Tuesday, September 8, 2009

It's Chic to Celebrate Dictators!

I'm in a cranky mood right now. There are multiple reasons but one is that I just don't understand the world right now. I can point you to Bride of Rove; she said it all so much more eloquently that I can. What she said? That's exactly how I'm feeling these days. Go read it, then come back. I'll wait.

Okay. Let's just consider this one thing for the time being. Hugo Chavez. Over the past several days I've been reading about his star turn at the Venice Film Festival. Since when did it become so chic to celebrate dictators? WTF is up with that?!

Whats up is that Oliver Stone has made a film, a documentary, about Chavez which as IBDeditorials says, "emphasizes that the public has it all wrong about the clowning Chavez being a threat to the West. It's merely an image problem he has, brought on by unjust demonization from George W. Bush."

Can we just lock the doors and let Stone stay in Europe? Turn out the lights?

Does Stone seriously just not GET what kind of guy Chavez is? How about this recent deal Chavez made with Iran:

Chavez announced a "strategic" move to sell $800 million in gasoline to Iran, vowing to ship 20,000 barrels a day in exchange for Iranian "tractors." Sound innocuous? It isn't.

Chavez knows exactly what he's doing. Iran imports 40% of its gasoline and is vulnerable to sanctions on that vital commodity. For all the oil Iran produces, it lacks refinery capacity and must make up for its internal shortage with imports. Shutting off the gasoline spigot from the West is the mullahs' worst fear, given the damage it would do to Iran's economy as well as their grip on power.

That means gasoline is the one of the few points of leverage the West has over the Iranian regime as it seeks to check Iran's nuclear program. If Chavez's scheme succeeds, the West will have a potential economic weapon removed. Chavez's gasoline means the mullahs in charge should have nothing to fear from a shut-off.

This will give Tehran room for a more aggressive push to develop nuclear weapons to threaten the West.

How about his support of FARC terrorists (see here and here for starters.)

Listen to Stone defend Chavez (among others):



Does he have no grasp of history? Of what evil actually is? Does he not care? Oh, wait. We're all just paranoid. He's the normal one.

Stone says he's fearful that his film will have a difficult time getting play in the United States. I'm really not so sure anymore. Look at all the wackos wearing Che Guevara t-shirts and apparel. They'd go. It would probably get play at Sundance. Camp David. Here's the trailer:



It's not just Oliver Stone. We've also got Michael Moore and his capitalism is evil adventure - they loved it in Italy. Here's the trailer for that one:



So, let me get this right. Capitalism is bad. Dictators are good. What the hell country did I wake up in?

I don't understand the world anymore. Nothing makes sense.

4 comments:

bawzonyajawz said...

Did things ever really make any sense whatsoever?

snaggletoothie said...

The first thing that came to my mind was that the far left of the Democrat party idolized, praised and backed Stalin every minute he was in power in spite of the tens of millions of his own citizens he killed and the hundreds of millions he repressed. These people have now morphed into the dKos, Move-On and Obama people. Maybe the strange thing for them is leaving any anti-American dictator unidolized. Why do they not praise and send missions of support to Kim Jong Il? Since they are unconcerned about how his citizens are treated but mightily excited by hia anti-American stance.
I had to laugh at the description of Moore as the most feared film maker in America. I most fear that I might actually have to sit through one of his movies. I find his crap to be an obnoxious mix of boredom and arrogant dishonesty. I suspect his success is only made possible by the growing failure of American educational institutions.

Chris Wysocki said...

They gave Leni Reifenstahl an Oscar. That pretty much sums up the Hollywood love affair with murderous monsters, doesn't it?

yukio ngaby said...

How dare you mock the great Oliver Stone? The man who brought us "Alexander" in which the Irish (or at least people with thick -many of them fake sounding- Irish accents) take over all of the Near East, and Alexander says not to make fun of a civilization (the Perians) "thousands of year older than our own" (the Macedonians, I would guess)!

Clearly the master Oliver Stone is above all you mere mortals of Louisiana and other "Red States," As he proved in "Natural Born Killers!" Take that Middle America!

DO NOT QUESTION YOUR BETTERS!