Thursday, September 21, 2006
Chavez's Gambit
One of the most foolish thing that one can do is to esteem your enemy lightly, to believe him to be a fool. It is then that your enemy can do you the most harm because you grossly underestimate him, thinking him incapable of doing you harm. Republicans would have you to believe that Hugo Chavez is some unhinged nutcase just spouting off at the mouth, but the truth of the matter is that the Venezuelean President is an uncanny politician and a shrewd tactician.It is thus that I had to ask myself why it was that Hugo Chavez would go into Harlem - possibly the most Democratic district in America - and relentlessly berate the man who occupies the Oval Office. It's not that Chavez was incorrect in anything that he said (albeit slightly exaggerated), but surely Chavez knows the political calendar in America - it's election season and Bush's enablers are about to be routed in the midterm elections. Surely Chavez knows that by berating Bush on American soil he forces (some) Democrats to defend Bush. Surely Chavez knows that by defending Bush Democrats increase Bush's polling numbers, but if they failed to defend Bush then their own numbers would plummet. Surely Chavez knows that bolstering Bush's polling numbers or deep-sixing Democratic numbers will increase the chances of Bush's enablers maintaining their grasp on power. So why would Hugo Chavez knowingly help Bush to keep his majorities in Congress?
It serves both of their purposes.
Bush needs to keep a majority in the House just to stay out of jail - it's about that simple. John Conyers with subpeona power as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee? Bush needs to do whatever it takes to keep that from happening, even if it means dealing with one whom he himself considers to be a devil.
For Chavez, a neutered George W. Bush does him no good. Hugo Chavez is building up a ton of political capital internationally by being the one to stand up to George W. Bush. Nobody needs to ally themselves with Chavez if Bush is kept in check by a Democratic Congress, so it helps Chavez if Bush is free to do as only George W. Bush would dare to do when unrestrained by annoying things like the oversight of Congress or the limitations of the Constitution.
Both Bush and Chavez want an unrestrained George W. Bush - Bush on G.P., Chavez for his own political gain and, by extension, for the good of the Venezuelan people: if foreign countries take a liking to Chavez then economic cooperation won't be too-far behind for all of Venezuela. Chavez thinks that an unrestrained Bush poses no real threat to Venezuela since the U.S. military is bogged-down in Iraq and he's actually doing Bush a favor - giving Bush a local boogeyman to rile up Bush's base - but Chavez would be wise to learn from Saddam Hussein: when it comes to the Bushes, today's friend is tomorrow's leather slave.
Deal with the devil and you will get burned.
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Umm..... yeah! I'm in 'Uncle' Charlie's district. 'Uncle Charles' has actively assisted in the sale of Harlem to wealthy interlopers and intergrated this community to such a degree that it will never again be the cultural icon it was known for. Sorta like what Katrina did to New Orleans only more subtle and sneaky. His manifested outspoken loyalty to 'Massa George' speaks leagues to why Harlem, has no high school,major drug infestation and HIV rate + low employment options for minority males + other genocidal afflictions is shameful. Mr. Chocolate Monopoly. A 15 term Negro coolie!