". . . about Venezuela, but as you might imagine, that's a topic that incites a good deal of passion in me."

I'm fine if you go on and on about it. I think you are being fair and even about Chavez and Venezuela and no doubt you have insight into that from your personal experience. I don't care who the politician is I think it is fair to be a critic once the guy sits in that seat. My concern is how Chavez is used to play politics in this country and Marc began this thread as he began his gun control thread...by dropping his pants and taking a big steaming turd to show off how he composes his deep thoughts.

Who knows what Marc really thinks or believes about these subjects because he seems to only want to use them to get a reaction...and this is what really bothers me...Marc acting like an idiot on this board is one thing but this is how a large portion of the media and right wingnuts treat these subjects.

They don't want to discuss the truth or facts about them or put them in a context that allows people to understand them...they want to use these subjects to anger, manipulate, confuse, and in the end profit from them. That should upset people.

"I don't think the American Left is wrong more than about half the time on major issues, but they are dead wrong on the issue of Venezuela. Chavez was far more of a Fascist than he was a Socialist."

When you say the American Left who do you mean? Do you mean guys like Sean Penn and Oliver Stone? Or are you saying that elected Democrats have also made misleading or incorrect statements about Chavez? I'm fine with your thoughts on Chavez and Venezuela...I don't think you have been out of line on that and I respect your background on it.

I disagree with your thoughts on the oil programs to help the poor and that in any way being a PR stunt...because the facts bear out that it is not and it has been a rather important program run in a successful way...with no help from the oil majors. I also think it is very wrong to minimize what those programs have done when their limitations are based on a lack of cooperation from all the big oil players that could have made them a much larger success. That should also upset people.