Graeme, for your edification; In political jargon, the term “useful idiot” was used to describe Soviet sympathizers in western countries (particularly in the United States) and the alleged attitude of the Soviet government towards them. The implication was that the person in question was naïve, foolish, or in willful denial, and was being cynically used by the Soviet Union, or another Communist state. (wikipedia)

1. Useful idiot 35 up, 24 down

Term invented in Soviet Russia to describe people who blindly supported the likes of Lenin and Stalin while they committed atrocity after atrocity.

Today, it refers to brainwashed liberals and leftists the world over (usually college students that aren’t necessarily idiots, but just misinformed, naive, and ignorant of facts due to being indoctrinated with liberal/socialist propaganda through their public education) who believe that George W. Bush has committed more crimes against humanity than leftist darlings like Saddam Hussain, Yasser Arafat, and Osama Bin Laden, and still defend Communism, the cause of over 100 million deaths to this day. (UrbanDictionary)

Enjoy

C.

According to a White Paper from the Council on Foreign Relations,

With infrastructure aging and very little oil revenue going toward upgrading it–or hiring more experienced engineers–Chavez may have only three to five more years of petrodiplomacy. Venezuela, after Canada, has he second largest known oil reserves outside the Middle East and currently produces between 1.6 million (according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office) and 2.1 million (according to Venezuela) barrels of oil per day (bpd). But since Chavez took power in 1999, the output of PDVSA, the state-run oil company, has dropped by a quarter. With fields such as the Corocoro–discovered in 1999 and estimated to hold 500 million barrels of oil–lying dormant, the issue is not one of supply, but of the lack of machinery, technology, and skilled manpower to access it. Instead of devoting its energies to upgrading equipment and recruiting more workers, PDVSA is busy fulfilling Chavez’s mandate that it spend at least 10 percent of its annual investment budget on social programs, some $1 billion a year. While such social programs bolster his support among Venezuela’s poor, if they prevent him from maintaining the oil industry they may ultimately cripple Chavez’s chances of counteracting U.S. influence in the Western hemisphere. He has “got to be able to maintain the goose that lays the golden eggs” says (Jennifer) McCoy, a Venezuela expert and political science professor at Georgia State University.

Although he appears to be a shrew politician, Hugo Chavez, like so many others on the Left, knows precious little about the world of economics.

The last such leftist thug to grab control of a country and nationalize its economy was Robert Mugabe. Zimbabwe, formerly the “Breadbasket of Africa” currently enjoys an inflation rate of over 2000% and an 80% unemployment rate.

Rob: Marxist ideology is rooted in violence. Marx taught that it was alright for the masses to “rise up in bloody revolution” against the “oppressive capitalists”, and so leftie mindset justifies violence and murder in order to enforce their ideology and to create their utopian dreams. Some utopia!
IMO, this is the point of commonality between the lefties and the jihadists, who also believe in violence and murder to implement their own version of utopia.

I figure insecurity is the leading factor that led Chavez to appoint himself “president” for life.

He’s taking Venezuela on the path of Cuba. And we all know what an economic and industrial bastion of liberty that place is…

Chris Brownell calls Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Ladin “leftist darlings.” An interesting take. Of course it ignores the fact that Hussein was a Fascist in the style of Mussolini and that Bin Laden is a right wing fundamentalist religious loon in the style of… fill in the blank if you must. It also ignores the fact that when Hussein was at his most audacious in ignoring international law, the neo-cons in America were providing him with “aid and comfort” (all the while ignoring voices from those crazy leftists who insisted that Hussein might be a bad guy). It also ignores the fact that the American neo-cons helped to prop up the Taliban and to train Bin Ladin’s crowd despite leftist (primarily feminist) objections that these folks just might be dangerous right wing extremist ideologues. I can only hope that Brownell and folks like him “aren’t necessarily idiots, but just misinformed, naive, and ignorant of facts due to” their faith in wikipedia and UrbanDictionary (the only two sources Brownell cites in his oh so “naïve, foolish, or in willful denial” comment) as quality sources and the only ones anyone needs.

Update on Venezuela – they went from being a net energy exporter to having rolling blackouts.

“Democratic” socialism strikes again.

The “reality based” left should be begging for forgiveness while learning from Hugo Chavez’s failures. But with the left, ideology trumps reality.

Graeme: complete bullshit title. He hasn’t banned any party. All he did was ask the group of parties that support him to join a coalition. The anarchists and the libertarian communists didn’t join him, but still support him. If the anarchists aren’t talking aboutt overthrowing the government, you know it isn’t a dictatorship.

What a great political party, big shock another lefty that likes Chavez.

Hoodlumman,

You raise an interesting question: Why is it that all across the spectrum of autocratic thugs and assorted dictators, the title of “President” is so important? Saddam Hussein, Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Bashar Assad, Robert Mugabe, Mohamar Ghaddafi, Kim Il Sung, the Duvaliers, father and son, all of them could have awarded themselves with whatever title they chose, but all chose to buttress their fraudulent claim to legitimacy by selecting a title that reflects the western form of consensually chosen, representative leadership.

Must be some sort of heavy duty insecurity that drives these guys.

complete bullshit title. He hasn’t banned any party. All he did was ask the group of parties that support him to join a coalition. The anarchists and the libertarian communists didn’t join him, but still support him. If the anarchists aren’t talking aboutt overthrowing the government, you know it isn’t a dictatorship.

It has nothing to do with the opposition parties. Ven. still has many more than the two parties we have here.

As far as the nationalization, that is what he ran on. The people of Ven. voted him in on that platform, so foreign companies can do business under their terms or leave. Simple as that.

But Chavez doesn’t do a whole lot to stop them now, does he?

As for your crack about Homeland Security, where is that happening? Certainly not here in America.