Politics:Remember when I briefly mentioned being supportive though you may not agree?

GUINNESS · #1 09-21-2006, 05:44 PM

Two of President Bush's staunchest domestic critics leapt to his defense Thursday

Yeah, in that whole thread that got locked... was saying something along the lines of even if you're for the war or against it, you support the troops or stand behind the country? Whether you agree with Bush or not, can't stomach him etc you still stand behind him??? (Personally, I don't like him, I didn't vote for him, but he is who is in office. I may not agree with his decisions, but he's our President)

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/....ny/index.html

Quote:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two of President Bush's staunchest domestic critics leapt to his defense Thursday, a day after one of his fiercest foreign foes called him "the devil" in a scorching speech before the United Nations.

"You don't come into my country; you don't come into my congressional district and you don't condemn my president," Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, scolded Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, was blunt in her criticism of the Venezuelan leader. "He is an everyday thug," she said. (Watch Rangel rip Chavez -- 1:28 )

During his speech before the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, Chavez launched into a caustic verbal attack of Bush that shocked diplomats and observers accustomed to the staid verbiage of international diplomacy. (Full story)

"The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, referring to Bush, who addressed the world body during its annual meeting Tuesday. "And it smells of sulfur still today."

Chavez accused Bush of having spoken "as if he owned the world" when the U.S. president addressed the world body on Tuesday. (Watch how Chavez's belligerence may backfire -- 3:11)

"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. An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: 'The Devil's Recipe.' "

Bush's domestic foes fumed Thursday.

"If there's any criticism of President Bush, it should be restricted to Americans, whether they voted for him or not," Rangel said at a Washington news conference.

"I just want to make it abundantly clear to Hugo Chavez or any other president: Don't come to the United States and think, because we have problems with our president, that any foreigner can come to our country and not think that Americans do not feel offended when you offend our chief of state," Rangel said.

"Hugo Chavez abused the privilege that he had speaking at the United Nations," Pelosi said. "In doing so, in the manner which he characterized the president, he demeaned himself and demeaned Venezuela."

Bush administration officials dismissed the Chavez tirade.

"We're not going to address that sort of comic-strip approach to international affairs," John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said shortly after Chavez spoke Wednesday.

Chavez's tirades against Bush have become common. In May, he accused Bush of committing genocide and said the U.S. president should be imprisoned by an international criminal court.

Chavez also alleged during the U.N. speech that the United States is planning, financing and setting in motion a coup to overthrow him. The U.S. has denied such accusations in the past.

As he was exiting the U.N. building in New York, Chavez told reporters that Bush is not a legitimate president because he "stole the elections."

"He is, therefore, a dictator," Chavez said.(Watch Chavez's bellicose comments -- :57)

During a stop in Harlem on Thursday, Chavez said he has no quarrel with the American people.

"We are friends of yours, and you are our friends," he said.

Underscoring his point, he announced he is expanding his heating-oil program to help impoverished Americans from 40 million gallons last year to 100 million gallons this year, and from 180,000 families to 459,000 families.

But in the heart of Rangel's congressional district, he blasted away at Bush for a second day.

"He walks like this cowboy John Wayne," said Chavez. "He doesn't have the slightest idea of politics. He got where he is because he is the son of his father. He was an alcoholic, an ex-alcoholic. He's a sick man, full of complexes, but very dangerous now because he has a lot of power."

Chavez, clad in a fire-engine-red shirt, called Bush a "menace" and a "threat against life on the planet."

In the United States, rich people are getting richer, and poor people are getting poorer, he said. "That's not a democracy; that's a tyranny."

After his address, a Chavez spokesman said the Secret Service and New York Police Department had barred the Venezuelan president from granting media interviews and cut his delegation's satellite feed -- claims the New York police and State Department denied.

NYPD Assistant Chief Michael Collins called the allegations "absolutely false" and said the Venezuelan delegation refused to comply with requirements on where to place their satellite dish.

"What they were doing was dangerous and illegal," he said. "We made every accommodation not to interfere with what was going on."

State Department spokesman Gonzo Gallegos, in New York with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said: "As a matter of policy, there are no restrictions on President Chavez or anyone else wanting to speak their mind in the United States."

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GUINNESS · #2 09-21-2006, 05:45 PM

OMGWTFBBQHI2U I started a political thread

BMW X5 · #3 09-21-2006, 05:48 PM

look what you've done.

Eric5273 · #4 09-21-2006, 06:35 PM

What we have learned from having President Bush for 5 1/2 years now, is that actions are more important than words.

Yes, Chavez is a loose cannon and often puts his foot in his mouth. He's not the most likeable guy in that respect, even if you agree with what he says.

But the most important section of that article you posted is not his rant and name-calling of Bush, but this:

Underscoring his point, he announced he is expanding his heating-oil program to help impoverished Americans from 40 million gallons last year to 100 million gallons this year, and from 180,000 families to 459,000 families.

He is doing similar things in countries all around the world. Poor families that qualify get heating oil at a 40% discount during the winter months. What is shameful is that we live in the richest country in the world and yet our poor people have to rely on charity from a third world country in order to heat their homes. Absolutely pathetic.

JV · #5 09-21-2006, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric5273

But the most important section of that article you posted is not his rant and name-calling of Bush, but this:

Underscoring his point, he announced he is expanding his heating-oil program to help impoverished Americans from 40 million gallons last year to 100 million gallons this year, and from 180,000 families to 459,000 families.

He is doing similar things in countries all around the world. Poor families that qualify get heating oil at a 40% discount during the winter months. What is shameful is that we live in the richest country in the world and yet our poor people have to rely on charity from a third world country in order to heat their homes. Absolutely pathetic.

Sounds good at first glance, but I knew some dope dealers and other crooks in my old neighborhood who used to give out free turkeys on Thanksgiving and free electric fans and ice cream in the summer...

JV

Deuce · #6 09-21-2006, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric5273

What we have learned from having President Bush for 5 1/2 years now, is that actions are more important than words.

Yes, Chavez is a loose cannon and often puts his foot in his mouth. He's not the most likeable guy in that respect, even if you agree with what he says.

But the most important section of that article you posted is not his rant and name-calling of Bush, but this:

Underscoring his point, he announced he is expanding his heating-oil program to help impoverished Americans from 40 million gallons last year to 100 million gallons this year, and from 180,000 families to 459,000 families.

He is doing similar things in countries all around the world. Poor families that qualify get heating oil at a 40% discount during the winter months. What is shameful is that we live in the richest country in the world and yet our poor people have to rely on charity from a third world country in order to heat their homes. Absolutely pathetic.

I think our government should get with Chavez and follow Venezuela's plan to rid our country of poverty like they did.

AzX5 · #7 09-21-2006, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deuce

I think our government should get with Chavez and follow Venezuela's plan to rid our country of poverty like they did.

you funny...

Eric5273 · #8 09-21-2006, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deuce

I think our government should get with Chavez and follow Venezuela's plan to rid our country of poverty like they did.

I wouldn't say he rid their country of poverty -- more than 80% of Venezuelans lived in poverty when he took office in 1998. But that number appears to have dropped to under 40% as of last year.

Deuce · #9 09-21-2006, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric5273

I wouldn't say he rid their country of poverty -- more than 80% of Venezuelans lived in poverty when he took office in 1998. But that number appears to have dropped to under 40% as of last year.

Isn't the poverty rate about 13% in the US?

Eric5273 · #10 09-21-2006, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deuce

Isn't the poverty rate about 13% in the US?

Yes, somewhere around that. Venezuela is a much poorer country than the United States. It would take many many years of good policies before they can lower the poverty rate to anywhere even close to ours.

However, ours seems to be rising the last several years, which is not a good thing.

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