Someone to Admire?

It's been well-documented how much our current pres admires Hugo Chavez, the socialist Venezuelan dictator. If none of his other policies and actions give people pause, that alone should do it. Chavez is not only a despicable megalomaniac (kinda like Bammy), he continues to strengthen his iron grip on his country, makes every effort to interfere with the politics of neighboring nations to spread his communist vision throughout South and Central America, and never misses a chance to rail against the United States (and, ironically, makes fun of Hussein along the way). Chavez is a danger to personal freedoms everywhere.

Ol' Hugo is well on his way to turning Venezuela into an All-Star totalitarian regime. He controls all but one of the media outlets in the country, not to mention most of its economic infrastructure. The lengths he goes to in an effort to silence opposition voices is downright Orwellian. He arrests his critics on a whim, holds them without trial, confiscates their property, and when necessary (which is usually quite often) attacks family members. Complain about Chavez's policies? Under arrest. Complain that the government has confiscated land without cause or compensation? Under arrest. Low enough on the totem pole to be a convenient scapegoat for another presidential gaffe? Under arrest. Farmer, merchant, teacher, policeman...doesn't matter. Speak out against Chavez and you're taking your life in your own hands. Intentionally vague and all-encompassing charges of "conspiracy" are rampant. Chavez even has his own TV show, which he uses not only to harangue the oppressed masses, but to publicly denounce his enemies and "suggest" prison terms for them. Assuming, of course, the process has actually gotten that far. By law, the authorities can keep a case open for 6 months, and return one of three verdicts: the person is innocent, there is enough evidence to go to trial, or the case needs further review and is held open for another 6 months, in which case a person can be held without trial indefinitely. Sounds like an impressive nightmare to me, and I've barely scratched the surface of Chavez's regime.

So what is there in Chavez for Hussein to admire? Someone needs to ask the prez that question.