Monday, December 03, 2007

Padre Rambles And Gripes About Current Events

Lots of international traffic this morning. We've had visitors from the usual spots: Mexico, Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.A., but also from Malta, Thailand, India, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey! We usually get visitors from Hong Kong, Guatemala, Brasil, and Israel, during the week. Last week we had visitors from Hungary, Singapore, Japan, and Spain. I have no idea why there is so much international traffic this morning. I won't display the flags as that is Matty Boy's thang.



Well, Hugo Chávez narrowly lost at the polls in his attempt to run for re-election indefinitely. I must admit that I really wasn't surprised; it is my experience that people in Latin America don't really want politicians to be allowed to run indefinitely, no matter where they fall on the political spectrum. In Panamá the president is elected to a single, five-year term. A plebiscite was held in 1998 to allow re-election. I was visiting here for the first time, with the Panama Project. Some folks asked me what I thought about re-election. I said that I considered it a normal part of democracy. They told me that they believed that if someone was re-elected in Panamá there was a good chance that they'd never get the person out of office! Perhaps the same thinking was at work in Venezuela yesterday. I personally believe that the president of the U.S. should be elected to a single, six-year term, as they spend the majority of their first term working on getting re-elected, unless they are George W. Bush, who spent his first term lying the country into invading Iraq and also in destroying the checks and balances of the Constitution.

Chávez lost and accepted the outcome. He will probably try again at a later date, and that makes sense. However, I doubt if this will stop people in the U.S. from calling him a dictator. I don't consider him a dictator; he has always worked through the democratic processes and according to the rules of the constitution of Venezuela for any changes he has tried to make, unlike George W. Bush and his administration who simply do whatever they want and dare the chickens**t Congress and Supreme Court to stop him. And of course, the chickens**t Congress and Supreme Court give him what ever he wants. Also, dictators don't lose elections; they always work things out so that they win or suspend the election results. Chávez went on television last night and said, "I congratulate my adversaries for this victory. For now, we could not do it."

So will the pundits of the media in the U.S. stop calling Chávez a dictator? Probably not. The president thinks that the actual dictator of Pakistan believes in democracy, and since the majority of the wankers which make up the political talk shows in the U.S. receive their talking points from the White House, the likes of Musharraf and Putin will be Great Democrats and Chávez will be considered just another South American Dictator.



Photo: Reuters/Yuri Gripas
Another thing, I noticed that the neo-con nutcase who designed the U.S. occupation of Iraq and all its nastiness, the very same person whose corrupt practices on behalf of his girl friend forced his resignation as President of the World Bank, yes, the guy who spits on his comb, Paul Wolfowitz, has been offered the position of Chairman of the International Security Advisory Board of the State Department, by SoS Condoleezza Rice. The panel advices Rice on disarmament, nuclear proliferation, WMD issues and other matters, so I can't see any problem with this appointment . Since the last Chairman was Fred Thompson, whose presidential run is simply inspiring! I hope Wolfowitz doesn't start dating someone on the panel or the Security of the Nation will be at stake.


Christine Comer, former director of science in Texas
Photo: Erich Schlegel, NYT


Not too surprising, since it's happening in Texas, home of the pres'nit whose love of science is overwhelming, but the Director of Science of the Texas Education Agency has been dismissed because she had the nerve to support actual science instead of Creationism and Intelligent Design. Of course, this could have taken place in other Bastions of Scientific Thinking such as Kansas.



Eight men have come stepped forward to say that they have had sex with Republican Larry Craig. It appears that, while not gay, Senator Craig does enjoy sex with men. But he's not gay. Simply sexually adventurous. And not fussy about location.















While the Anglican Communion is fighting over whether God loves gays the Authority of Holy Scripture and the Tradition as Handed Down from the Fathers, Christians in Iraq are suffering the worst persecution they have experienced in 2000 years. While Sadaam Hussien wasn't exactly supportive of Christians, they were protected from their fundamentalist Muslim neighbors. Now without the iron fist of the State protecting them, they, along with other faiths, are fair game for those who believe all infidels must die. Another example of how George W. Bush's faith-based actions have helped bring about the Reign of God.

Back in the days when the Pres'nit of the 'Nited Staytes was working everyone up into a froth to invade Iraq (which we now know was Tom Dashle's fault!), the (late) Bishop of Panamá, Clarence Hayes asked me, "What the heck is going on in your country? Have they all lost their minds?" What answer would you give Bishop Hayes?

16 comments:

Paul said...

The answer to Bishop Hayes' question is Yes. At least enough of us. If we had minds to start with.

Preach it, Padre. Somebody around here has to call a spade a damned shovel.

susan s. said...

Yes, I agree with paul! Thanks, Mike!

Fran said...

Wow- you have outdone yourself with this post. I may have to link to it for its breadth and depth and bits of humor as well.

Matthew Hubbard said...

Nice post, Padre. You can use the Flags of many Lands any time you wants. You can 'splain all day as far as I'm concerned. After all, I stole the Random 10 from you without asking.

KJ said...

For the record, I'd like it to be known that I have never had sex with Senator Craig.

Caminante said...

'I personally believe that the president of the U.S. should be elected to a single, six-year term'

Como en El Salvador y en Francia. De acuerdo.

'Clarence Hayes asked me, "What the heck is going on in your country? Have they all lost their minds?"'

Yes. And it's even worse since when he asked you that question. It's hard not to despair.

Paul said...

Yikes, kj, do we need to go on record? I s'pose that unless we want unwarranted speculation to occur we should.
I have never had sex with Senator Larry Craig either. (And would be horribly insulted if anyone thought I had.)

PseudoPiskie said...

I agree about Craig as I posted on my blog. Sad that those men put a whole class of people into the subhuman category with the ignorant.

Fran said...

Not only did I link to this on my blog but I was also compelled to meme you... I mean it is a music meme, it is so you Padre.

If nothing else, yours is a playlist, like my own, that runs quite the gamut!

June Butler said...

Padre! What a rant! I can't wait until you tell us what you really think.

Condi, our SoS? I'm having bad thoughts on this one. The price of failure in the Bush maladministration is promotion. When will we see Rummy promoted to High Commissioner of something or other?

Did you see that Craig and Ted the Preacher had a "friend" in common?

You used one of the Lovely Mona's forbidden words, you know.

Rev. Kurt Huber said...

"What the heck is going on in your country? Have they all lost their minds?"

Its simple: its in our water and it makes us have ADD (with memory loss) and we tend to vote poorly...

Dennis said...

Yes, many Americans -have- lost their minds.

We call them Republicans.

Anonymous said...

I agree with all you wrote, but I too was impressed by Chavez's humility and acceptance of the electoral loss. Besides the president-for-life scheme, he also held out some more attractive carrots for voters, yet still these didn't suffice. I don't recall anything like his gracious concession statement in my 40 years of reading about Latin American strongmen.

This is the guy Pat Robertson wanted to assassinate. Ol' Pat must be getting his foreign policy advice from Wolfowitz - or maybe Larry Craig.

Matthew Hubbard said...

Eight men and Larry Craig. They could make a softball team. Craig is willing but he wants it known that he will not be the pitcher or the catcher.

Anonymous said...

Well, I did live in Blaine County Idaho (Blue) but I never, I mean never, ever, even ever, thought of having anything other than a clear handsoff dislike for Larry Craig...I hadn't had a drink for well over a decade at that point so I know for certain there were no "indiscretions" on my part...actually, I didn't have sex with anyone for the two years I lived in Idaho (in my grandparents old house I inherited)...so, I guess I'll go back a run for his Senate Seat (I have a unblemished record in Idaho).

Pocatello Jose Shoshone Twin Falls Gooding-Benitez

Janis Bland said...

I agree with all you wrote, but I too was impressed by Chavez's humility and acceptance of the electoral loss.

That humility lasted less than 24 hours. As usual, he's made an ass of himself, cursing the outcome. And he's scheming to overcome this obstacle. He may not technically be a dictator now, but he's millimeters from being a dictator.
(I get to listen to Spanish noticiero nightly thanks to the Colombian hub.)

And he really needs to lay off the arepas. Damn, he's a tub.

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