Monday, June 25, 2007

Big Time Wrestling...

Of course Hugo Chavez is a bad guy wrestler. He blatantly trash talks before the next scheduled bout. He even goes so far as to tell everyone the strategy he will employ for the fight and how he cares nothing for the rules. You have to admit that he plays the part to perfection. This is also true for Lukashenka and Putin. But they have to be bad, don’t they?
The new BEING HAD Times took a while to turn out. Didn't think this would be the case when I started as there was a lot of news about Belarus out there but my day got in the way and so this is why it came out a bit late.

One of the more interesting stories there though concern Hugo Chavez who will presently be showing up in the beautiful and interesting Republic of Belarus. Chavez will also be visiting with some other members of the I hate America club including Vladimir Putin over in Moscow and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad down, down, down in Iran. Te general consensus is that the trip is about buying weapons.

    In Belarus, Chavez said, he will put "the final touches" on a plan to buy an air defense system, saying Venezuela's current short-range system was insufficient.

    "What do you do today [faced] with the speed of supersonic planes like those of the [U.S.] empire?" he said.

    The new system will have an "unlimited capacity" and will be equipped with long-range radars and missiles, he said.

    "We don't want to shoot missiles at anybody, [it's] just a defense system. But if somebody comes here, well then, ssssssshhh," he said, imitating the sound of a missile in the air.
The story got covered by a couple of other bloggers. Clint Heine and Friends quipped:

    Yet, the silence from Washington is almost deafening. Bush hasn't come out and attacked Chavez or made any statement close to admitting he disliked the country or the people. It's all in Chavez's head, after all, if he cannot rally his people he will not be able to lead them. After all, he is neglecting the people and especially the highest homicide rate in Latin America just so he can keep his little socialist agenda ticking over.

    The real question is how long will this last? What would happen if one of his neighbours rejects the socialist agenda and Chavez feels like he needs to intervene? What about the elections in Venezuela? Will he step aside or will he push for longer terms? What about when Castro dies?
But nelson guirado was more to the pont:

    North Korea's Kim isn't a loon. If I owned a country, I might have all kinds of babes visit my palace. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad isn't a nut. If I wanted to intimidate the West, I'd develop nuclear weapons too.

    Chavez, however, is certifiable. Hey Chavez, develop some nuclear weapons first, then we'll take you seriously. We can just ignore you today.

    Way to help the poor with all of those weapons. I'm sure if we did want to invade you, those 24 SU-30 Sukhoi fighter jets would give us a lot of trouble.
In theory the point of making a military and financial collaboration between Venezuela and Russia/Belarus and Iran is to try and establish a base of power from which to combat the west; sort of a re-invigoration of the theoretical stasis which existed during the time of the cold war. The principal behind this is that unchecked western capitalism and greed is bad for the world and therefore it is necessary for socialist thought to be built up to the point that there is a viable alternative, or at least a second side that demands a little respect.

Another way to look at this is that we are looking at some good old fashioned WWF wrestling techniques.

Of course Hugo Chavez is a bad guy wrestler. He blatantly trash talks before the next scheduled bout. He even goes so far as to tell everyone the strategy he will employ for the fight and how he cares nothing for the rules. You have to admit that he plays the part to perfection. This is also true for Lukashenka and Putin. But they have to be bad, don’t they?

The point of that bi-polar argument is that there must be an alternative voice in order to keep checks and balances. This is of course the American system in a nutshell, but the irony is that by vanquishing the communists and making sure that they stayed down for a decade and a half, the USA became the de facto power in the world. And at the same time, though existing in a world where there was nothing opposing their decision making, they demanded (violently, gratuitously and corruptly) that only multi-party democracy should be considered and that any election whose results were not favorable be considered fabricated. Seems mildly hypocritical when you think about it, doesn't it?

Lukashenka is bad because he does not allow for opposition candidates but the US does not allow for elections whose results don't go their way.

Belarus is a pariah for its shoddy human rights record but the Americans can torture their prisoners in secret jails and help maintain chaos in the Middle East.

To me, and this is without taking sides, it is simply about agreeing that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. If what is truly wanted is democracy than this must mean that we are advocating democracy for all people and not just those with the money to buy elections. Poor people need to have the same rights as rich, people who wish to share the wealth need to have the same rights as those who wish to live only for themselves. Advocating freedom therefore should not be simply a flag to carry into battle against an enemy that disagrees with you or has a resource which is wanted, it should mean that the world develops the capacity to both truly communicate and, cough, share the wealth and protect the future of human life on the planet. I think that this last means ecology and sustenance for all rather than generating more millionaires.

And of course a further irony is that when talking about maturity, as in the west demanding that the FSU be considered like children and unable to govern themselves, it is children who think only of themselves; adults understand their responsibilities.

Hugo Chavez does make a really good villain though. The man you love to hate. I'll be tuned in fight-night for sure. Wouldn't miss it for the world. Boom.

More soon…

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Another analogy is that the Belarusian opposition is to Lukashenka how Lukashenka, Putin, Ahmadinejad and Chavez are to Bush. You are right that they are all putting on a great big show trying to get attention but are being officially ignored.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007  
Blogger BEING HAD said...

I agree with this. But more seriously, that attention is like demanding that resource burning wars of preparedness be fought on several fronts. If Europe has to deal with the threat of Russian or Iranian missiles and nukes this is going to put stress on them and cost them time and materials to fight. The same goes for the US who would have to deal with threats from Central America. All it means is that the US and EU are not able to work in peace and must spend time, materials and energy which, in my utopian idea of a perfect world, could probably be better spent on feeding people or making the world cleaner and healthier place.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I find it hard to believe that Chavez would actually make a military assault in the United States. But if you think of Russia, Iran and Venezuela, there is something to it.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007  
Blogger Mary Ellen said...

What bothers me the most is that before George Bush came on to the scene, the United States could hold their own based on their past reputation as a world power. Now that he has shown his stupidity in how he handled the Iraq war...actually his stupidity for getting into it in the first place, he has weakened us. Now, even the nut cases like Chavez think we are vulnerable and aren't afraid to take their pot shots.

Chavez is a loon...but he isn't stupid. He knows he can't go after the US on his own, but it won't stop him from trying to get a few buddies to help him. He should be careful, though. Putin is a smart guy and he can take advantage of Chavez and will turn on him in a New York minute. Standing alone, Chavez is nothing.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, he might be standing a lone but he has become hella rich since he's been standing there. Spending $3 billion on weapons is no drop in the bucket and a bunch of nuclear subs with Chavez' finger on the button is not going to help be get any sleep at night.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007  

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