Reply #99: Makes sense on numerous levels.

[Forkboy]

First and foremost is knowing that Obama is the one in charge here now. What better time to make a comment about him than right before he's sworn in as leader of the last super power on Earth?

Also, Obama seems like he'll continue with much the same approach to Chavez as what's already in place. Chavez is calling him on that (in his eyes, and in his people's, he hopes).

Lastly, Chavez is many things, some good, some bad, but one thing for sure is that he knows and understands the world stage, and how to play on it. And he likes it...a lot.

It's way too easy to pass Chavez off as a dictator if you're against him, or some socialist hero if you like him. Both are wrong, and that binary thinking we'll get us nowhere. Chavez is an interesting man, no doubt, and we do ourselves a disservice to try to peg him, and his lovely country, into such simplistic caricatures.

Personally, I'll take a lot of the criticism of Chavez more seriously when I see many of those same people who hate him mention Uribe's name even once. I can't help but wonder, knowing the beliefs of some of the people here on DU, that they don't see Chavez as a threat from the Left, and I think that bothers them more than anything. So they hide behind other criticisms, much like the few remaining PUMA people do with valid criticism of Obama. They'll jump on that bandwagon, not because that issue is really why they're upset about, but because it's a safe way to criticize without revealing the actual reason why one dislikes him.