…in response to a guy named Ed, from Miami, who tootled all the lines we know only too well from the loco anti-Chavez contingent, plus one new one: “Bush is a populist.”
WTF???
Well, I couldn’t let that stand, so I fired off:
From: Sabina Becker
To: Mike Malloy (mike@mikemalloy.com)
Subject: Ed from Miami is way off base
Date: May 19, 2008 9:35:29 PM EDT (CA)
Bush is a POPULIST? Bush hasn’t a populist bone in his body–he is capitalist to the core. He hasn’t given the people ANYTHING they want. Unless the people in question are the owners of big, big businesses who’ve contributed millions to his campaign war chest. Does that sound populistic to you?
Ed is also wrong about Chavez. He’s not a populist, he’s a socialist. You know, the economic form of a democrat? Redistribution of wealth, et cetera? That’s what Chavez is.
And he’s especially wrong about alleged the hatred of whites Chavez is supposedly fomenting in Venezuela–one look at Chavez’s government should tell you that. His ministers come in all colors, and some happen to be not only white, but middle class or higher. So are a growing number of his supporters. This “he’s a hatemonger” line is a lie.
Plus, no industries have been turned out–except those who’d only exploit Venezuelan resources without paying their taxes or due regard to the environment. Previous administrations looked the other way–“to encourage foreign investment”. To me, that sort of behavior is like taping a Kick Me sign on one’s own back. Kudos to Chavez for ripping that sign off his country’s back.
I’ve learned Spanish so I can understand what Chavez is really saying in all his speeches, and I have not heard one word of hate coming from him. He’s not only an impressive speaker, he’s also totally anti-imperialist, which is obviously not the same thing as a plain old hater. Hate does not win love, and Chavez is very much loved. He’s made it clear that he is with the people, and that’s why he’s popuLAR, not popuLIST.
Don’t believe the hype coming out of Miami.
Mike read it a few minutes ago. Thanks, Mike!
Hi Sabrina Becker,
If that is your real name :)… chances are you are part of “la revolucion bonita”. You know the one… that operates in the same building in brickel avenue that will do the same job the consulate for a lesser fee and much faster…
I have to agree, that Chavez’s propaganda machine is really good.
Perhaps the context of what I mean about bush being a Populist is wrong… perhaps I mean that he PLAYS to be a populist. You know. “he’s the kind of guy you wanna have a beer with”.
The one that speaks in simple terms so that folk can understand and feel identified with… This is what I refer to as being a populist.
And as for the quiet desperation of the Venezuelan middle class, pressuming you are not a Chavista, I hope we never have to suffer it here to the same degree that they do there.
You learned spanish and have head his speeches and they are all about “love” and peace?…
What a fool you are to think that… however I’m almost convinced you are a Chavista…
Hello Ed, you Kool-Aid drinkin’ Miamero–if that really is YOUR name. Thanks for stopping by; I didn’t think you had the cojones. I’ve looked up your IP and congratulations, it says you’re from Miami. Therefore, you must be the troll who wrote to Mike. How nice!
Now that you’ve dropped some doo here, let me set you straight on a couple of points:
My name really is Sabina–no R in there. Bina is my nickname, for fairly obvious reasons–no R, remember?
Next, Bush is not a populist in ANY sense of the word. Not even your hilariously misplaced one of “the kind of guy you wanna have a beer with.” Trust me, you do NOT want to have a beer with him. In the first place, he (supposedly) doesn’t drink. (Which I don’t for one second believe; he acts like every unrecovered alcoholic I’ve ever seen.) In the second, neither you nor I belong to his country club–and for that, we should be grateful. Third, he’s a pervert and a dumbass. (That’s why I said to be grateful.)
Now, a POPULIST is someone like Huey Long–a guy whom you can look up for yourself, if you’ve learned how to use an encyclopedia. Please do that before you come knockin’ around here again, wouldja? Don’t embarrass yourself by referring to a carpet-bagging Connecticut blueblood as a “populist”. Dubya’s out of touch with the common people, and no wonder; he’s never met one, except during a photo op, and I’ll bet he hosed himself down with Lysol afterwards. His economics profs all have bad memories of him as the drunken legacy fratboy who thought poor people deserved it because they were lazy, while he himself never worked an honest day in his life–and still doesn’t, judging by the rate he spews his lies. (I’d say I was amazed you fell for them, but actually, I’m not. Whatever education you got, you should demand a refund.)
As for your “building on Brickel Avenue”, wherever that is–I have no idea where that is, or what it does. I’ve never been there. Is it in Toronto? Perhaps you could enlighten me.
Oh wait, no, you couldn’t. Silly me. Your purpose in coming here is to DISenlighten. For a moment I forgot I’d heard all this horseshit before, from more articulate trolls than you.
When will you people learn NOT to claim that anyone who doesn’t believe your fairytales is on the payroll of the Big Red-Shirted One? I’m still waiting for my share of that oil dinero, loquito. I don’t suppose I’ll get any. Oh well! I’ll live. At least I get good, free healthcare up here in Canada…
As for the “quiet desperation of the Venezuelan middle class”–oh, please! They are desperate, all right–in about the same sense as the Desperate Housewives. What a shame there’s all those cadenas interrupting their endless stupid soap operas, and damn, no more RCTV to rot their brains, now they have to make do with Globovision, Venevision, etc., etc….
I have a hunch that those you’re referring to are not really middle-class, either–they have money to burn, on the off chance that they ever run out of gas for their stoves, which I’m sure most of them have never learned how to light anyway. They have maids for that, as no real middle class anywhere on Earth does. But they have nothing to despair about–they’re living on top of the biggest oil reserves and some of the biggest gas reserves in the world, their fuel is cheaper than dirt, and they’re still not happy because it’s no longer theirs, all theirs? They must be insane.
They’re not quiet, either. I’ve never heard so much drama from anyone who’s had it so good. Still, I suppose they deserve some empathy. I’m sure they’re pissed because now they can’t hog it all the way they used to when no one in SENIAT was paying attention. When you’re in the top income bracket, I hear, the taxes are really something else…almost enough to put you off your single-malt Scotch. But not quite enough to make you lose any serious sleep at night. Certainly not like those on subprime mortgages, who are just one missed payment away from a cardboard box under an overpass in the Land of Bilk and Money.
Yeah, Ed, I bet you really feel for them too. You almost had me convinced you are a Venezuelan, but reading your blather more closely, I think you’re just another of those whose real problem is that they thinks they can live tax-free and that the market will supply everything, and that those who ain’t got, must be lazy.
I also get the sense that you’re one helluva racist. People with a contempt for the poor generally are.
BTW, Ed: You can leave me out of your “we”. I’m Canadian, and we’ve already had our Hugo Chavez. His name is Tommy Douglas–look him up sometime. It shouldn’t be hard to find him, as he was popularly voted our Greatest Canadian. He cut poverty rates in half and made this a country dominated by the middle class (I’m one of the beneficiaries of that, thankyouverymuch, so now you know why I like Chavez). How’d he do it? By bringing in universal, government-funded healthcare, public education, roads and infrastructure, social insurance, and old-age pensions. Whaddya know, just like Chavez! Far from being ruined by it, we prospered. Two-thirds of Canadians were poor before Tommy Douglas was premier of Saskatchewan; less than one-third were after he passed away. Do the math, Ed: Socialism is good for everyone, even the capitalists who moan the loudest about taxes, though they are the ones who can best afford to pay them. Why do you think we Canadians, even the Conservatives, still won’t vote for anyone who’d do away with what Tommy Douglas (first elected socialist in all of North America) gave us?
So in conclusion, I hope you pardon me for thinking you’re a jackass. I’ve learned my history lessons. I hope you are motivated from now on to do the same. Maybe then you won’t have to get a refund for your “education”.
Toodles,
‘Bina.
Ed, Bina just punked you–now what are you going to do?
Bina, I concur about Long and Douglas–decent folks, good instincts.
Slave, I think he’s gonna do what all the trolls do: shit and run, thinking he’s set me straight, haha. I haven’t heard back from him in five days. I don’t anticipate he’ll show his face (or his hindquarters) around here again. If he does, I’ve got my boots on.