It’s axiomatic in the US mainstream media that the bigger a pro-democracy demo in the “free world”, the more you play down its numbers in an effort to make it look like no one came.
But get a load of what happens when one of the “liberal” sites covers a faux-democracy demo in Venezuela:
Blowing whistles and waving flags, hundreds of Venezuelans protested Tuesday against a congressional measure that would grant President Hugo Chavez the power to pass laws by decree in areas from the economy to defense.
Some 400 to 500 protesters stood in a Caracas plaza and shouted in unison: “Faced with authoritarianism, more democracy!”
Not a “throng”, but “throngs”! Wow, behold the power of a couple hundred! Pray tell me, how many “throngs” go into a hundred, anyway?
The protest came as lawmakers in the entirely pro-Chavez National Assembly announced they would postpone until next Tuesday a session to grant final approval of a so-called “enabling law” allowing Chavez to enact laws by decree during an 18-month period. Chavez is seeking special powers to quickly push through changes from nationalizing electrical companies to imposing new taxes on the rich.
Many protesters said the measure would give Chavez carte blanche to legislate in a list of vaguely specified areas without checks or balances.
“It gives him total power,” said Greys Pulido, 40. “We don’t want a dictatorship.”
Chavez, who was re-elected by a wide margin last month, says he is committed to democracy and is overseeing changes that will give a greater voice in decision-making to poor Venezuelans.
That, of course, is what this “throng” is protesting against: Chavez decreeing that the poor should enjoy more power. (What–you think he’s just doing this for his own enrichment? Read. And then read some more.)
I wonder, too, if this “we” happen to be the same 400 or so people who showed up at Miraflores for this little shindig?
That’s what a “throng” of 400 looks like, folks. They could fit them all into one room.
You’ll also note that they achieved their “democratic” vision by abolishing all the major democratic institutions in Venezuela. No small feat for a 400-strong “throng” of usurpers!
Fortunately, millions of true democrats sent them scurrying like rats:
Chutzpah they may have, but brave people they are not. (Who could be, seeing themselves so hugely outnumbered?)
Note the actions, too, of the soldiers in the video. They are the presidential guard, and they are all loyal to Chavez. Yet they don’t fire a shot. They let the coup-mongers escape. Does that look like the actions of a dictator’s shock troops to you?
I think it speaks volumes that even the far-right Townhall.com, normally dedicated to publishing the ravings of Ann Coulter and other brownshirts, saw fit to pick up this “liberal” media story. What we are seeing here is yet another desperate lunge for legitimacy by the fraud-ridden Venezuelan right, and the toadyish US media is playing right along.
Shame on them all!
