What I don’t understand is why MOST of Americans refuse to rationalize and see that the Bush Adm. has an agenda and the republican vote, whether religous or not, was used for atrocities?  I saw it all along, yet most people around me think it’s all lies.  SERIOUSLY…Bush USES RELIGION to gain your vote.  PLEASE THINK RATIONALLY….recognize this problem.  EDUCATE yourself and CARE.  Read, study, analyze.  WATCH link tv, or freespeech tv.  These resources are independent, not backed by rich, huge, coporations or big pharma for a reason.  I implore you to be rational!  Linguistics are used to twist the facts!  BUSH labels anyone who makes waves for his agenda at hand to control the world a TERRORIST!  Realize this, and you’re well on your way to discovering the truth about a lot of political things that aren’t making sense.

PEACE FOR ALL….help to end the suffering and injustices of the world through education.

I live and work as a reporter in Mexico. Here, politicians get more milage out of bashing Chavez than they do Bush.

Chavez is the reason the Mexican right maintained power. His refusal to abate a low-level feud with President Vicente Fox was capitalized on by the conservative National Action Party. Videos of Chavez disrespecting Fox were played alongside ones of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador doing the same during the recent election - which was NOT fraudulent and not a rerun of Florida 2000. Crafty Republicans would have done the same with Democrats says terse things - and then move to Chavez’s speech - if the Democrats had not rushed to Bush’s defense.

The international left should seriously reconsider Hugo Chavez and his tactics. Does disliking George W. Bush mean cozying up to such people?

The courage to speak the truth Mr. Chavez. I commend you!

What is pathetic is the MSM here spending time denouncing President Chavez’s Devil comments, while ignoring the fact that it is Bush who started this type rhetoric with the “Axis of Evil” analogy. Also ignoring
Some of Bush’s other comments concerning Chavez , such as calling him a populace dictator.
I had to laugh at CNN’s feeble attempt to save Bush’s face by accusing Chavez of censoring his own press well being able to speak his mind here in the U.S.
Venezuela as a very press and there are many papers that come out regularly against Chavez and his policies.
CNN was again trying to play on the general ignorance of the   American public by passing off Pro Bush propaganda as fact.
Things as usual.

>>> I also get a little worried when any politician starts framing a debate in strict religious good-v-evil terms

Err:  Chavez was “joking”  Didn’t you see how serious his face was?  See Democracy Now on the day of the interview. They had a commentator saying that was part of Hugo’s sense of humor. Every Sunday he does a show in which he talks, sings, and tells “jokes”.

Chavez uses a bit too much Noam style hyperbole, he’ll just play into the propagandist’s hands, and people will miss his intelligence and reasonable policies. He’s a breath of fresh air, I’d rather he was my leader than Blair, but he needs to use better tactics if he hopes to pierce the spin-zones that imprisons most Americans. I’d love him to (in English) directly address the American people and show them what a real leader is, and talk some sense into them, as he clearly wants to.

Chomsky was featured on a BBC interview yesterday. When asked what he thought of the controversial speech by Chávez, he said it was controversial only in the United States. He felt that Chavez was only voicing what almost everyone in the rest of the world felt.

At the end of his speech, Chávez received a standing ovation going on for more than five minutes. It was so unusual that the president of the U.N. had to request that the applause be stopped so that they could continue with other speakers.

I know he’s a bit dramatic sometimes, but I love the guy. ¡Viva Chávez!

You know, Chavez may be right about a lot of stuff - I’m all for populist leftist leaders - but geez, walking into the UN, hoping for a seat on the security council, then calling the leader of one of the permanent security council members “The Devil?”  Not a diplomatically smart move.

It’s like going to a party, telling the host his house is really ugly, then asking if you can borrow $50.  Pretty awkward and not the best approach.

I also get a little worried when any politician starts framing a debate in strict religious good-v-evil terms.  Chavez, Bush, Reagan, whoever…once you’ve defined yourself as on the side of a righteous god (and your enemy as incarnate evil) it becomes way too easy to morally justify some reprehensible things.

Someone here mentioned the “scummy liberals like John Stewart.”

People like John Stewart and Bill Maher are neither ‘liberal’ nor ‘conservative.’ They do a job for the Illuminati/World Bankers/Skull and Bones etc. They may not be aware of it (Stewart might be) but they do the job nonetheless.

They help both sides -just like the media is neither liberal nor conservative. They do and say what is needed for the powers-that-be to dominate the world through war, the normalization of homosexuality, break down of the family, vulgarity, illegal immigration, and Godlessness. The mainstream “news” promotes war and false patriotism, and the so-called ‘liberals’ on TV do the rest.

G. Anderson, I like the jail idea better. It’s the American way… break the law… go to jail. Very simple concept to me.

I think it’s funny that people are taking such “offense” to Chavez’s comments. Who’s been pointing his finger at the “Axis of Evil”. Isn’t that calling entire countries “the devil”? Chavez was clearing making a joke, of which many people in the UN got a good chuckle as I heard it went. He got a long ovation after his speech.
They only take offense because they know he’s powerful. He’s a threat to their empire.

Truthdigger of the Week that Truthdig Can’t Name: Hugo Chavez

PRESIDENT CHAVEZ DELIVERS REMARKS AT THE U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY
SEPTEMBER 20, 2006
SPEAKER: HUGO CHAVEZ, PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA

“Representatives of the governments of the world, good morning to all of you. First of all, I would like to invite you, very respectfully, to those who have not read this book, to read it.

Noam Chomsky, one of the most prestigious American and world intellectuals, Noam Chomsky, and this is one of his most recent books, ‘Hegemony or Survival: The Imperialist Strategy of the United States.’” [Holds up book, waves it in front of General Assembly.] “It’s an excellent book to help us understand what has been happening in the world throughout the 20th century, and what’s happening now, and the greatest threat looming over our planet.

The hegemonic pretensions of the American empire are placing at risk the very survival of the human species. We continue to warn you about this danger and we appeal to the people of the United States and the world to halt this threat, which is like a sword hanging over our heads. I had considered reading from this book, but, for the sake of time,” [flips through the pages, which are numerous] “I will just leave it as a recommendation.

It reads easily, it is a very good book, I’m sure Madame [President] you are familiar with it. It appears in English, in Russian, in Arabic, in German. I think that the first people who should read this book are our brothers and sisters in the United States, because their threat is right in their own house.

The devil is right at home. The devil, the devil himself, is right in the house.

“And the devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the devil came here. Right here.” [crosses himself] “And it smells of sulfur still today.”

Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world.

I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday’s statement made by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world.

An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: “The Devil’s Recipe.”

As Chomsky says here, clearly and in depth, the American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its system of domination. And we cannot allow them to do that. We cannot allow world dictatorship to be consolidated.

CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The world parent’s statement—cynical, hypocritical, full of this imperial hypocrisy from the need they have to control everything.

They say they want to impose a democratic model. But that’s their democratic model. It’s the false democracy of elites, and, I would say, a very original democracy that’s imposed by weapons and bombs and firing weapons.

What a strange democracy. Aristotle might not recognize it or others who are at the root of democracy.

What type of democracy do you impose with marines and bombs?

The president of the United States, yesterday, said to us, right here, in this room, and I’m quoting, “Anywhere you look, you hear extremists telling you can escape from poverty and recover your dignity through violence, terror and martyrdom.”

Wherever he looks, he sees extremists. And you, my brother—he looks at your color, and he says, oh, there’s an extremist. Evo Morales, the worthy president of Bolivia, looks like an extremist to him.

The imperialists see extremists everywhere. It’s not that we are extremists. It’s that the world is waking up. It’s waking up all over. And people are standing up.

I have the feeling, dear world dictator, that you are going to live the rest of your days as a nightmare because the rest of us are standing up, all those who are rising up against American imperialism, who are shouting for equality, for respect, for the sovereignty of nations.

CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Yes, you can call us extremists, but we are rising up against the empire, against the model of domination.

The president then—and this he said himself, he said: “I have come to speak directly to the populations in the Middle East, to tell them that my country wants peace.”

That’s true. If we walk in the streets of the Bronx, if we walk around New York, Washington, San Diego, in any city, San Antonio, San Francisco, and we ask individuals, the citizens of the United States, what does this country want? Does it want peace? They’ll say yes.

But the government doesn’t want peace. The government of the United States doesn’t want peace. It wants to exploit its system of exploitation, of pillage, of hegemony through war.

It wants peace. But what’s happening in Iraq? What happened in Lebanon? In Palestine? What’s happening? What’s happened over the last 100 years in Latin America and in the world? And now threatening Venezuela—new threats against Venezuela, against Iran?

He spoke to the people of Lebanon. Many of you, he said, have seen how your homes and communities were caught in the crossfire. How cynical can you get? What a capacity to lie shamefacedly. The bombs in Beirut with millimetric precision?

CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): This is crossfire? He’s thinking of a western, when people would shoot from the hip and somebody would be caught in the crossfire.

This is imperialist, fascist, assassin, genocidal, the empire and Israel firing on the people of Palestine and Lebanon. That is what happened. And now we hear, “We’re suffering because we see homes destroyed.’

The president of the United States came to talk to the peoples—to the peoples of the world. He came to say—I brought some documents with me, because this morning I was reading some statements, and I see that he talked to the people of Afghanistan, the people of Lebanon, the people of Iran. And he addressed all these peoples directly.

And you can wonder, just as the president of the United States addresses those peoples of the world, what would those peoples of the world tell him if they were given the floor? What would they have to say?

And I think I have some inkling of what the peoples of the south, the oppressed people think. They would say, “Yankee imperialist, go home.” I think that is what those people would say if they were given the microphone and if they could speak with one voice to the American imperialists.

And that is why, Madam President, my colleagues, my friends, last year we came here to this same hall as we have been doing for the past eight years, and we said something that has now been confirmed—fully, fully confirmed.

CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I don’t think anybody in this room could defend the system. Let’s accept—let’s be honest. The U.N. system, born after the Second World War, collapsed. It’s worthless.

Oh, yes, it’s good to bring us together once a year, see each other, make statements and prepare all kinds of long documents, and listen to good speeches, like Abel’s (ph) yesterday, or President Mullah’s (ph). Yes, it’s good for that.

And there are a lot of speeches, and we’ve heard lots from the president of Sri Lanka, for instance, and the president of Chile.

But we, the assembly, have been turned into a merely deliberative organ. We have no power, no power to make any impact on the terrible situation in the world. And that is why Venezuela once again proposes, here, today, 20 September, that we re-establish the United Nations.

Last year, Madam, we made four modest proposals that we felt to be crucially important. We have to assume the responsibility our heads of state, our ambassadors, our representatives, and we have to discuss it.

The first is expansion, and Mullah (ph) talked about this yesterday right here. The Security Council, both as it has permanent and non-permanent categories, (inaudible) developing countries and LDCs must be given access as new permanent members. That’s step one.

CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Second, effective methods to address and resolve world conflicts, transparent decisions.

Point three, the immediate suppression—and that is something everyone’s calling for—of the anti-democratic mechanism known as the veto, the veto on decisions of the Security Council.

Let me give you a recent example. The immoral veto of the United States allowed the Israelis, with impunity, to destroy Lebanon. Right in front of all of us as we stood there watching, a resolution in the council was prevented.

Fourthly, we have to strengthen, as we’ve always said, the role and the powers of the secretary general of the United Nations.

Yesterday, the secretary general practically gave us his speech of farewell. And he recognized that over the last 10 years, things have just gotten more complicated; hunger, poverty, violence, human rights violations have just worsened. That is the tremendous consequence of the collapse of the United Nations system and American hegemonistic pretensions.

Madam, Venezuela a few years ago decided to wage this battle within the United Nations by recognizing the United Nations, as members of it that we are, and lending it our voice, our thinking.

Our voice is an independent voice to represent the dignity and the search for peace and the reformulation of the international system; to denounce persecution and aggression of hegemonistic forces on the planet.

CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): This is how Venezuela has presented itself. Bolivar’s home has sought a nonpermanent seat on the Security Council.

Let’s see. Well, there’s been an open attack by the U.S. government, an immoral attack, to try and prevent Venezuela from being freely elected to a post in the Security Council.

The imperium is afraid of truth, is afraid of independent voices. It calls us extremists, but they are the extremists.

And I would like to thank all the countries that have kindly announced their support for Venezuela, even though the ballot is a secret one and there’s no need to announce things.

But since the imperium has attacked, openly, they strengthened the convictions of many countries. And their support strengthens us.

Mercosur, as a bloc, has expressed its support, our brothers in Mercosur. Venezuela, with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, is a full member of Mercosur.

And many other Latin American countries, CARICOM, Bolivia have expressed their support for Venezuela. The Arab League, the full Arab League has voiced its support. And I am immensely grateful to the Arab world, to our Arab brothers, our Caribbean brothers, the African Union. Almost all of Africa has expressed its support for Venezuela and countries such as Russia or China and many others.

CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I thank you all warmly on behalf of Venezuela, on behalf of our people, and on behalf of the truth, because Venezuela, with a seat on the Security Council, will be expressing not only Venezuela’s thoughts, but it will also be the voice of all the peoples of the world, and we will defend dignity and truth.

Over and above all of this, Madam President, I think there are reasons to be optimistic. A poet would have said “helplessly optimistic,” because over and above the wars and the bombs and the aggressive and the preventive war and the destruction of entire peoples, one can see that a new era is dawning.

As Sylvia Rodriguez (ph) says, the era is giving birth to a heart. There are alternative ways of thinking. There are young people who think differently. And this has already been seen within the space of a mere decade. It was shown that the end of history was a totally false assumption, and the same was shown about Pax Americana and the establishment of the capitalist neo-liberal world. It has been shown, this system, to generate mere poverty. Who believes in it now?

What we now have to do is define the future of the world. Dawn is breaking out all over. You can see it in Africa and Europe and Latin America and Oceanea. I want to emphasize that optimistic vision.

We have to strengthen ourselves, our will to do battle, our awareness. We have to build a new and better world.

Venezuela joins that struggle, and that’s why we are threatened. The U.S. has already planned, financed and set in motion a coup in Venezuela, and it continues to support coup attempts in Venezuela and elsewhere.

CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): President Michelle Bachelet reminded us just a moment ago of the horrendous assassination of the former foreign minister, Orlando Letelier.

And I would just add one thing: Those who perpetrated this crime are free. And that other event where an American citizen also died were American themselves. They were CIA killers, terrorists.

And we must recall in this room that in just a few days there will be another anniversary. Thirty years will have passed from this other horrendous terrorist attack on the Cuban plane, where 73 innocents died, a Cubana de Aviacion airliner.

And where is the biggest terrorist of this continent who took the responsibility for blowing up the plane? He spent a few years in jail in Venezuela. Thanks to CIA and then government officials, he was allowed to escape, and he lives here in this country, protected by the government.

And he was convicted. He has confessed to his crime. But the U.S. government has double standards. It protects terrorism when it wants to.

And this is to say that Venezuela is fully committed to combating terrorism and violence. And we are one of the people who are fighting for peace.

Luis Posada Carriles is the name of that terrorist who is protected here. And other tremendously corrupt people who escaped from Venezuela are also living here under protection: a group that bombed various embassies, that assassinated people during the coup. They kidnapped me and they were going to kill me, but I think God reached down and our people came out into the streets and the army was too, and so I’m here today.

But these people who led that coup are here today in this country protected by the American government. And I accuse the American government of protecting terrorists and of having a completely cynical discourse.

CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We mentioned Cuba. Yes, we were just there a few days ago. We just came from there happily.

And there you see another era born. The Summit of the 15, the Summit of the Nonaligned, adopted a historic resolution. This is the outcome document. Don’t worry, I’m not going to read it.

But you have a whole set of resolutions here that were adopted after open debate in a transparent matter—more than 50 heads of state. Havana was the capital of the south for a few weeks, and we have now launched, once again, the group of the nonaligned with new momentum.

And if there is anything I could ask all of you here, my companions, my brothers and sisters, it is to please lend your good will to lend momentum to the Nonaligned Movement for the birth of the new era, to prevent hegemony and prevent further advances of imperialism.

And as you know, Fidel Castro is the president of the nonaligned for the next three years, and we can trust him to lead the charge very efficiently.

Unfortunately they thought, “Oh, Fidel was going to die.” But they’re going to be disappointed because he didn’t. And he’s not only alive, he’s back in his green fatigues, and he’s now presiding the nonaligned.

So, my dear colleagues, Madam President, a new, strong movement has been born, a movement of the south. We are men and women of the south.

With this document, with these ideas, with these criticisms, I’m now closing my file. I’m taking the book with me. And, don’t forget, I’m recommending it very warmly and very humbly to all of you.

CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We want ideas to save our planet, to save the planet from the imperialist threat. And hopefully in this very century, in not too long a time, we will see this, we will see this new era, and for our children and our grandchildren a world of peace based on the fundamental principles of the United Nations, but a renewed United Nations.

And maybe we have to change location. Maybe we have to put the United Nations somewhere else; maybe a city of the south. We’ve proposed Venezuela.

You know that my personal doctor had to stay in the plane. The chief of security had to be left in a locked plane. Neither of these gentlemen was allowed to arrive and attend the U.N. meeting. This is another abuse and another abuse of power on the part of the Devil. It smells of sulfur here, but God is with us and I embrace you all.

May God bless us all. Good day to you.

(APPLAUSE)

I suspect that President Chavez’s comments are applauded by many people throughoutthe world. It is a curious that many repugs and ‘keeping the powder dry’ democrats are outraged by such ‘rudeness’ while they remain silent on Bush’s torture, illegal wars and civil liberties infringements!

VIVA CHAVEZ

All of the scummy liberals like John Stewart and most of the sub-par Dimocrats are attacking Chavez unmercifully.  Just demonstrates how pathethic this country is.

An open letter to Representative Rangle, in response to his lambasting of President Chavez’s calling Bush ‘The Devil’:

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX1lBOxoJeU for the video in question.

Mr. Rangle,

This is the man that you vehemently insulted yourself Mr. Rangle, (see http://www.nysun.com/article/20580).  So please don’t tell us that you’re suddenly offended by what a foreign dignitary, especially one that is effecting change in the same community where you’ve been paralyzed with profiteering, that suddenly, you’re offended.  That’s a load of crap.  What short memories we must have, right?  Wrong.

If you really did take into account the feelings of Americans when you lashed out at President Chavez, you would have a very different story to tell / statement to make.  Many of us find Bush a Devil, and worse. If you’ve got a bone to pick with Chavez, then say it clearly, but please understand that doing so by defending the president of the US only further infuriates those of us that agree with Chavez’s policies of affordable energy, universal healthcare, and open schooling for all.  These are good ideas, man.

That Bush has been called names, at the UN, and in your district is no different than you turning a blind eye to the onslaught of attacks against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that have occurred during your watch.  Where is your sense of decency?  Gangs are killing one another in the streets, and Chavez arrives with viable answers to our problems (answers that not even yourself, or your new best friend Bush have offered) and people in Harlem might not be cold this winter, they might be able to afford time and money to educate their kids, instead of taking on a second job to pay for oil profiteering.

You’re right, Bush isn’t being insulted, it’s the entire Republican and Democratic system that’s been insulted with such charity; our very capitalistic model has been called squarely into quesiton.  Your response is all you can do to waive off any legitimate feelings of guilt…calling foul when such a generous and powerful diplomatic laurel is handed forth is your only alternative…you’d rather shake hands with the devil…what’s going to happen when other people in your district begin to notice that you’ve been powerless to effect a change as wide-ranging as this one, that of a former farmer from South America?  Your voters will leave you.  And I’ll do my best to assist with that process. 

Bush and his team have done wonders to decentralize any functional component of governance, and have replaced it with marketed slogans, empty promises.

Clean Skies Initiatives that do away with environmental controls (see http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2003/09/ma_496_01.html)

No Child Left Behind Acts that abandon the millions that need support most ( see http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/12/1534250). 
These are the policies, the legacies of your time in office.  Congratulations.

There’s a lesson to be learned here in Chavez’s arrival at the UN, my friends.  He’s not cutting and running, but instead, offering true charity and protections in place of our failed government’s attempts to feed us false shelter. Take note.  Their only response is to insult, disparage, and condemn.  Look for the voices of Harlem, grateful and astounded at the aid Chavez has granted, they’ll not be in the news.  Our media won’t allow that.  Nor will Exxon Mobile.

I’m eager to hear what you have to say, Mr. Rangle.

I write today as a concerned citizen of this world, and less a citizen of the US.  Global warming, unmitigated imperialism, and chronic overpopulation are issues at the very core of our next generation’s ability to survive.  Stop Uncle Tom’ing us, and wake the hell up.  We need your rational, and capable self to stand up and accept the charity that’s been offered by Chavez, and further, we desperately need to nationalize our own utilities in order to bring the economy back to the people, where it belongs.  Please put your wallet and your grandstanding away, and think for all of us, perhaps for the first time in your life.  The world is waiting, and it really can’t wait much longer.

I hate u bush!

Yes, exactly Mr. Chavez….it is the Democracy of the Elites, and the American people are suffering from it too..

Resign Mr. Bush, go back to where you came from….or go to jail.