sí, pero no...

The funny thing about Chavez is that he really hasn't done anything revolutionary or socialist. He is just as much of a capitalist and market economist as the US. And ironically, we are greater social democrats than he is. But this is mainly because we have an infrastructure and a historical precedence. His biggest mistake, which is not a crime, is his verbose nature and Anti-Bush rhetoric. Yes, he has ambitions to create a competitive alternative to American political and economic interest. But I have a feeling the Chavez moment may actually implode on itself. Let's consider a few things.

First of all, oil dependent economies are prone to instability--political and economic. It is unwise for him to "wield his oil sword" and grandstand. He is only doing himself and the Venezuelan people a disservice. If we were to implement the Morse theory or model the price of oil will drop eventually. Where will this leave Chavez? In a broke country and a financial crisis on his hands.

Which brings me to my second point. Arguably, while the economy has shown signs of growth and lower unemployment there are other indicators of a potential crisis. Rising housing costs, inflation, illegal immigrants, the mafia, the bloated informal economy, a very young population, and a real lack of tangible improvement.

He has stocked his bureacracy with his own cronies who have mimicked the behavior of the Punto Fijo leadership with traditional clientelismo.

I get the Chavez vision but he needs to do some serious housework.

Third, the military involvement in civilian affairs is also a bad move. It smells of typical egomanical Latin American military behavior.

Perhaps he's waiting for the elections to make further changes.

Perhaps not.

Only time will tell.

Hands Off

So Senator Foley has a drinking problem and a boy-toy fetish. Well, it could be worse. Right? He could've been caught red-handed by Hansen from Dateline or listed on Oprah's pedophile watchdog list.

While major print publications are publishing articles saying that the Democrats see this as an opportunity to turn the tables I can't help but feel like a forgone conclusion. With almost every little Rep./Conservative/White House related scandal the media has responded with talk about the OPPORTUNITY for the Dems to turn it around. They should've been turning it around since the man began to run for office in 2000!! Wake up! Revealing the sad story of some pedophile drunkard republican from south florida is not an opportunity to "turn it around." It is a time to exploit....run all the stories on republicans with drug and alcohol problems, marital problems, gambling problems, make up a problem. This is the time to REMIND the public of all the Republican scandals that have to do with every known man-made vice on the planet. It's called going negative.

It is not enough to demonize the GOP as a party of corporations and rich White dudes. Technically, people in this country still aspire to be the corporate rich dude, so making it seem uncool is silly. But being a rich and greedy corporate dude who is morally shallow with a drug, alcohol, and boy-toy problem now that is something to talk about. Especially for those God-fearing Bible Belt fanatics that have taken over the country. (Yes I did go there!)

Look, the GOP has gotta go down. I am not saying that the Dems are any better. God help them both. But for goodness sake these guys need to leave the White House. They have caused nothing but pain and suffering, death and devastion, and TERROR since they got here. They have made the rich richer and the poor poorer. They are a party of questionable morals and ethics. Which is why I think they are waiting to spring the capture of Bin Laden on the American public at just the right time to try and regain political capital when it is most needed.

I think the Bush Administration and Intelligence agencies know where Bin Laden is and are waiting for the appropriate moment put him on display like a runaway slave. But, if the American public is smart...(god help us)....we should realize that capturing him will do nothing. In fact it will only further inspire fundamentalist terrorism. Duh!


So to Senator Foley I say good luck drying out and keep your hands off!