Posted on 07/28/2010 6:52:46 AM PDT by La Lydia
...Shortly after midnight on July 16, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez reached back in time. He presided at the exhumation of the remains of Simón Bolívar -- Latin America's greatest independence hero, who helped liberate the region from Spain in the 19th century, and the object of Chávez's personal and political obsession....
By presidential decree, every television station in Venezuela showed images of Bolívar in historic paintings, then images of the skeleton, and then images of Chávez, with the national anthem blaring. The message of this macabre parody was unmistakable: Chávez is not a follower of Bolívar -- Chávez is Bolívar, reincarnated. And anyone who opposes or criticizes him is a traitor not just to Chávez but to history.
... Chávez's aggressive appropriation of Bolívar -- first politically and now physically -- is especially meaningful because it is an attempt to wipe away the most important opposition leader and philosophical nemesis Chávez could ever face: Bolívar himself...
Bolívar would be outraged by the notion of Chávez, a socialist, as his intellectual or political heir. In his correspondence, Bolívar revealed himself as someone in the company of Thomas Jefferson much more than Karl Marx (who documented his hatred for Bolívar in great detail)...
Chávez, in his personalization of power, assault on private property, stifling of dissent and destruction of the separation of powers, does not embrace Bolívar's legacy. He represents its antithesis....
I imagine that soon the government will declare that the investigation proves that Bolívar was murdered, either by Colombians or Americans or both. Indeed, I would not be surprised if the government announced that DNA evidence showed that Chávez is a long-lost relative of Bolívar!...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías AKA Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios
Hope David Axelrod doesn’t read this and get any ideas.
Maybe we can exhume Marx and Idi Amin and find DNA evidence that they're related to Hussain.
Hopefully soon Chavez will undergo an autopsy for cause of death and/or mental derangement. In God’s time.
Venezuela is in the grips of a madman, and all Obamao can do is look on with envy.
March, 1826
“I have been honored to look for the first time on the noble features of the man who did so much good on behalf of the New World....I experienced a mysterious exhilaration on learning in the newspapers that you had had the generosity of heart to honor me with one of the treasures from Mount Vernon...There are no words to tell you how much my heart treasures this gift...Washington's family honors me beyond any aspirations my imagination could conceive...”
Bolivar's words were dignity personified. And Chavez? Of course one of Bolivar's many strengths was the art of coalition building and he knew how to appeal to different kinds of people. He was also slender, fit, energetic, and capable of self-denial.
(Bolivar) described the American form of government -- so disparaged by Chávez -- as "the best on Earth." The small library that accompanied him on his military campaigns included Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations," several biographies of George Washington and dozens of works on the rights of man and the tyranny of illegitimate government.
In language and thought, Bolívar was a student of the Enlightenment, and his struggle against Spain's domination of South America reflected that inspiration. He was an admirer of the American Revolution, and his worldview was shaped by travels in Europe and by the works of Hume, Montesquieu and Voltaire. Bolívar understood that great nations are governed by laws, not men; liberalism, separation of powers, civil liberties, free trade and freedom of thought are recurring themes of his speeches and writings.
Toward the end of his life, Bolivar commented on his failure to establish democracy in South America, due to the culture there. He said that North America must be filled with angels.
Your premise that a conservative cannot win but a moderate can win is just not true. Both go against the Hollywood TV dish trendy set.
Most of the wave-makers on the right have come from the midwest such as John Ashbrook from Ohio, Phil Crane from Illinois, Michelle Bachmann from Minn., and so on. Are you saying that a Bob Dole moderate can win but a Ronald Reagan conservative can’t? Only a conservative can win by a landslide because only a conservative will reach out to the people’s leaders like the Eduardo Verastequis and the Marinelle Thompsons and create excitment.
Oops that last reply was not intended for this thread. Guess I’m looking at too many at once.
You, I agree with!
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