ATLmalcontent

This Is What Happens When You Befriend Naomi Campbell

The supermodel must be crushed to hear that wannabe-dictator Hugo Chavez's bid to become the next Castro was rejected by Venezuelan voters.

The so-called reform package would have established new types of communal property, let Chavez handpick local leaders under a redrawn political map and suspended civil liberties during extended states of emergency. Chavez could've also stayed in power indefinitely.

Instead, he'll be out of office in 2012, good news for those who embrace human rights and freedom of the press.

Meanwhile, Danny Glover is demanding a recount.

Viva La Revolucion!

Gunmen opened fire on students returning from a march Wednesday in which 80,000 people denounced President Hugo Chavez's attempts to expand his power. At least eight people were injured, including one by gunfire, officials said.

Photographers for The Associated Press saw at least two gunmen—one wearing a ski mask and another covering his face with a T-shirt—firing handguns at the anti-Chavez crowd. Terrified students ran through the campus as ambulances arrived.

Anyone seen Hugo's buddies Sean Penn and Naomi Campbell today? How 'bout Kevin Spacey, Danny Glover or Harry Belafonte?

I'd like to ask those elitst dupes what they would say to the students marching against Chavez's encroaching totalitarianism. Any shred of shame?

Dupe du jour

Kevin Spacey is the latest star to cozy up to Hugo Chavez, visiting the dictator in Caracas on Monday. I guess he's looking for some street cred from his fellow privileged radicals.

Stop. Chavez time!

Maybe Sean Penn gave him the idea:

Moved by claims that it will help the metabolism and productivity of his fellow citizens, President Hugo Chávez said clocks would be moved forward by half an hour at the start of 2008. ...

Mr. Chávez said he was "certain" that the time change would be accepted.

Nothing like the confidence of a dictator.

Dupe du jour

I'm breathlessly awaiting Sean Penn's Venezuelan report card. Wonder if he'll mention his buddy Hugo's clampdown on press freedom? Or his abysmal human rights record?

Won't matter to Penn, as long as Hugo maintains his rhetorical battle with the U.S. Funny how someone who takes himself so seriously can be so seriously misguided. (BTW, Sean, you're not a journalist. Propagandist, maybe.)

Cap du jour, tyrant edition

Hugo: "As Woody says, the heart wants what it wants." Mahmoud: "You like his movies too, Hugo?" H: "'Shadows and Fog' is very underrated." M: "I like 'Interiors' myself." H: "Ah, that Mary Beth Hurt is a babe! Maybe I can get my comrade Danny Glover to introduce us."

 

Is anyone unpatriotic?

If you want to get a rise out of people, left or right, question their patriotism. The Bush Administration walks this tightrope all the time, kinda/sorta challenging the red, white and blue bona fides of opponents while claiming that's something they would never do.

We've seen this with war protesters, and now with conservatives who've gone apoplectic over Bush's contention that opponents of the immigration compromise "don't want to do what's right for America."

A senior official said later, “In no way was he questioning anyone’s patriotism or desire to do what’s right.”

Um, okay. Yet not everyone who claims the mantle is patroitic. There are Americans who don't love their country, and should be called out on it. (Go ahead, say it -- who am I to judge?)

Some examples:

*If you embrace foreign dictators who suppress democracy (i.e. Hugo Chavez) while at the same time damning the U.S., you are not patriotic. Ex.: Danny Glover;

*If you subscribe to moronic conspiracy theories that blame Americans for killing other Americans (i.e. the World Trade Center collapse), you are not patriotic. Ex.: Rosie O'Donnell;

*If you regret the South's defeat in the Civil War, you are not patriotic. (What could be more unpatriotic than wishing for the demise of your country?) Ex.: A Klansman, any Klansman, or the guy driving ahead of me today with the "Fergit, Hell" bumper sticker; \

*If you think it's un-American to question the unconstitutional, such as illegal wiretapping and torture, you are not patriotic. Ex.: Tom DeLay;

*If you think the Bible, and not the Constitution, should govern America, you are unpatriotic (as you oppose the very foundation on which this country was created. Or to parphrase Hank Hill: "Can't you see you're not making America better? You're just making Christianity worse.") Ex.: James Dobson.

Only Danny Glover movies allowed

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday called opposition news channel Globovision an enemy of the state and said he would do what was needed to stop it from inciting violence, only days after he shut another opposition broadcaster.

Tens of thousands of Venezuelans marched in Caracas in a fourth consecutive day of protests over Chavez's closure of the RCTV network - a move which has sparked international criticism that the leftist leader's reforms are undermining democracy.

Duh -- that's what totalitarians do.