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Hugo Comes Alive
Is he officially beyond parody yet? Hugo Chavez goes all Cornel West on his subjects:
President Hugo Chavez has released a CD of traditional Venezuelan folk music that features him singing, and which will be distributed free inside the country, presidential sources said.
The CD, titled "Canciones de Siempre" which roughly translates to "Songs For All Time," includes tunes that Chavez has sung during his regular Sunday "Hello, President" television and radio program.
At the close of each broadcast, Chavez regularly sings folk songs along with guest musicians and dancers.
Sources close to Chavez said the CD will be available free in Venezuela.
In other Bolivarian news, Venezuelan blogger Miguel Octavio reports that Sunday was "a bad day for democracy and rights" in his country, with the government ignoring a court injunction and expropriating park land, threatening to shut down private hospitals and private schools, and removing an opposition banner from the side of a Caracas highway.
I dunno Miguel, sounds like a pretty ordinary day in Chavezland to me.
|10.2.07 @ 4:06PM|#
We finally get a fresh tinpot dictator in our own
backyard......and he turns out to be Slim Whitman!
I miss Dr. Evil!
|10.2.07 @ 4:07PM|#
He also was railing against 15 year olds getting breast implants
- it's apparently some right of passage thing.
In America, giving speeches concerning 15 year old girls' breasts
would probably be a career-killer for national politicians.
|10.2.07 @ 4:11PM|#
...or maybe, as the actual Venezuelan wrote, it actually was a particularly bad day, and your perception of what an ordinary day down there is like there isn't terribly accurate.
|10.2.07 @ 4:12PM|#
Not if you're in Oklahoma, tarran.
In Oklahoma, talking about teenaged lesbians having sex in high
school lavatories gets you re-elected to the US Senate.
VM|10.2.07 @ 4:13PM|#
Is he officially beyond parody yet? Hugo Chavez goes all
Cornel West John Ashcroft on his subjects
:)
Urkobold™|10.2.07 @ 4:17PM|#
CHAVEZ IS A FOOL. HE SHOULD USE HIS OIL WEALTH TO ENHANCE THE
BOSOMS OF ALL WOMEN. FIRST VENEZUELA, THEN THE WORLD!
JOE, YOU IRISH DRUNKARD, NO MAN HAS EVER BEEN ELECTED IN THE UNITED
STATES WITHOUT KOWTOWING TO THE ALL-MIGHTY TEATS OF AMERICA. DOUBT
THE URKOBOLD? THEN WHY ARE WOMEN GROWING EVER MORE BOUNTIFUL IN THE
UNITED STATES?
JBinMO|10.2.07 @ 4:17PM|#
I saw where a member of congress from Oaklahoma accused the Weather Channel of useing scare tactics to get people to watch.
|10.2.07 @ 4:22PM|#
"I saw where a member of congress from Oaklahoma accused the
Weather Channel of useing scare tactics to get people to
watch."
I don't know about scare tactics, but they certainly do lie and
blow shit out of proportion. I live on the East coast, and whenever
a hurricane is headed in this direction one of their stooges is
standing on the beach about 10 miles from my doorstep giving
updates. If things aren't bad enough they get creative.
VM|10.2.07 @ 4:22PM|#
joe | October 2, 2007, 4:12pm | #
In Oklahoma, talking about teenaged lesbians having sex in high school lavatories gets you re-elected to the US Senate.
I'll be in Stevo's bunk...
|10.2.07 @ 4:40PM|#
JLM,
Look out! It's the Storm of the Century!
...like the local news channels are any different.
|10.2.07 @ 4:41PM|#
Moose,
Thanks. I don't know why Moynihan felt it necessary to resurrect
that gapped toothed dildo after I had the good fortune to forget
about him and his race baiting.
robc|10.2.07 @ 4:42PM|#
joe,
Is this the incident that finally allows you to say Venezuela is
now a dictatorship and not a democracy?
|10.2.07 @ 4:43PM|#
JLM,
Take a deep breath and relax. You need to view the Weather Channel
for what it is; performance art.
|10.2.07 @ 4:43PM|#
As is so typical the Urkobold™ gets incisively to the heart of the matter while you other hacks thrash and flail in your own sea of unchained metaphors.
|10.2.07 @ 4:46PM|#
Chavez is living out every young man's fantasies, like he has a life list with little boxes to check off. "Paratrooper," "Rebel leader," "President," "TV star," "Rock star,"... what's left? Directing and starring in an action movie?
VM|10.2.07 @ 4:47PM|#
Warren - :)
Don't fergot about the eye candy on the Weather Channel.
that Alexandra "Dick" Steele sure was a biker chick in her day!
|10.2.07 @ 4:59PM|#
Here's a blast from the past - the Imhofe / Weather Channel /
haiku thread.
PS - I think Hugo should do an album of recent Latina hits in drag.
I'd love to see his version of Hips Don't Lie!
Miguel Octavio|10.2.07 @ 5:02PM|#
I know Michael, but I live here and some days are worse than others.
|10.2.07 @ 5:02PM|#
Look out! It's the Storm of the Century!
...like the local news channels are any different.
If the TV putz says 1-2 feet of snow, you can reliably assume 4=6
inches. Hell yes, it's all about the ratings.
|10.2.07 @ 5:03PM|#
Just to play devil's advocate for a second, maybe Hugo is actually a really good singer?
|10.2.07 @ 5:06PM|#
L_I_T,
Why guess when you can judge for
yourself?
I friggin' love the Intertubes. Is there nothing they
cannot do?
Paul|10.2.07 @ 5:07PM|#
includes tunes that Chavez has sung during his regular
Sunday "Hello, President" television and radio program.
It's the Pappy O'Dannel Flour Hour! He'd appreciate it you'd eat
his farina, and vote him a second term!
Paul|10.2.07 @ 5:10PM|#
Is this the incident that finally allows you to say
Venezuela is now a dictatorship and not a democracy?
Robc, they voted in their dictator, it's democracy. According to
some who... never mind.
|10.2.07 @ 5:11PM|#
Since Papa Hugo is never going to relinquish power, anyway, I think that he should rewrite the Venezuelan constitution to do away with elections and replace them with Venezuelan Idol. The winner would get to be president! Naturally, Chavez would always "win", but it would certainly be more entertaining than conducting fake elections or simply abolishing them altogether.
|10.2.07 @ 5:32PM|#
My coworkers would definitely get mixed signals if they saw me playing a video of Hugo Chavez singing.
Damian P.|10.2.07 @ 5:55PM|#
The Third-World demagogue who thinks he's a singer, and the
actor who think's he's a crusading journalist. It's a match made in
Heaven:
http://hotair.com/archives/2007/10/02/video-spicoli-defends-chavezs-shutdown-of-opposition-tv-station/
|10.2.07 @ 6:00PM|#
L_I_T,
It's short. I've heard worse voices. I bet Bush can't sing as well.
I wonder which world leader or "leader" has the best singing
voice?
|10.2.07 @ 6:25PM|#
Jennifer,
How much would you pay for Hugo's greatest hits? Ten dollars?
Twenty? But wait! There's more!
|10.2.07 @ 6:49PM|#
"Sources close to Chavez said the CD will be available free in
Venezuela."
At least it's priced what it probably is worth.
|10.2.07 @ 7:01PM|#
"Sources close to Chavez said the CD will be available free
in Venezuela."
That makes me wonder, what is the maket penetration of CD players
in Venezuela, anyway.
Pro Libertate, betcha can't find that on the intertubes! ;-)
edna|10.2.07 @ 7:28PM|#
just curious, who's taller, hugo or kim? there's a spooky sort of resemblance in their activities. it's all pretty funny, unless you have to live there.
|10.2.07 @ 7:50PM|#
"just curious, who's taller, hugo or kim? there's a spooky sort
of resemblance in their activities."
WTF? I don't think you can compare Kim and Chavez. Chavez was
democratically elected, for one thing. He doesn't immediately kill
his opposition either, in fact there are opposition papers and such
operating in Chavezland. Comparing the two is drinking a massive
amount of Kool-aid...
Besides, one would think libertarians might like his screwing of
the labor unions in his country...
|10.2.07 @ 7:55PM|#
I might also point out to edna that while he is certainly an
illiberal bastard, Hugo actually let's ALL the people he rules over
have some say in the government that rules them, unlike some
nations that edna really, really likes :).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli-occupied_territories#Applicability_of_the_term_.22occupied.22
|10.2.07 @ 8:10PM|#
Joe,
"...like the local news channels are any different."
True, but the locals that are their audience can look out the
window and see that they are full of crap. When I see TWC (or any
other national outlet) spinning bullshit I know that 99% of the
audience has no way of knowing that it is an exaggeration.
One time I saw a live report with Jim Cantori down at Wrightsville
Beach pointing at the surf by a pier (referenced against pier
pilings) and noting that the surf was rising steadily, strongly
inferring that a storm surge or heavier surf had something to do
with it. I surf and I had been watching for a storm swell to show
all day, and conditions had not deteriorated at all. People were
still walking all over the beach. What he was pointing out
was.......no shit.....the tide was rising normally.
Another time I saw somebody from Fox at WB telling their audience
that things were not bad right now because the eye of the storm was
overhead, but they would be getting worse again soon. That
particular storm brushed the coast here and hit up by the outer
banks somewhere later- the eye of the storm was never overhead
here. Our worst conditions were in the afternoon and when I saw
this report it was basically over here.
|10.2.07 @ 8:43PM|#
From Human Rights Watch's Country Reports for 2006 for Venezula
the following problems are noted (http://www.hrw.org/):
1. Undermining of independence of the judiciary
2. Undermining of freedom of expression (though it notes "The radio
and television law has not led to a clampdown on the audiovisual
media.")
3. Police killings (literally thousands over the past several year,
though it notes this problem predated Chavez)
4. Poor prison conditions
For Israel the following problems, same year:
1. Lebanon Invasion: "In its conduct of hostilities, the Israel
Defense Forces (IDF) repeatedly violated the laws of war by failing
to distinguish between combatants and civilians" (1100 dead, 4,000
injured, 1/3 children).
2. Cutting off the Territories after Hamas' victory ("Israeli
authorities expanded already extensive, often arbitrary
restrictions on freedom of movement in the West Bank and East
Jerusalem")
3. Palestinians killed ("As of October, the number of Palestinians
killed in 2006 by Israeli security forces had reached 449, at least
half of whom were not participating in hostilities at the time of
their deaths, raising serious concerns for civilian
protection").
4. The security wall ("Currently, 85 percent of the wall's route
extends into the West Bank; if the wall were to become a permanent
border, it would mean Israel's annexation of approximately 10
percent of the West Bank, including almost all major settlements
there, all of which are illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention,
as well as some of the most productive Palestinian farmlands and
key water resources").
5. Discriminatory laws applied to Israeli Arabs ("Israel continued
to apply a host of laws and policies that discriminate on the basis
of ethnic or national origin").
Is chavez about as tall as sharon?
|10.2.07 @ 8:49PM|#
If you're wandering what HRW says about N. Korea:
"North Korea allowed neither the freedom of information,
association, movement, and religion, nor organized political
opposition, labor activism, or independent civil society. Arbitrary
arrests, torture, lack of due process and fair trials, and
executions remain of grave concern. Collective punishment of entire
families for "political crimes" remains the norm. North Korea
continues to block access by international human rights
organizations."
|10.2.07 @ 9:43PM|#
J sub D,
No, I have failed. But that's an indictment of me, not of the
Intertubial Superhighway.
hale|10.2.07 @ 10:06PM|#
Politicians doing art is always a bad idea, especially music. It's hard to take a guy's speeches on the need for public sacrifice seriously when you know he's the same one singing a badly-disguised Nashville knock-off about "the eagle soaring" or whatever horseshit these sensibility-retarded specimens inevitably crank out.
|10.2.07 @ 11:05PM|#
Is this the incident that finally allows you to say
Venezuela is now a dictatorship and not a democracy?
On planet joe, its our fault that Chavez turned from a
mild-mannered populist reformer into a dictator, because we opposed
him as a would-be dictator.
Or something.
|10.2.07 @ 11:06PM|#
Chavez is a thug|10.2.07 @ 11:11PM|#
"joe,
Is this the incident that finally allows you to say Venezuela is
now a dictatorship and not a democracy?"
Hahaha, think again.
Chavez is a thug|10.2.07 @ 11:21PM|#
"http://hotair.com/archives/2007/10/02/video-spicoli-defends-chavezs-shutdown-of-opposition-tv-station/"
I think joe wrote Sean Penn's talking points. And since I'm sure
Sean didn't attribute what he was saying to joe, that means they
both have something in common: passing other people's original
thought of as their own.
Chavez is a thug|10.2.07 @ 11:22PM|#
"I might also point out to edna that while he is certainly an
illiberal bastard, Hugo actually let's ALL the people he rules over
have some say in the government that rules them, unlike some
nations that edna really, really likes :).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli-occupied_territories#Applicability_of_the_term_.22occupied"
Im glad you cited Wikipedia, because it makes it that much easier
to discount anything you write.
Gahan|10.3.07 @ 2:54AM|#
Am I the only one who thinks we should be encouraging Chavez's
music career?
"That was brilliant, Hugo! Screw the presidency, you should be
taking your singing act on the road! Your talents are wasted in
politics."
Gahan|10.3.07 @ 3:12AM|#
Maybe we could get him to do a full-length rendition of HMS Pinafore while we sneak all his Russian tanks out of the country.
|10.3.07 @ 9:40AM|#
robc,
As long as there are still free and fair elections, it's a
democracy, even if an illiberal one.
That's the ball we need to keep our eye on. If the government
remains accountable at the ballot box, the rest will follow.
|10.3.07 @ 9:43AM|#
I question whether Chicago had "free and fair elections" for most of the 20th century, so it's hardly irrational to question whether Chavez, who acts authoritarian in other ways, wouldn't monkey with elections. If Daley could do it, why couldn't Chavez? Don't they have dead people in Venezuela?
|10.3.07 @ 10:08AM|#
It's not irrational at all, Pro Libertate. The man stages a coup
back in the day.
I share the concern about the threat Chavez poses to Venezuelan
democracy. That's why I think it was so stupid to support the coup,
denounce the international elections groups who have confirmed that
the last two elections were legitimate, and otherwise undermine our
ability to credibly criticize him when he does intrude on the
democratic system.
We should have made the continuity of constitutional democracy, not
opposition to one guy, the central plank of our policy towards
Venezuela - not because we don't recognize the threat he poses to
democracy, but because we do.
Julia_1984|10.3.07 @ 10:14AM|#
Joe.. you said:
"As long as there are still free and fair elections, it's a
democracy, even if an illiberal one".
The thing is that the elections are no longer free or fair. The
secret of the vote its not a guarantee due to the machines used for
voting, so many goverment workers and people who have benefits from
social programs are forced to vote for Chavez unless they want to
lose everything they have. About fair, the possible fraud on any of
the elections has been a topic discussion, starting with the
unequality of the government propaganda in front of the opposition
one, and the attacks against the opposition in a way that the track
to an opposition leader to elections its also a legal battle
sometimes... And I could go on and on on this issue...
|10.3.07 @ 10:16AM|#
Well, okay then! Though the democratic feature may be less of a
feature if the citizens' votes don't really matter.
I do think we'd be better off generally supporting our ideals in
foreign policy, or at least admitting openly that we're holding our
nose (like we were forced to in the Cold War) when we don't.
Meddling like those meddling kids and dog has failed over and over
again. Chavez isn't worth much more than our regret that he's an
authoritarian. We make him stronger by worrying about him so
much.
|10.3.07 @ 10:50AM|#
Actually thug-chavez a recent article in, I think, Science,
showed wikipedia to be about as accurate as major print
encyclopedias.
But of course I would never rely on that alone, as my 3 posts from
HRW demonstrate. But I realize that as my elementary sschool
teacher used ta say "reading is hard!"
|10.3.07 @ 10:51AM|#
"The secret of the vote its not a guarantee due to the machines used for voting, so many goverment workers and people who have benefits from social programs are forced to vote for Chavez unless they want to lose everything they have." Hey, as the hard core libertarians here say, they could always walk away from those jobs and benefits and work somewhere else ;)
|10.3.07 @ 11:04AM|#
Julia_1984 wrote:
"The thing is that the elections are no longer free or fair. The
secret of the vote its not a guarantee due to the machines used for
voting, so many goverment workers and people who have benefits from
social programs are forced to vote for Chavez unless they want to
lose everything they have. About fair, the possible fraud on any of
the elections has been a topic discussion, starting with the
unequality of the government propaganda in front of the opposition
one, and the attacks against the opposition in a way that the track
to an opposition leader to elections its also a legal battle
sometimes... And I could go on and on on this issue..."
And so could I.... Julia you must live here in Venezuela as I
do.
Joe,
That is the point: most Venezuelans believe the elections are
neither free nor fair. Many do not participate because they do not
trust the CNE (National Electorate Council), while other are forced
to vote for Chavez. I also could go on and on...
|10.3.07 @ 11:07AM|#
Mr. Nice Guy,
Was your last post sarcasm? Im not sure but, do you have ANY idea
how difficult it is to find work in Venezuela? It is NOTHING like
the US, Im sad to say.
|10.3.07 @ 11:54AM|#
If I could wave my magic wand, every country on Earth would have
a liberal political system with a market-based economy. They can
destroy it if they want, but it would be nice for people to have a
chance to escape all of the oppression and corruption. If only for
a little while.
Unfortunately, my magic wand is busy producing bars of gold to
enrichenfy me.
|10.3.07 @ 11:58AM|#
Julia 1984,
I don't doubt the truthfulness of what you are saying. It sounds
like American politics in the 1800s. Still, the same things were
said prior to the most recent election, which was certified as
fair-but-flawed. It would be best to talk about Venezuelan
democracy, and any country's democracy, in terms of a range of
values, rather than as a binary yes-or-no question.
Pro Libertate,
I do think we'd be better off generally supporting our ideals
in foreign policy, or at least admitting openly that we're holding
our nose (like we were forced to in the Cold War) when we
don't. Absolutely. And to expand on that point, we should be
doing so on two axes - the legitimacy of the democratic process,
and the decency of the leader. When we say democracy is dead
because we don't like who won, we're undermining democracy. We're
destroying the village to save it.
rana,
His last post was sarcasm. It was meant to point out the absurdity
of the "you can just a new job if you don't like the old one"
position some libertarians take when issues like discrimination and
sexual harrassment come up.
As for the confidence of Venezuelans in the electoral process,
there seem to be two problems: actual problems with the electoral
process, and the sour grapes of the (for now) opposition party at
the fact that they are, honest to God, the minority party at the
moment. I think it was a huge mistake for them to boycott the last
election.
|10.3.07 @ 12:33PM|#
joe,
I think my emphasis would be more on promoting liberal values
internationally than on promoting democracy itself. Granted, those
go together in many cases, but human rights and liberty can get
solidly trashed in a democracy, too. Even a real one.
We can dislike leaders, policies, and even aspects of a political
system in any country and still remain friendly. Look at the U.S.
and certain European countries. Rhetorically, you'd think we were
radically different. In reality, we're so similar that terrorists
think bombing any of us sends the same message.
|10.3.07 @ 12:59PM|#
"It would be best to talk about Venezuelan democracy, and any
country's democracy, in terms of a range of values, rather than as
a binary yes-or-no question"
OK, I just want to make sure I get this right: you are saying that
we should talk about whether or not Venezuela is a democracy based
on its "democratic values"? If you were to ask most Venezuelans,
they would say they strongly believe in democracy and freedom. But
how are these "values" expressed "democratically", if not through a
free and fair election? Even more importantly, the people's belief
and trust that that democratic system is ACTUALLY "free and fair"?
This is FUNDAMENTAL in any democracy.
I would not go as far as to say that Chavez is a full-fledged
dictator (although he is certainly on his way to becoming one) but
I would say Venezuela is no longer a free democracy.
Joe, you may be correct that the opposition is the minority "party"
but it is PRESENTLY true that Chavez supporters are now, officially
and for the first time, the MINORITY. Support for Chavez is at an
all time low.
|10.3.07 @ 1:07PM|#
Joe,
I do agree that boycotting the last election was a mistake. I think
Venezuelan's, in general, although sincere, are politically
"naive". The opposition party thinks they are doing everything
right but the reality is that Chavez is far more astute and
malicious than they can imagine. The opposition is honestly shocked
everytime Chavez pulls a fast one on them. (BTW, this has become a
running joke for many venezuelan comedians).
|10.3.07 @ 1:12PM|#
rana,
I think there's been a miscommunication.
By "range of values," I was talking about "scores." As in, "On a
scale of 1-10..." Numeric values. I was contrasting this to a
binary, yes/no question.
Joe, you may be correct that the opposition is the minority
"party" but it is PRESENTLY true that Chavez supporters are now,
officially and for the first time, the MINORITY. Support for Chavez
is at an all time low. That's good to hear. I've been
predicting such a thing would happen eventually, given Chavez's
idiotic policies and the kitchen-table concerns of most of the
electorate. I'm glad to hear that the juice he's gotten out of the
"the Yankess tried to overthrow me!" line of argument is running
dry.
|10.3.07 @ 1:38PM|#
"I'm glad to hear that the juice he's gotten out of the "the
Yankess tried to overthrow me!" line of argument is running
dry."
Sorry to report that the Yankees (i.e. the evil capitalist empire)
are still blamed for every malady in Venezuela.
Chavez is still using that line of argument and will continue to do
so because there are enough idiots here who believe him. He claims
he needs to strengthen the military, buy high-power weaponry, and
arm civilians so we can fight against the evil capitalist empire
that soon will come to invade Veneuela.
Truth is (i think we all know how it goes), that he will use the
military to stay in power once the "pueblo" has had enough.
Paramilitary and terrorist groups have increased in Venezuela.
Kidnappings and murder is also at an all-time high.
Joe, I hope your prediction is correct.
|10.3.07 @ 2:14PM|#
BTW, When are you Yanks going to come invade us? A few of us will greet you with sandwiches and coffee. ;)
|10.3.07 @ 2:26PM|#
Hey, now! We're not falling for that again!
Lemme go check the translator, because there's at least a 50-50
chance that "sandwiches" is Spanish for "rocket propelled
grenades."
Anyhoo, I know Hugo is still flogging that horse. I was just glad
to hear that it doesn't work as well as it used to.
I sincerely hope your prediction about what Chavez would do when he
eventually loses is incorrect.
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