A Liberal Reconsiders Chavez

Captain's Quarters: A Liberal Reconsiders Chavez

"Jeb Koogler, a staunch liberal at The Moderate Voice, has defended Hugo Chavez
for a long time. He thought that Chavez intended to help the poor and
downtrodden and made excuses for his tough tactics as a necessary interlude
towards a better society. He disregarded Chavez' authoritarian impulses as
unimportant in the long run. Now Koogler says he can remain silent no more --
and wonders why his colleagues on the Left haven't made the same decision:"

There are a couple points here. One is that at some point there is little difference in the sacrifice that one makes under the religious belief that they will rewarded in the after life for making the world a better place, and the sacrifices one makes in freedoms today in order to make a future society better. One reading of Albert Camus's The Rebel is enough to explain the failure in that system of ethics. A thoughtful soul might ask themself, once the perfect state has been attained, if it was worth a single drop of blood, a single dead body that laid the foundation.

The second is that leaders say that they will give the power back, but power is never given to the people. The people have the power, and they give it to the government. The government will continue to take that power, and take as much as the public is willing to give. The government does not return power, and it will never take less power just because it has promised to do so. The only way the government is going to have less power, is when the people give it less power.

I too am bothered by the double standard that is seen on issues like this. The left will cry all day and night about how the media in this country is biased. This simply isn't true, not in the terms that they claim at least. When it comes to the media in a country like Venezuela, they say nothing. If the president of the United States attempted to change the laws so that he could run again and again - there would be outrage. Maybe outrage is too much to ask, but the left should stop supporting this tyrant at the very least. (Yeah that means you Cindy)