The politics of assassination

Hi faith,I don't think many people were suprised to find that a right wing Christian thug like Robertson would want to murder his opponents. I think what upset so many people was that his target was a person who is generally grudgingly considered to have actually done some good things. He's one of the few Latin American leaders to have treated indigenous people with respect, and he has ploughed oil money into projects that aid the poor.I think what surprised people was Robertson's target, rather than his sentiments.Mick

I think a lot can be learned from Chavez's reaction to Robertson's comments. Chavez laughed at the comments, and then went on to suggest that he would provide barrels of oil to poor American communities at below market price if they wanted them. Apparently he has already done this for one very poor country, Jamaica, to which he is selling barrels of oil for $40 (about 60% of market value (?)) with no strings attached. He also has a similar deal with Cuba (but with Cuba it is a mutually beneficial deal - he provides cheap oil but requires the Cuban government to send doctors and nurses to Venezuelan ghettoes.I think reacting to Robertson's comments with the offer of cut-price fuel for people in US ghettoes is a pretty noble response, whatever you may think of the man himself.Mickadded in edit: I should say I'm not a big fan of Chavez personally, but he's okay I think.This message has been edited by mick, 08-25-2005 08:35 PM