With the Coronation of Baby Doc Bush we can only

expect a turn for the worse in the U.S. in every

respect. What is most striking about this historical

moment in the U.S. is the degree to which doublespeak

has become the dominant language. "Freedom" (a word he

used 26 times in his coronation speech) means

subjugation to the Amerikan empire; "ending tyranny in

our world" means the destruction of nations like Iraq

and their submission to a tyranny more violent than

Saddam Hussein’s and "the policy of the United States

to seek and support the growth of democratic movements

and institutions in every nation and culture" means

more wars of aggression, genocidal occupations and

destruction of true, participatory democracies, such

as now has been born in Venezuela.


Merely a day after this squandering of $40 million on

a decadent ball for the Bush royalty and its lackeys,

the U.S. media followed up with the obligatory lies

and obfuscations. Lou Dobbs’ report, a right wing news

program, and all news programs on mainstream U.S.

television are right wing, featured a short segment on

Venezuela. The cold spell sweeping the U.S. midwest

made a perfect segue into a piece on Hugo Chavez

since, the commentator points out, the U.S. will more

than likely not tolerate his "threats’ to cut off

sales of Venezuela’s oil. "Free markets" don’t apply

here: Chavez has no choice but to sell to the U.S.,

isn’t that right? The commentator (since reporters no

longer are anything but commentators now in the age of

the Total Lie) goes on to call Chavez a "strongman."


In a limited sense, Chavez is in fact a "strong man,"

especially as compared to George W(imp) Bush: Chavez

has a stronger intellect and could probably also kick

that rich Texas brat’s ass in a boxing match. In

addition, Chavez is strong because of his popular

support, another thing he has over that rich kid from

Texas who was first "selected" as president by a

handful of judges, against the democratic will of the

people and then returned to a second term through

fraud in Ohio, and massive voter intimidation. By

contrast, Chavez has won his elections at the polls,

has survived military coups backed by the U.S.,

paralyzing strikes in the oil industry and through all

this his popularity was so high that the movement that

formed around him won twenty two of his nation’s

twenty four states.


Unfortunately, in U.S. politics and media, this isn’t

the connotation of the word "strongman" and, in the

Total Lie of U.S. media and political commentary,

connotation is everything, denotation, nothing.

Noriega, for instance, was a "strongman" as was Saddam

Hussein and other U.S. Frankenstein dictators who

turned and bit the hand that created them. Now it is

being applied to a popular leader with a mandate who

is seeking freedom, participatory democracy and an end

to the tyranny of the U.S. dollar.


In a bit of irony that would make George Orwell’s jaw

drop and Stalin and Hitler turn green with envy over

the suave manipulation of reality to portray its

opposite, the segment ends with the obligatory quotes

of unknown "experts in regional affairs" who consider

President Chavez a major force "against democracy in

the region."


War is peace, ignorance is wisdom, freedom is slavery

and democracy is George W. Bush.

Chavez is constantly slandered by the US press and by the Venezuelan-Cisneros press.

Nevertheless he has managed to win democratically and overcome a US-backed referendum as well as a US-backed coup and a US-backed opposition.

Chavez is not a communist and he is trying to do what is best for the Venezuelan people. He is an intelligent man who has a lot of guts. If more leaders were like him, the world would be a better place.