Venezuela's Maduro blasts 'devil' Obama

[davidthegnome]

39. I didn't follow the election in Venezuela

At least, not very closely. I knew it was going on, heard the rumors and wild speculations about Hugo perhaps having been poisoned, or somehow "given" cancer by the US... for the most part, it does not effect me, so I didn't pay much attention. I did have some measure of respect for Chavez though, it was hard not to, for a man so adored by the poor in his own Nation - a politician, greatly admired by the poor... it was hard to countenance.

The devil comment is pretty ridiculous - if Maduro wants to be taken seriously he should come up with some more original rhetoric - or at least more realistic rhetoric. I would not recommend turning to Hannity, Coulter, or Limbaugh for advice... rather, I would suggest Maduro take some lessons in recent US history.

He would discover that, in 2000, we had an "election" that was an absolute farce. He would discover that, again, in 2004, there was far too much shit going on under the surface to really have faith in Bush's second "victory". He might learn some things about smear campaigns - swift boat anyone?

The idea that a seated US President (in this case, Obama) can criticize another Nation for not holding "fair elections" is a funny joke. No one ever prosecuted Bush or his business allies for what happened in 2000. No one was ever held accountable for the fact that, even though Al Gore won... Bush was somehow chosen to sit his dumb ass in the oval office.

It's sad. Over the years we have had many opportunities to ally ourselves with South America, we have had many opportunities to make friends. Instead, our government and government agencies have branded them as evil backwards socialists, fooled around within their internal affairs and generally made an absolute mess and mockery of anything resembling diplomacy or good foreign relations.

Should Obama recognize Maduro? I don't know. I don't know enough about the details of the election, but I do know that for us to be overly critical or high and mighty about it is much like the raven calling the crow black.