Posted on 09/01/2005 12:14:36 PM PDT by Democratshavenobrains
I know I am going to get slammed for this, but why shouldn't we improve our relations with Venezuela? I was just out driving and Citgo gas is 22 cents lower than everyone else! I've never seen the place so crowded.
I know Chavez is a socialist, but if we are suppossed to hate all socialist countries, then we will have to go to war with most of our "allies" like France, Germany, Mexico, and Canada. I'm sorry for all the middle class Venezuelans Chavez has impoverished, but frankly, its not our problem. If they hate him so bad, overthrow him and stop whining about it. The sad fact is that the lower classes apparently love the guy, and they make up the majority of the population.
The guy is not Ho Chi Minh, Joe Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, or even Fidel Castro. He is not starving millions of Venezuelan peasents by taking their wheat. Has poverty increased in his country since he took power? Because if it has, no one is reporting it.
He is not stoning women to death and teaching little Venezuelans to be suicide bombers and kill Christians and Jews. He is running his country better than the entire Arab Middle East. I know that isn't saying much, but it should be acknowledged. Am I the only one who is bothered by our President taking photo-ops with Saudi anti-semites who spit on us and want to enslave us in the long run?
I still support the War on Terror and taking out Saddam. Why? Even though Saddam's Baath Party was nominally socialist like Chavez's, it was completely anti-American. We all know Saddam was trying to get nuclear weapons, and all the sanctimonious decrees of liberal bloggers won't convince me otherwise. But Chavez is NOT insane enough to launch nuclear weapons at us, and if we cooperate more with him, he won't be as anti-American as Saddam.
I voted for Bush in 2004 and 2000 and still know that he is better than that European suck up and windbag John Kerry and that ecofreak Al Gore. But other people aren't going to feel this way forever. New Orleans being destroyed and its aftermath are worse than a thousand Cindy Sheehans. If conservatives think that the voters care more about saving Jane Smith's fetus than saving hundreds of dollars a year in gas prices, they will lose in 2008, maybe even 2006. Maybe Republicans won't vote for the next Democratic babykiller/athiest Presidential candidate, but they might just stay home anyway.
Whew...ok, I'm done. Now assure me I am just being pessimistic. I hope you are right.
One has nothing to do with the other. And as long as Chavez openly and cheerfully supports disgusting dictators like Castro, he can k*ss our *sses.
that's MORE than enough reason to make him an enemy for me.
"allies" like France, Germany, Mexico, and Canada.
Who says theyr'e our allies? maybe 60 years ago when they had a use for us, but at no time since.
Hitler wasn't a bad sort. We just pushed his back to the wall, right ?
Too bad Castro's countrymen love him. Our sanctions against Castro are based on principle. Cuban's remaing in perpetual poverty will not help the spread of ideas and commerce.
Venezuela most likely will never be an ally of ours, but with CAFTA in full effect by 2015 we will have a much better chance of strong arming the region.
Conflict today will not help that cause!
Castro is his Giggalo and Pimp. He is following along the same line as the BAD ole bearded one and following his orders. Jimmy "peanut venfdor" Kartteh covered up for his recall fraud. He wants to be the next Castro. In other words the one that stands up to the great bully of the north. Oh and I don't buy Citgo gasoline just like I don't buy anything that comes from France (I equate the two items the same). He supports terorizm from Colombia and Al Quida Call his country Cubazuela.
Either kiss his butt or chop off his head. This indecision is killing us.
Don't ask sensible questions. And I buy gas where ever it's the lowest. I don't care about the parent company's actions or whether some world leader 'likes' us.
Just read this from Dow Jones Newswires
HOUSTON-(Dow Jones)-Citgo's 324,300 barrel a day Lake Charles, La. refinery is operating "just fine," a spokesman said thursday. Citgo would not provide any information on supply to the refiner, spokesman David McCollum said in an e-mail.
In a report issued late Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability said the refinery had a total supply loss. the closing of the Calcasieu ship channel, as well as offshore porduction shut-ins, had caused the loss, the report said.
Citgo's second Louisiana refinery, in Chalmette, La. remains shut after the storm. The 187,200 barrel a day plant is operated jointly with ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM)
Citgo is the U.S. refining arm of Venezuela's national oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PVC.YY)
By Jessica Renick-Ault, Dow Jones Newswires
2. Socialism/Communism is slavery, pure and simple. It is inhumane, evil, and is a derangement that needs to be eliminated from the face of the earth. Every socialist is a frustrated slaver - one who fantasizes about owning and controlling people.
3. Chavez has beaten, killed, and imprisoned anyone who opposes him, has mobs paid to beat opposition political gatherings, and has suspended most civil liberties in Venezuela.
In short, he's a Stalinist who should be gutted and hung by the neck like the criminal he is.
Using your logic, maybe we can even do business with OBL and Zarqawi, because after all, their followers love them. And as for those foreign infidels that they may have inconvenienced, that's not the US's problem, right?
FYI:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050829/wl_afp/usweathervenezuelaoil_050829235602
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered to send food and fuel to the United States after the powerful Hurricane Katrina pummeled the US south, ravaging US crude production.
The leftist leader, a frequent critic of the United States and a target himself of US disapproval, said Venezuela could send aid workers with drinking water, food and fuel to US communities hit by the hurricane.
"We place at the disposition of the people of the United States in the event of shortages -- we have drinking water, food, we can provide fuel," Chavez told reporters.
Chavez said fuel could be sent to the United States via a Citgo refinery that has not been affected by the hurricane. Citgo is owned by Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
n the Gulf of Mexico, which accounts for a quarter of total US oil output, 92 percent of crude and 83 percent of natural gas production were shut down due to Hurricane Katrina, which slammed Louisiana and Mississippi, according to US government data.
Venezuela is the fourth-largest provider of oil to the United States, supplying some 1.5 million barrels a day.
Last week, Chavez offered discount gasoline to poor Americans suffering from high oil prices and on Sunday offered free eye surgery for Americans without access to health care.
He is not stoning women to death and teaching little Venezuelans to be suicide bombers and kill Christians and Jews."
Don't where you are getting your information, but you need new sources!
Chavez IS starving his people. Chavez IS jailing those that oppose him; then he murders them. Chavez IS a tinpot dictator bent on overthrowing governments in SA. Chavez IS the enemy of all people that freedom loving people. Chavez IS aiding the guerrillas in Colombia.
For better info. try: http://www.hacer.org/
I do not intend to slam you, but you seem to be laboring under a couple of false assumptions. The first is that the United States wants to be on bad terms with Venezuela; the second is that Chavez wants to be on good terms with the United States.
Chavez has been employing that favorite tactic of dictators, which is to create an external enemy to unite people and take their minds off their problems. Good relations with the United States would not help him.
Gee, I'm unaware of being at 'war' with Venezuela, or even giving them a wedgie. I gotta keep up.
Maybe Republicans won't vote for the next Democratic babykiller/athiest Presidential candidate, but they might just stay home anyway.
Because gas prices are up? Even by huge percentages?
Can't see it happening. Can't see a Dem proposing anything that will bring relief.
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