Rep. Charlie Rangel today 'blasted' the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Video Here
'You do not come into my country, my congressional district, and you do not condemn my president. If there is any criticism of President Bush, it should be restricted to Americans, whether they voted for him or not. I just want to make it abundantly clear to Hugo Chavez or any other president, do not 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'
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also spoke out against Chavez today saying, "Hugo Chavez fancies himself a modern day Simon Bolivar but all he is an everyday thug,"
`Leading Bush critic at home calls Chavez a "thug"
I'm surprised. Honestly.
I was expecting passive-aggressive silent approval from the Liberals in Congress. Rather than that we get some rather weak statements of disapproval from the Democrat leadership. Sadly, they come about twenty-four hours too late.
Todays declarations are nothing more than election year posturing. What Chavez has said, minus the theatrics, is exactly what the Left has been screaming for the past six years. The only reason they are speaking now is because the American people are angry. [I hope now Americans will see the similarities between what President Insano said and what the Liberals have been saying, but I hold out little hope of it.] 'Bush went to war for oil,' or, 'Bush thinks he is ruler of the world,' or, 'Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction,' or, 'Bush lied kids died,' or, 'We are ashamed that Bush is from Texas, or, 'Bush does not care about black people,' and I can keep going. It is no wonder Chavez thought what he had to say would be well received by the Left-wing. They have been saying it for YEARS. So, the Democrats know Americans are angry and choose now to speak out. It is not because they love America, or want to defend our president. To put it bluntly, the Democrats need your vote and will say anything to get it. The American ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, spoke out yesterday against Chavez, and what he said was simple and too the point. Brilliant! **UPDATE!!** At least one Democrat is being honest. I respect that. Not what he says or anything else about him. At least he is honest. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, a democrat, today defended Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's United Nations speech in which Chavez called President George Bush the devil. Harkin said the comments were "incendiary", then went on to say, "Let me put it this way, I can understand the frustration, ah, and the anger of certain people around the world because of George Bush's policies." Harkin continued what has been frequent criticism of the president's foreign policy. Harkin defends Venezuelan President's U-N speech against Bush