Well said, Monk. But it is the Chomsky volume that really rounds out the hillarity.

Ew... I don't think this is very comedic. Unfortunately, many Americans are going to support Chavez because he is so fervently anti-Bush. Chavez
is actually not that great himself either from what I know. He's probably right about the decline of the U.S. coming-- our economy and influence are going to be going on the downslope soon I believe. I actually don't think this writing and presentation is funny-- I think it's pretty good journalism. It's more sensationalist in a good way rather than a bland reporting of international events.

Did you read the speech?  Hi-larious.  The book recommendation, the signing of the cross while speaking of bush the devil, the suggestion that the UN move to Venezuela, etc.  It really was a bat-shit-crazy-person type speech.  I doubt even the craziest of anti-bushies would stand up for Chavez.  I wish I got to see it live.  The best part about it, it was in spanish, so really he was calling bush "el diablo".  That word is so funny.

I think the media are overreacting a bit to this. Am I supposed to be scandalized that Bush got called a bad name? He's the president, not a god, and I'd like to think that even Americans who respect him don't think he's untouchable. Plus this speech by Chavez is crazy babble, so let's not give it so much ink.

Anthony, granted, I only read the bullets of the story-- but I also heard some of NPR's coverage on the matter. I feel pretty confident that people are going to support Chavez based on his furor only-- people already do because of some of the things he has been doing to gain favor of anti-Bush folks. My brother feels that this footage will be used in the upcoming elections... We will see. Nonetheless, do you think it is funny because it rings true, or because it seems utterly disrespectful, melodramatic, and lacking in tact?

I have no truck with it being disrespectful. Every day Bush proves to me that he is the worst president of my life (at the vey least). He shreds the constitution here and there and pouts when he can't legalize torture. He is so short sited it scares me. I cannot wait until his reign is over, because no matter who we get, R or D, they will be better than him, just as long as they understand the basic tenets of the consitution. and as long as they put this country before their god.

No, I found it funny because they let a crazy person speak at the UN and people were laughing behind him. That Chavez dude is nuts. They may as well let the crazy ranting homeless person on my street corner speak at the UN. I wonder if sales of chomsky's book went up?

Apparently it shot up to #30 on amazon.com.

People don't just get behind Chavez because he's anti-bush, they get behind him because some see him as a bastion of true leftist socialism, a last holdout or perhaps even a possible savior. I would hesitate to call Chavez crazy whether you support him or not. I don't support what I hear about, for instance, his squashing of any dissent in media, things like that, but I doubt he's crazy. In fact, I think calling him 'crazy,' rather than treating his moves as rational and then disagreeing with them rationally, is playing into the hands of the Bush regime. For one thing, just as Bush has an audience he speaks to all the time, I doubt Chavez is at all confused about who his audience is.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5354812.stm

hyperbolic as chavez's speech may have been, i think it's hard to dismiss its humor. i mean, the reference to sulfur takes the cake. it's no more batshit than bush's code to his 'base' sounds to us non-bible-thumpers. and i think a lot of people -- americans and beyond -- are glad he said what he said. or at least grinning about it.

i'd like to see what would happen if castro appointed chavez his successor. now that would be a gas.

I'd like to point out that Chavez did not forget San Antonio as my trivia team did the other day.

I prefer those who put God (whatever definition) before country.

Brio indeed. The CNN headline could just as easily have pointed out that the speech was really about aiming for a more democratic world body (and an easily critique-able speech at that, but as w&w points out, not simply dismissable), but that would require CNN's putting aside chauvinist nationalism, and if they did that they might find it hard to compete in the mainstream American media landscape. So I guess their bias is understandable.

full text, en ingles, here:
http://members.boardhost.com/DT3rd/msg/1158786020.html

aside from the rhetorical flourishes at the beginning, which are downright funny, it's difficult to dismiss the rest of the speech as crazy. sure, it's fairly straightforward chomskian critique, but presented with brio, i'd say.

Well said, W&W RE: the analogy to Bush's coded speeches to his base. Yes, I laughed at Chavez's speech but that shit goes down smoother than contaminated drinking water to disaffected people in the third world --and that is who he is really speaking to. And no, Chavez isn't a moral exemplar (exemplum?)...cozying up to Iran, cracking down on domestic dissent, etc.etc. But (without trying to model him as true left wing savior) he and people like Morales, Obrador, etc. command real respect and offer a very valid option to people in latin and south america. Say what you will, it makes sense for the average venuzualan to support him; nobody's administration is free from corruption, but it is undeniable that he has enacted real reform and redistribution of resources. Maybe the growing socialist/populist movements south of our oh-so-endangered border represent something of an overcorrection to the cold war era's economic imperialism, but hurrah I say. At least disadvantaged and indigenous peoples are making their political will felt. Viva el Chavez. And Viva Diablo Bush, and the prophet Noam.

Oh, and don't forget that people like Louis Farrahkan (SP?) have repeatedly called Bush the devil. And if you think back to the Ayatollah's "great satan" speeches and things like that, Chavez's comments seem almost passe. Aren't we prone to hyperbole as well? Was Gorbachev's USSR really the "evil empire"? At least Chavez didn't publicly call for Bush's assassination ala Pat Robertson's fatwah against Chavez himself.

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