calling a spade a shovel

[rone]

Jym Dyer at meme_machine_go suggests that we call Pat Robertson's actions by their proper name: he has issued a fatwah.

Comments

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

I don't see anyone overestimating Robertson's influence in setting policy (which is, at best, negligible). That's the point; if all sane people can agree that Robertson has no influence in White House policy, why did the White House back away? Appearances? Since when does the White House give a fuck about appearances?

[palecur.livejournal.com]

Oh, they care about appearances -- in the right circumstances. You don't want to alienate the base by having any hint of hanging out with the crazier side of things, see.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

So, Robertson's fine as long as he keeps his yap shut. Gotcha.

[palecur.livejournal.com]

Fine by me, hell yeah. In terms of Administration (and, more broadly, Repubs in general) strategery, you might want to wave him around on (on a short choke chain) to get the faithful excited, but in general he's an embarrassment to be paid lip service to, not a core mover/shaker. Kind of like Rev. Jackson's opposite number, only more embarrassing, which is saying something.

[pennyhill.livejournal.com]

why did the White House back away?

It's clearly not on the White House agenda to bump off President Chavez. One reason COULD be that he's a legitimately elected president in a democratic country. And you could say "pish" to all that and probably be right.

Better reason: Venezuela a wealthy Latin American democratic country whose main export is oil. In past news stories I've read, the importance of access to Venezuelan oil is always underscored when discussing the instability in the Middle East, and also when discussing the growing competition for fuels, particularly from China, whose enconomy is coming on like gangbusters. (Private ownership of automobiles has skyrocketed in the last 3-5 years.)

And that would my best guess about why the Bush Administration backed away from Pat Roberton's fatwah. Bush himself used very much the same words when talking about Saddam. "We've got to take him out" comes to mind. And you well know that in the past the US has acted directly, fomented rebellion, and/or funded "freedom fighters" to topple Latin American governments.

By the way - I saw news coverage of Robertson's fatwah on television last night. Network news; don't remember the network.

[pennyhill.livejournal.com]

P.S.
There's an A.P. article in the Mercury this morning about it. Backing up my notion about oil, the article says:

"He [Chavez] has repeatedly accused the United States of backing a plan to assassinate him, which Rice and others have denied. Earlier this year he threatened to cut off oil exports to the United States if it supports any effort to overthrow him.

"That is not an inconsequential threat when gas prices are brushing $3 a gallon. Venezuela exports 1.3 million barrels of oil a day to the United States - 8 percent of the total supply."

By the way, the article says Chavez calls Bush "Mr. Danger" while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is "the imperial lady."
Heh.

Have you seen (and could you recommend) a good analysis of Chavez's regime - accomplishments and/or facts and allegations about his activities within Venezuela and other Latin American countries? I'm ignorant of Latin American current events (except for what you've written about Ecuador) and was not aware of Chavez-Castro fomentation of rebellion in other nations, e.g., Bolivia. The AP article cites allegations, but there are no details.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

I haven't followed it very closely. What i've read seems to be biased in either extreme. He seems to be fairly concerned with the plight of the common man in Venezuela, and his opposition is visibly composed of the well-off; at the same time, he's also an asshole with little care for the niceties of diplomacy and is close friends with that noted philanthropist, Fidel Castro. Ecuador's recently deposed president was also close to Chávez. The real problem is that almost every time a populist gains power, he turns around and screws his support base. So it's probably just a matter of time until Hugo takes his turn.