The
Rational Argumentator
Compassionate Socialists Like Joe Kennedy
You've seen his face on TV telling us about "our good friends in Venezuela" who
provide reduced-price heating oil for the poor. Joe shares heart-rending stories
of how his wonderful partnership with South American strongman Hugo Chavez has
helped so many downtrodden Americans. It's all so warm and loving and special.
Isn't Socialism compassionate?
Now for the reality. Hugo Chavez is a
communist who is quickly turning Venezuela into a
prison nation. He has destroyed freedom of the press, nationalized major
privately owned companies, and almost got away with ending elections so he could become
"His Majesty."
A recent State Department report said the human rights
situation in Venezuela for
2006 was characterized by "politicization of the judiciary and harassment of the
media and the political opposition". The report said the human rights violations
in Venezuela
included unlawful killings, disappearances reportedly involving security forces,
torture and abuse of detainees, harsh prison conditions, arbitrary arrests and
detentions, and attacks on the independent media.
The Organization of
American States (OAS) also filed a report on the joys of living in Chavez'
compassionate workers paradise. Said the OAS Report, it was concerned about the
administration of justice in that country, the problem of sicariato (paid
killings) and the "impunity that surrounds reports of extrajudicial executions
at the hands of agents" of the Venezuela government. More than 6,370 people were
victims of homicides committed between 2000 and 2005 by the "agents" of
Venezuelan state security forces.
Oh, and by the way, as Joe and Hugo
show their compassion for the poor in big, bad capitalist America, keep in mind
that in the past Chavez has pushed OPEC to reduce
oil output to drive up costs and fill his coffers. Of course the people most
hurt by such "compassionate" moves are the poor.
Hugo
Chavez has two purposes for supplying the cheap oil - to embarrass the
U.S. government and use it for propaganda to help enforce his stranglehold on his
own citizens. And as usual there's a hand useful idiot like Joe Kennedy to help
him do it.
Oil and our need for it is all Chavez. The name of the
Venezuelan oil outlet in the nation is CITGO. I don't buy it - ever.
Visit Tom DeWeese's Blog - DeWeese's Daily Dose
Tom
DeWeese is one of the nation’s leading advocates of individual liberty, free
enterprise, property rights and back-to-basics education. For over thirty years
he has fought against government oppression.
In
1988, Mr. DeWeese established the American Policy Center (APC), an activist think tank
headquartered in
Mr.
DeWeese makes regular appearances on radio and television talk shows and has
articles published in several national publications.
Click here to return to TRA's Issue CXLV Index.
Learn about Mr. Stolyarov's novel, Eden against the Colossus, here.Read Mr. Stolyarov's new comprehensive treatise, A Rational Cosmology, explicating such terms as the universe, matter, space, time, sound, light, life, consciousness, and volition, here.
Disclaimer: The presence of the following advertisement serves as an attempt to eventually enable The Rational Argumentator to generate sufficient revenues to cover the costs of its domain name. TRA does not foresee making an actual profit with these advertisements for a long time. The advertisement does not necessarily reflect the views of TRA or any of its contributors, and the readers are encouraged to judge it on its own merits.