Doesn’t this guy understand the supreme irony of his words:

President Hugo Chavez, the combative Venezuelan leader, denounced President Bush in a U.N. speech Wednesday as a racist, imperialist “devil” who has devoted six years in office to military aggression and the oppression of the world’s poorest people.
Speaking from the lectern where Bush spoke a day earlier, Chavez said he could still smell the sulfur — a reference to the scent of Satan. Even by U.N. standards, where the United States is frequently criticized as the world’s superpower, Chavez’s remarks were exceptionally inflammatory. They were also received with a warm round of applause.
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“Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world,” Chavez told the chamber of international diplomats. “I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday’s statement made by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world.”
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“The president of the United States came to talk to the peoples — to the peoples of the world,” Chavez said. “What would those peoples of the world tell him if they were given the floor? . . . I think I have some inkling of what the peoples of the south, the oppressed people, think. They would say, ‘Yankee imperialist, go home.’ ”
“The world is waking up,” he added. “I have the feeling, dear world dictator, that you are going to live the rest of your days as a nightmare because the rest of us are standing up, all those who are rising up against American imperialism.”

Yes, let’s talk about the poor people of the world. How about the poor oppressed people of Venezula and Cuba who live under dictators who are so chummy with each other. Yes, American imperialism has made their lives so much harder.
This from a man who did what the liberals fear Bush will do, he won an election and then stole the country. He took away their freedoms and imprisoned their dissidents. ItÂ?s amazing that he gets the respect that he does. If he did in this country what he did in his own, he would be castigated by the press and they would be publishing that fact with this article. Did you read anything about the oppression of his people in the article?
And then there’?s this from Chavez’s press conference:

“the US empire is on the way down, and it will soon be finished for the good of all mankind.”

Do you think he’s forgetting this:

Chavez’s government still earns handsomely from oil sales to the U.S., Venezuela’s top export market, but he has crusaded against its capitalist system, selling millions of gallons (liters) of heating oil at a discount to low-income American families.

His country would take a huge financial hit if America was destroyed. And his country wouldn’t be the only one; India, China and Latin America would take a huge hit as would all other economies across the globe. Their people are employed by our companies and we buy their products. And what about the nations that receive foreign add? And the nations who receive military protection, South Korea, Japan, Afghanistan, and Iraq?
Like it or not, we are a necessary evil. Like it or not this is a global economy. I hope the countries who are conspiring against us realize that the world economy can’t survive without us.
And yeah, I have something to say on the other dictator as well, but I’ll save if for another post.