Hugo Chavez Invites Homeless to Live in Presidential Palace

There are a few here in the United Corporations of America that ought to be shut down as well...

 

For all the good he has done, there also seems to be much done to disable the checks and balances that would prevent Chavez or a successor from gaming the system for his own advantage.
I hope that he could be deposed in an election and that Venezuela would keep the social reforms and yet restore a free press and independent judiciary and legislative branch; they are essential to the future of the country.

 

Well, why didn't you say so right from the start... If the Organization of American States thinks poorly of him, he must be a real bastard...

 

Didnt this guy offer to sell us cheap crude oil one time and bush wouldnt allow it because his politics were wrong or some dumbassed thing like that?

 

Yep, he did...

http://www.forbes.com/2005/11/23/chavez-heating-oil-cx_gl_1123autofacescan07.html

 

Chavez moves into tent in the garden

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11974818

 

oh, yeah? What about the other millions of homeless in Venezuela? Is he going to take them all in? Who made all this "giving" possible, hmmm? The ones the govt TAXED, that's who, at the point of a gun, no less. All taxes, everywhere, are collected at the point of a gun. If you don't believe that, TRY not paying, then try resisting when they come to lock you up, take your land, etc. See if it's VOLANTARY! Nobody FORCES anyone to watch tv. If they weren't sheep, they wouldn't. As the Mex bandit in MAGNIFICENT SEVEN said, if God had not meant them to be shorn, he wouldn't have made them sheep.

 

As if Skip would have forgiven Bush for everything if he had put a Katrina victim up at the ranch.

This is silly PR, why the fawning praise?

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12024935

 

It is a gesture- something fellow Venezuelans may emulate. It encourages people to behave charitably and can be an important aspect to leadership. He may not be able to house a significant portion of the victims but he CAN set an example... something you do not see from most leaders. How do you know that Skip wouldn't have acknowledged such a gesture from Bush? What does that have to do with this topic anyway apart from launching indirect attacks at Skip and belittling other posters??

 

As a person who endorses much of what Chavez is doing, I see a great danger in doing so by decree, without giving a voice to honest dissent. Even more so than the US, there is the powerful elite who would love to run the country for their own benefit, but we can't assume that all dissent with Chavez is from their ranks. No one should be above constructive criticism or even veto.
The danger is that the rule by decree will be so onerous that the oligarchs will unite with genuine grass-roots dissenters, overthrow Chavez and yet another right wing junta will emerge, an overreaction to his excesses. The people of Venezuela won't win with either side having the ability to stifle alternative viewpoints.

 

You do realize that this isn't new don't you?

He has been ruling pretty much solo since he took over... Is it a bad thing?
Go back and re-read my post about the effects him ruling has had on his country and his people's lives....

http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showpost.php?p=6635017&postcount=35

Show me ANY US pres, (from the time of founding) that has done as much for the american people as Chavez has for his.

Just because the propaganda in the US says he is evil and will fuck things up for his people, doesn't mean it is true.

In the US (as well as ALL other 'democratic' nations), politicians lie to the masses to get them to let the politicians screw them... And they still do as they please with little regard for the will of the people...

So tell me... Which would you prefer... an honest (relatively speaking) dictator who improves the lives of the majority of you and your fellow citizens.... Or a lying weasel who says whatever you want to hear, while doing whatever it is that they want anyway, screwing you and your friends at every opportunity?

 

I'd prefer the lying elected guy, a benevolent dictator is still a dictator. It's much easier to take down a constitutional government than it is to rebuild it. Remember many people in Chile for example still love Pinochet for making their lives economically better, but it doesn't excuse Pinochet's actions.

 

LOL

I guess we will have to disagree then...

How about you explain why it is that you rabidly post about how Obama is lying to you then? Why do you care?

 

Holding a certain opinion doesn't mean he has to like being lied to and manipulated. Chavez appears to be trying to lead by example as opposed to our own leaders here in the US- who seem to ride into office on false pretenses but whose careers seem secure because of a fatal combination of short memory of voters and the lack of any real alternative. Chavez may well lie and mislead every bit as much as Obama- or any US politician but in the case of the thread topic, he holds the upper hand in terms of leading by example- which would be a reason for the "fawning praise" as hiptastic put so contemptuously.

 

Bingo. I'd rather have an Obama who can't do anything progressive vs an Obama who's granted rule by decree. Same reason even if right now Obama had managed to do every single thing liberal Democrats wanted him to do and 6 years from now comes to the end of his 2nd term with approval ratings in the 80 percentile I still wouldn't support removal of term limits to keep him in office. If all power is corrupting I think we need to remember it's easier to give power than it is to take it away.

 

If he feels that it isn't important that Chavez is being honest, or that elected leaders are being dishonest, then he shouldn't care if Obama (or any other elected official) is lying to him... His only concern should be the results of his actions.

His posts about Obama for the most part are, "I don't care what he has done for us, he hasn't done what he said he would".

You are right, and I should have said specifically, a dictator who is honest about being a dictator... I didn't mean to imply he is always honest. Just that he isn't blowing smoke up his people's asses to let them think they have some effect on his decisions...

To me... I look at what the general people of venuzuela have compared to what they did before he took over... and they are better off by leaps and bounds...

 

Also the thing is Chavez isn't being honest, and when he is honest it's worrisome when someone who was just granted rule by decree says, for example:
http://www.valleynewslive.com/Global/story.asp?S=13704487

What was that about expanding democracy Chavez?

 

Yeah, what about democracy Chavez? How dare he not share how he feels about it!

 

I shall happily differ with you here Tom, as Chavez and his style of leadership technically is the concern of Venezuelans and not Americans... he did not mislead voters here in order to get into power.

I cannot speak for Madcap, but for myself, I am profoundly disappointed that the promise for transparency was not only not fulfilled, but I get the sense that there's a bit less transparency now... other congressional misadventures are enabled by legislative opacity... of course it helps to have a population woefully disinterested in keeping tabs on the criminals they put into power.

I will qualify this as opinion:

How another ruler chooses to exercise his power is of no concern to people in other countries- and discussions that critically illuminate dictatorships for the purpose of attacking another country's style of government only cultivates support for military invasions sold on the premise that a subjugated population that may have no interest in outside intervention, can be freed.

That matters little as I see the "just and noble" sales pitch as a pretense to invade and seize resources. Rhetoric about "dictators and dictatorships" has a way of painting a very narrow picture of a situation in the minds of people who aren't inclined to seek a truly balanced view of the situation..