Hugo- whassup with that? 0
One might have been forgiven for having a hard time distinguishing between the United Nations and The Big Apple Circus this week. On Wednesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez addressed the UN General Assembly, wherein he called George W "the devil". The next day, addressing a church in Harlem, Chavez called Bush "an alcoholic and a sick man".
There has been plenty of political commentary condemning the things Chavez said, from both parties. But the one thing that strikes me as supremely ironic is that, by staging his circus on American soil, Chavez has directed and starred in perhaps the most effective commercial for democracy ever produced.
Consider this- if an American President (or Senator, or Mayor, etc.), went to Venezuela, publicly called Chavez El Diablo, then went on to insult him about cheating on his first wife, how well do you think it would go over? How long until that American was deported, or worse?
Yet, in America, Hugo Chavez not only can say it, he gets it broadcast to the world for free. Hugo, if you're reading this, I've got just one thing to say to you- You're Welcome.
On a side note, there is the curious fact that, attending the Harlem church address, and publicly embracing Chavez, was actor Danny Glover. Combine Glover's penchant for communists with Mel Gibson's penchant for fascism, and you can't help wondering what the lunchtime discussions were like on the sets of the Lethal Weapon movies. Messrs. Glover and Gibson- the moviegoing public thanks you for putting aside your political differences in the name of art.
