Blind hate leads to blind stupidity

Recently, a man named Jeff Cohen wrote an opinion about urging people to buy Citgo gas to punish 7-11 for not supporting Venezuela's socialist tyrant, Hugo Chavez. You may remember that a few weeks ago, Chavez called President Bush II "the Devil" at a UN assembly.

Several people on MySpace, including my own sister, were ecstatic and sent it around to everyone they knew. After all, they reasoned, ANYONE is better than Bush II.

Oh how blind hate can so easily lead to blind stupidity...

I'm a Libertarian, and as such I'm definitely NO fan of Bush II. Bush will go down in history as one of America's worst presidents (as will Clinton).

That said, Bush will NEVER be as hypocritical or anti-freedom as Chavez is. Cohen seems ignorant to the FACT that if he wrote a column criticizing Chavez, he'd better not show his face in Venezuela or he'd get arrested.

Yes, you read that right. Chavez, the man Cohen claims is a champion of the poor and downtrodden, does NOT allow freedom of speech in his country. Furthermore, Chavez' administration is far more corrupt and abusive than Bush's administration is in the US - and that's pretty bad!

Cohen claims that Citgo's oil profits go to the poor of Venezuela, but that's a CROCK and Cohen should know better. Citgo's profits actually go to the managers of Citgo and to Chavez' cronies. Chavez isn't running a democracy - he's creating a socialist nation that borders on Communism.

But apparently Jeff Cohen thinks ANY hypocritical dictator would be better than Bush.

That's the problem with "politically correct liberal speak". It sounds nice until you actually SEE it in action.

Bush II is bad. Chavez is worse. Jeff Cohen should either open his eyes, or move to Venezuela to see just how bad his "champion" really is.

Sincerely,

Thomas Lessman
Candidate for KS House Dist. 53
Website: www.ThomasLessman.com

Here is the opinion sent out by Jeff Cohen:
Of the top oil producing countries in the world, only one is a democracy with a president who was elected on a platform of using his nation's oil revenue to benefit the poor. The country is Venezuela. The President is Hugo Chavez. Call him "the Anti-Bush."

Citgo is a U.S. refining and marketing firm that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company. Money you pay to Citgo goes primarily to Venezuela -- not Saudi Arabia or the Middle East. There are 14,000 Citgo gas stations in the US. (Click here http://www.citgo.com/CITGOLocator/StoreLocator.jsp to find one near you.) By buying your gasoline at Citgo, you are contributing to the billions of dollars that Venezuela's democratic government is using to provide health care, literacy and education, and subsidized food for the majority of Venezuelans.

Instead of using government to help the rich and the corporate, as Bush does, Chavez is using the resources and oil revenue of his government to help the poor in Venezuela. A country with so much oil wealth shouldn't have 60 percent of its people living in poverty, earning less than $2 per day. With a mass movement behind him, Chavez is confronting poverty in Venezuela. That's why large majorities have consistently backed him in democratic elections. And why the Bush administration supported an attempted military coup in 2002 that sought to overthrow Chavez.

So this is the opposite of a boycott. Call it a BUYcott. Spread the word.

Of course, if you can take mass transit or bike or walk to your job, you should do so. And we should all work for political changes that move our country toward a cleaner environment based on renewable energy. The BUYcott is for those of us who don't have a practical alternative to filling up our cars.

So get your gas at Citgo. And help fuel a democratic revolution in Venezuela.
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0516-25.htm