Posted on 06/03/2007 8:57:04 AM PDT by 68skylark
A number of British personalities, including journalist John Pilger wrote the Guardian to announce their support for Chavez's shutdown of opposition TV stations. "We believe that the decision of the Venezuelan government not to renew the broadcasting licence of RCTV when it expires on May 27 ... is legitimate given that RCTV has used its access to the public airwaves to repeatedly call for the overthrow of the democratically elected government of President Hugo Chávez." It is signed by:
Colin Burgon MP
Dr Julia Buxton
Jon Cruddas MP
Tony Benn
Billy Hayes General secretary, CWU
John Pilger
Professor Jonathan Rosenhead LSE
Hugh O'Shaughnessy
Rod Stoneman Executive producer, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
snip...
My own personal opinion is that anyone would have to be a fool or on the Left not to recognize an incipient tyrant in Hugo Chavez. That does not necessarily mean that his opponents, like the owners of RCTV are honest or upstanding men. They may very well be thugs. That doesn't change the fact that Hugo Chavez is a thug as well. But it seems clear to me that the Left's criteria for judging fascisms is entirely partisan. Although they use such words as "democratically elected" or "legitimate" to justify Chavez, none of these words are really operative, except as protective coloration. What matters is that he is "their guy". He is their thug. Principle, clearly on the Left and possibly among conservatives too, runs a far second to belief.
Even Jimmy Carter may now have come to believe that in Chavez, he may have gotten more than it bargained for. "The Carter Center, which has observed past elections here, said it is concerned that 'non-renewal of broadcast concessions for political reasons will have a chilling effect on free speech.' 'A plurality of opinions should be protected,' it said. 'The right of dissent must be fiercely defended by every democratic government.'" Poor Jimmy. It's always a shock to those who think they are driving events to realize that they are, as they say, the last to know.
All over the world, in the Middle East, Southwest Asia, Africa, Asia and even in Western Europe people are being forced by crisis to choose their sides. The century widely expected to contain no greater peril than the Y2K bug is already forcing people to discover what civilians in Iraq know already: that you can be left hanging in the middle like Jimmy carter. We are left with choices between evils without the leadership to create space for maneuver.
The permalink is here:
http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2007/06/curse-it-is-cast.html
I don't think any of us are surprised at the way the left is rallying around Huga Chavez.
I don’t think any of us are surprised at the way the left is rallying around Huga Chavez.
::::
The left is sick. They are socialists, communists and anything but patriotic Americans. And it is all about power and absolute control, which Chavez is a good model for...at least in princple. He will also be a good lesson for our leftists as we watch Chavez go down gradually in flames. He will not succeed — socialism never does. The people will put an end to him just like I hope the American citizen eventually puts an end to radical leftists in this country. Sad alot of damage will have to be done to America, as we are witnessing, before the people realize what it is all about.
*Bump*
Britain is slowly undergoing a metamorphosis into a fascist society.
The 20th century was full of examples of failed socialism: the USSR and the Warsaw Pact nations, N. Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and all of sub-Sahara Africa, just to name a few. Yet these "lessons" have not sunk in for many people.
I doubt that the upcoming tragedies in Venezuela (whatever they may be) will cause the left to re-think their ideology. It's a faith-based religion with them, so it's immune from lessons of reason and logic.
I’m not fond of the tactic of calling opponents “fascist,” whether that comes from the left or the right.
Don’t forget right wing socialism. NAZI Germany and Peron’s Argentina.
-—I’m not fond of the tactic of calling opponents “fascist,” whether that comes from the left or the right-—
You can call them anything you want I suppose. What do you call a society with a surveillance camera on every corner and an almost total gun ban, a theme park? There is no bill of rights and no court that can strike down a law of parliament.
What is right-wing about socialism? The Nazi’s and Peron were just another wing of leftism?
What is right-wing about socialism? The Nazi’s and Peron were just another wing of leftism.
Well we can’t get up every day and criticize every country on earth that’s not free — we wouldn’t get anything else done. But I agree with you — we should be willing to speak up more for liberty. For me, the governments in N. Korea and Iran are most objectionable. And we also need to reserve special attention for dangerous tyrannies that are close to our shores, like Cuba and Venezuela.
Well, compared to the U.S. they don't look that free. But compared to most of the rest of the world, they're a garden-like paradise of liberty and prosperity. If more countries could step up to UK-style governance, the world would be a far better place.
Socialism certainly does succeed. It always succeeds. You just don’t understand what the goal of socialism is.
The goal is NOT to create a society where everyone is happy and productive. The goal is to seize absolute power, loot a country of everything not nailed down, grow fat in luxury while the peasants starve, and kill anyone you don’t like.
It always works, because people are stupid, greedy, envious of the wealthy and want to get something for nothing. Socialism is a perfect system for creating a looting-dictatorship, and it always, ALWAYS works!
It has worked in Cuba, Zimbabwe, North Korea, the USSR. It’s progressing in South Africa, Mexico, and Venezuela as we speak.
The groundwork is being laid in the US right under our noses, and it’s really too late to do anything about it because the poor are going to vote for socialism. They always do. And then there is no more voting.
Regarding the defeat of Communism/Socialism....”If not now...when? If not us...who?
“The left is sick. They are socialists, communists and anything but patriotic Americans. And it is all about power and absolute control, which Chavez is a good model for...at least in princple. He will also be a good lesson for our leftists as we watch Chavez go down gradually in flames. He will not succeed — socialism never does. The people will put an end to him just like I hope the American citizen eventually puts an end to radical leftists in this country. Sad alot of damage will have to be done to America, as we are witnessing, before the people realize what it is all about.”
As Rush Limbaugh says:
“It fails every time it’s tried”
True enough! My point, however, is that British freedom is a matter of tradition, more than law. They had a powerful tradition of bearing arms, but that’s gone now by various acts of parliament and the home secretary to which there is no appeal.
I’ve lived in countries that give the appearance of “garden-like paradise of liberty and prosperity” (Korea), but the police could follow you home and enter and search through your belongings without explanation. You could be arrested and held for questioning almost indefinitely. Everything depends on the mood of the current government.
Most places freedom is not much more than an attitude, even in our country. I would not live in a repressive state such as Massachusetts, New York or California [again]. Thank God for Montana!
Glad to see that name O’Shaughnessy in there. I know a couple of them, and they are definitely communist bastards.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.