Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Good Leaders


This is the sort of thing that a good leader does to reach out to other nations.

This is the sort of thing Bush should be doing with Clean Water and oil, not just to other nations, but to ours as well. Not just because it would be a good PR move, because it's the right thing to do. I'm sort of depressed to think about all of the people that think a completely "free" market will solve all of our problems, but that is not the case. We need to take an active role in benefiting ourselves and others. Government and mass media are the ways to do it as far as I'm concerned.

Since Chavez and his government are one step ahead of us with the ownership of their natural resources, they can make deals like this themselves. If we can't take back our own resources because of the corporate pirates, we should mandate American industry to do things like this so that they treat people better.

The problem with American economics is this: It's designed to look out for the business-owner, the corporation, the wealthy. This is wrong.

SIDENOTE: I find it odd that I haven't heard the mainstream media refer to Chavez as democratically elected. I haven't heard them tout that he forced the establishment of a constitution in Venezuela. I haven't heard them state the facts of his overwhelming popularity. I find this odd, they let people like Rumsfeld and Robertson and others get away with calling him a strong-arm dictator and saying he's a negative influence in the world even though the facts prove otherwise. Can't we hold their feet to the fire on this one? Just this once?

13 comments:

Elias said...

I'm glad there are "strong arm communist dictators" who care for the poor in the U.S. while our President plays golf and snubs greiving mothers of fallen soldiers. Chavez reminds me of another communist president Jacobo Arbenz who Guatemala democratically elected in the 1950s. He siezed dormant farmlands owned by United Fruit and gave it back to the peasant population. What a monster!
I just pray that Chavez stays alive longer than Arbenz did. It's funny how brutal a fruit company can get when someone gets in their way, just imagine how a Texas oil cowboy will react.

Unknown said...

Didn't those United Fruit guys get an airport named after them, in honor of their atrocoties?

Elias said...

P.S. I mean "alive" in a political sense. I don't mean to imply that United Fruit killed Arbenz. But I also don't mean to imply that they wouldn't have had he not resigned under threat of invasion.

Cavez in 08!

Elias said...

Dulles international in NY. I think it has since been renamed Ronald McRegan ans if that's any better.
I hope someone else chimes in here some time.

Viva Zapata!

... said...

I'll post a larger explanation on my opinion of Chavez later, but for now:

Having lived in Venezuela for 2 years under Chavez rule, I'm not a fan. Maybe I need to go back and get my facts together, but the guy's a nutbar.

Also, Chavez wasn't democratically elected. He drove a tank through the Venezuelan White House and overthrew the government. Then he was actually elected a few years later.

The government, police, and army in Venezuela are EXTREMELY corrupt. I've witnessed murder and corruption with my own eyes. Fucking straight up.

And Dulles International is in Washington DC. Ronald Reagan Washington is also an airport in DC. 2 airports.

-steve

Unknown said...

Well...

You can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs...

... said...

Another quick note to explain myself:

I was also a Republican when I lived in Venezuela. So I didn't see Chavez through the beautiful eyes of my current Fucking Pinko Communist idealogy.

... said...

Make an Omlette- a "FREE" Iraq

Breaking some eggs- over 1800 US troops dead.

Not a good quote and it doesn't justify murder and corruption.

Unknown said...

Word of note: I was being sarcastic.

But I also have to say, if you could drive a tank into the White House and do to America what it looks like Chavez has done to Venezuela, wouldn't you do it too?

Unknown said...

In fact, the omelette thing... I was actually quoting the Joker from the first Tim Burton Batman picture.

Elias said...

For better or worse, violence and revolution have played a major role in the much of Latin Americas political landscape.
I just think it is scary to see how unacceptable the US deems any Latin American leader who commands natural resources and does not bend to their (or the World Bank's) every wish.
I'm not trying to glorify or demonize him, but I have a feeling this Chavez fella is going to shake the world and it will be interesting to see how his legacy unfolds. And I also pray that Venezuela will be able to legally extradite Pat Robertson. That would be... well. Just.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
... said...

I'm trying to write my fucking speech. I'm just going to play 18 minutes of the film and then spend 2 minutes plugging the DVD. END