Reply #12: let's start here ...

[welshTerrier2]

i'll be the first to admit i have not studied the intricacies of the situation in Venezuela. i've been a bit preoccupied with Iraq ... but i see DU's conservative wing making the exact same mistake over and over again. this is exactly the kind of blindness that got us stuck in Iraq since 2003. I was told then that I could not have KNOWN Saddam did not have WMD. No, I could not have KNOWN. What I did know was the bush and his cronies had an agenda to go to war and that nothing, absolutely nothing, that came out of the bush/cheney government had a spec of credibility. IWR apologists apparently were not as distrusting as I was ...

one must begin any analysis with the overwhelming presumption of US meddling. do you think it's just possible that all the allegations about the US pumping money into Venezuela to topple Chavez are true? or not? Do you just want to dismiss that possibility because it is "left wing hysteria?" ... this is not set forth as a justification for a single thing Chavez has done. it is set forth as an "analytical framework." it is a place to start. if you're blind to US history and US imperialism, your analysis cannot possibly lead you to a proper understanding.

when all-the-time left wing bashers fail to acknowledge their country's history as a starting point, they are lost before they begin. Could I be convinced what Chavez has done is nothing but tyranny and oppression? Sure ... But that's not a very good place to begin. Have you read "Confessions of an Economic Hitman"? Have you read "The Sorrows of Empire" by Chalmers Johnson. Are you familiar with how the "war on drugs" has been used to exploit foreign governments? Does Venezuela have ... are you ready for it? ... O-I-L ??? maybe your arguments against Chavez would be just a wee bit more credible if you would at least start with a recognition that your own government has a very, very, very bad track record in the region ... start there ... then we'll talk ...