Chavez pokes the president:
When asked about Obama's recent overtures to Iran for improved relations, Chavez said he will wait and see how the new administration takes shape but that he isn't optimistic.
"I don't have much hope, because behind him is an empire. He's the president of an empire. ... Now, I think it's fair to give him some time. ... Seeing is believing," Chavez said. "I hope President Obama is the last president of the Yankee empire, and the first president of a truly democratic republic, the United States."
He made these remarks in Iran, to really make sure we noticed him.
The soothimg balms of hope and change just aren't penetrating Hugo's thick, sloped forehead.
And even though Hugo is pushing buttons by traveling to Iran, as long as he doesn't step over the line into Axis of Evil territory from his current Axis of El Vil status, we should ignore him and work to quietly help civic society in Venezuela resist his creeping dictatorship.
Should Hugo cross that line, we should take him down hard.
I won't cry at his funeral. I might even grin.
