that Reagan also caused Sept 11,2001.
Riff Raff| 3.6.13 @ 2:04PM
Most of the "disgusting behavior" on this website is from you and people like you, as evidenced by your use of the term "dipwads." You started this thread by calling others here "vile and disgusting." You can dish it out, but clearly you can't take it.
As for Chavez and the poor, it is easy to "do quite a bit for the poor there..." when you steal other people's money to "do" it. And you get to skim your portion off the top. This is the nature of Communism and the practice of Communists. This comment is not "vile and disgusting," it is simply stating the facts as evidenced by History.
markenoff| 3.6.13 @ 2:39PM
The model for Obama.
Parker| 3.6.13 @ 10:33AM
How is that sulfur smelling now, Hugo? A bit stronger, eh? The air in Venezuela must be a bit fresher smelling today. Gives whole new meaning to the phrase, "Go to hell and stay there!" Well, Hugo, if I don't see you again, So What!
Joellen| 3.6.13 @ 12:56PM
See GOD is just, all the billions he stole from his people, and now the saying that is so true, he wasnt able to take it with him - HA HA!
loulou| 3.6.13 @ 10:34AM
Good riddance. Sean Penn is grieving. If Obama were capable of grieving for anyone other than himself he'd be grieving too. But not in public.
Stephie| 3.6.13 @ 10:38AM
Oliver Stone has referred to this dead commie tyrant as a "Hero".
Good Lord.
Drunken Sailor| 3.6.13 @ 11:15AM
OK, no one else finds it just too big a coincidence that the country announced his death on the 60th anniversary of Stalin's death, one of Hugo's heroes?
Maybe it's the cynic in me but I think he died days ago if not longer and they waited to get their ducks in a row and announce it on that date for pure propoganda.
Either way, good riddance.
Bob K| 3.6.13 @ 11:36AM
Chavez was just another South American Caudillo.
The history of South America is full of them and there will be more in the future marching under what ever populist or economic flag of convenience gives them the most support from the people.
Anthony| 3.6.13 @ 11:42AM
Chavez survived a coup attempt in 2002 with the help of the military, who slaughtered unarmed civilians.
And Biteme tells us shotguns are all we need.
Yeah right, a**hole.
Anthony| 3.6.13 @ 12:28PM
Or should I have said, yeah right, ashtray.
Hardcard| 3.6.13 @ 1:12PM
It's not general soros its grupenfuhrer soros. hugo is shoveling coal with his idols stalin and adolf, there's no green energy in hell. At this point what difference does it make now, hey you didn't build that. You spelled asshat wrong !!
Albert Constantine Jr.| 3.6.13 @ 4:55PM
Bitte um Verzeihung, du hast recht, Hardcard. Herr Soros is besser wie einen Gruppenfuehrer.
cicero| 3.6.13 @ 3:05PM
Chavez was able to win election after election, even as he plundered his country. The formula is quite simple. Promise the lower classes the wealth they have not, and maybe cannot acquire on their own. It matters not that you cannot fulfil the promise. Patronize the liberal ellite, and the overly wealthy by granting them status and the ability to acquire even more wealth. Demonize the wealthy and the business class, telling the have nots that it is their fault they have not. Run elections that are slightly skewed, so that you win. Throw in a complicit liberal press, and you will die rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams, and in bed. It is not like this is something new, now is it?
This is communism, or the aristocracy of the beaurocracy. The Left has always know this, and operatedd accordingly. There will always be more of the have nots (real or imagined) than the productive class. So, it works every time. America used to be different, in that everybody could pull themselves into the productive class. We now have a huge underclass, and are importing millions more every year. As soon as amnesty is declared, and they can all openly vote, we will become that third world country the Left has always wanted - because they can control.
Dwimby| 3.6.13 @ 4:54PM
"Chavez was able to win election after election, even as he plundered his country. The formula is quite simple. Promise the lower classes the wealth they have not, and maybe cannot acquire on their own. It matters not that you cannot fulfil the promise." As the commentor knows, he is describing Obama too, to a "T" ...
RAM| 3.6.13 @ 3:39PM
Chavez' Iranian buddies should now join him down there.
Dwimby| 3.6.13 @ 4:51PM
Will the O-Man send the Rod Man? Works for me.
Tafuna| 3.6.13 @ 6:53PM
At long last Chavez is finally going to find out exactly what sulfur smells like.
Michele San Pietro| 3.7.13 @ 6:23PM
Chavez, just a brutal dictator. A man's death should never make anybody happy, but I'm certainly not wearing the mourning for such a tyrant.
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