...or just plain evil.
"...or just plain evil."
Most folks don't want to believe it, but I think you're right. His behavior with the Chavez election in Venezuela can't be explained any other way. And cumulatively, his record is too consistent to be explained by mere incompetence (which is always the preferred explanation for a politician's actions).
Bingo. At some point, the repeated validation and exoneration of obviously lethal dictators has got to be seen not as simply a difference in political ideology, but as real malice, however he disguises it to himself.