There is something very incongruent about the Democrats' condemnations  of Hugo Chavez. Coming from the leftists they are, they make too much sense to be taken at face value. Their reaction is driven by the same motives that undergirded their posturing just after 9/11. They also spoke well then, but they did not speak from the heart. As now, elections were fast approaching and they badly needed to appear patriotic. It did not last then, and it won't last now.

The Democrats' censure — tepid as it is — rings hollow, because they themselves have said much the same thing. Their problem is that Chavez — whose sentiments they privately share — has gone over the top at a time when Bush is gaining in the polls. And since most Americans are outraged, some Democrats feel pressured to go along. They are nothing but fakes. And the American voters are not as stupid as they presume.

Vasko Kohlmayer   9 22 06