Why President Obama Is Really No Worse than el Presidente Chávez
This article by James Petras, a former professor of sociology at Binghamton University who claims “a 50-year membership in the class struggle,” appeared on September 17 in the Dissident Voice — a remarkable publication with which I had not previously been familiar. It chastises our beloved President Obama because he has failed to make the tremendous progress attributable to Venezuelan el Presidente Chávez. The author, in slamming President Obama, neglects at least one salient factor: unlike el Presidente Chávez, who has been in office for about ten years, President Obama has had fewer than three years to lift the United States from the morass of capitalism and to bring forth a glorious new society pleasing unto Him. In defense of the author, it does seem as though President Obama has been in office for at least ten years, often even longer.
Here are some of the contrasting great leaps forward made or promised by these two astonishing leaders. Although both will face reelections in 2012 when the economic conditions of their countries will be foremost in the minds of the voters, el Presidente Chávez has moved vigorously to give Venezuela an ideal society while President Obama has failed to do that for the United States. For example,
President Chavez responded via a large scale program in public spending on social programs. Billions were allocated in a massive housing program designed to create one million homes over the next several years. . . .
While few of the promised new homes have actually been built, at least they have been promised. And that’s important; elections are coming soon and promises work very well. This, courtesy of Weil at Tal Cual:
Not content to rest upon his housing laurels,
Chavez increased the minimum wage, social security and pension payments, increasing consumption among low income groups, stimulating demand and increasing revenues for small and medium size businesses.
This must have been very hard to do, since Venezuela has eliminated much private economic activity and made most of what remains unprofitable. The takeover of farm lands and food distribution has also resulted in chronic shortages. That’s not a problem — it’s a feature, not a bug:
The former paratrooper, who is an avowed fan of Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean dictator, and Fidel Castro, Cuba’s Communist tyrant, boasted that he has launched a new era of socialist supremacy. He said:
“Socialism is necessarily better than capitalism across the board and, that’s what we’re proving.”
Change we can believe in takes time so patience is necessary! As shown by these graphs from the Washington Post, things are already changing in Venezuela, thanks in part to the firing in 2003 of twenty thousand subversive Venezuelan oil workers, many of whom are now doing their thing in Colombia. Another factor has been the failure to maintain and improve oil infrastructure. This has been good for Venezuela because oil, the Devil’s Excrement, can be harmful to the nations where it is produced, as President Obama in his wisdom is also well aware.
The Dissident Voice continues,
The Chavez government sustained living standards by instituting price controls on food and other essentials, which sustained popular demand at the expense of profiteering by the owners of super markets. The Chavez government nationalized lucrative gold mines and repatriated overseas reserves in the course of financing its demand-driven economic recovery program, eschewing tax concessions to the rich and bailouts of bankrupt banks and private businesses.
The article fails to note with appropriate pride that inflation is officially now 25.1 percent — second only to the Democratic Republic of Congo — and rising again. This is one of the many areas in which Venezuela leads the world in economic expansion. Others include violent crime –
In Iraq, a country with about the same population as Venezuela, there were 4,644 civilian deaths from violence in 2009, according to Iraq Body Count; in Venezuela that year, the number of murders climbed above 16,000.
Even Mexico’s infamous drug war has claimed fewer lives.
Corruption is also endemic and the just repression of a hostile press, so dangerous to a free and democratic society, is in full bloom.
NEW YORK (February 2, 2010) – The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) condemned the recent media crackdown in Venezuela that sent RCTV International (RCTV-I), along with other five cable and satellite TV channels (TV Chile, Ritmo Son, Momentum, America TV, and American Network), off the air last Sunday after they failed to broadcast a speech by President Hugo Chávez. In view of this new attack on freedom of expression, HRF has relaunched its Free RCTV campaign (www.FreeRCTV.com), which aims to raise international awareness about the grave situation of freedom of expression in Venezuela. …
The president of Venezuela and his government have carried out a relentless campaign against independent media in Venezuela – especially against those who question the government’s policies. The president has singled out editors, newspaper owners, reporters, and in one case even challenged the owner of a news channel to be prepared to face him in a duel.
Obviously, this is all to the good because it’s for the people!
Chavez received the Rodolfo Walsh journalism award from Argentina’s Universidad Nacional de La Plata “for his unquestionable and authentic commitment to support the freedom of peoples.”
During a raucous, two-hour acceptance speech in front of hundreds of students and the university’s journalism faculty, Chavez accused large media outlets of “manipulation” and said that in Venezuela today, there is “more freedom of expression and the press than any time in our history.”
President Obama, bless his heart, hasn’t had the opportunities available to el Presidente Chávez and so hasn’t had to try so hard. The media love him. Well, most of the time.
El Presidente Chávez has managed his remarkable accomplishments while fighting a personal battle with cancer, in which he has also been successful due to heroic Cuban medical advances, Venezuelan health care, and Venezuelan shamans who love him dearly.
Although el Presidente Chávez’s promises of hopeful change have not yet been fully implemented and have yet to produce concrete results, they have given the peasants of Venezuela hope for a better future. President Obama, in contrast,
rejected any large scale long term public investments to create jobs. His proposed “Jobs for America” proposal will at best temporarily reduce unemployment by less than five tenths of one percent. In pursuit of policies benefiting Wall Street bondholders, Obama became deeply involved in deficit reduction, meaning large scale cuts in public spending especially in social expenditures. Obama, in agreement with the extreme right wing, agreed to regressive proposals to reduce tax payments for popular Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs. His proposals to fund “Jobs for America” depends on cuts in the Social Security tax which ensures a reduction in payments and a deficit or worse, which would facilitate privatization – handing social security to Wall Street, a trillion dollar plum. …
Unlike Chavez, who makes a point of highlighting positive job and education policies for Afro and Indo-Venezuelans, Obama ignores the 50% unemployed big city young (18-25) Afro-Americans and Latinos in favor of serving white Wall Street bankers.
President Obama will continue to do his best to do similar things to in the United States, but he needs more support for the Save Obama Bill (“SOB”).
President Obama is no less adverse to the capitalist system than is el Presidente Chávez but must work in difficult circumstances, in slow, measured, and bipartisan fashion. He needs to make the knuckle dragging Tea Party elite understand the overwhelming errors of their views.
With another term in office, President Obama will, in all humility, cause the seas to cease their rise and fire, flame and the sword to be no more. If we all chip in, we can help to Win One For the Ripper! Even $5.00 $25.00 can help. On the other hand, maybe he should just step aside and avoid the whole mess or collaborate with PETA on a nifty porn site. Or perhaps become the secretary general of the United Nations? All wise, he will know what is best for Him.
Speaking of the SOB bill; the president if “greeting” donors up and down the West coast on his fundraising tour, and he even found time to mock a real governor (Perry) in the process. At one point he touched down in California (Silicon Valley I think) in order to greet only 45 donors.
The expense of using Air Force One to accomplish this fundraising must be astronomical… so here are my questions:
Is it legal to do this?? (I’m assuming that the American people are paying for this extravagance).
If indeed it is illegal; then can someone please tell me why there is zero outrage regarding the West Coast fling?
“On the other hand, maybe he should just step aside and avoid the whole mess or collaborate with PETA on a nifty porn site. Or perhaps become the secretary general of the United Nations?”
I thought the United Nations WAS a porn site? After all, it’s filled with the greatest number of whores that I’ve ever seen in one place. Yes, Obama would fit right in at the UN and he actually has a lot of experience for the job. All they do is talk all day long, eat expensive food paid for by their home countries (or the United States), and get absolutely nothing done. Sounds a lot like Obama and the Democrats in the Senate. Yes, Obama would fit right in there.
The U.N. gets “absolutely nothing done.” And that, Sir, is a good thing; it’s the best thing it does.
You have nailed it! Obama is no worse than Chavez, no better either.
Anyone notice that “handshake” between the two fascists? Looks peculiar doesn’t it? Wonder what it symbolizes. Is is a special code shake between members of a global secret society of authoritarians? Sure doesn’t look like the usual meet and greet. Don’t think I’d be offered the job had I proffered this version of it’s been great to meet with you. From where I sit it looks like the handshake version of the carnal act which translated might mean; hey brother, we’re sure gonna be effing a whole lot of suckers.
“Anyone notice that “handshake” between the two fascists?”
Chavez is a very strange duck. Apparently, Chavez has a regular TV show in Venezuela – Sunday afternoons if memory serves – where he sits down, sometimes for hours, and pontificates about public policy. Apparently, his signature signoff on that show is to say “Hello, Fidel” (in English!) to his buddy and soulmate Fidel Castro. [I don't think anyone has ever determined why he says it in English in a broadcast that is otherwise in Spanish. I've seen Castro speak very accented English in very old news footage but I don't know if he has kept it up or improved it. I don't know if Chavez speaks any English at all beyond the word 'Hello'.]
I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find Chavez and Obama hit if off since both love big government and loathe capitalism for all of its (alleged) faults.
…el Presidente Chávez has moved vigorously to give Venezuela an ideal society
As you report, crime and inflation have soared under el Presidente.
(I wonder if Chavez is still embarrassing his ministers in weekly public bombast sessions, or if 4 rounds of chemotherapy have humbled him somewhat. Despite his claims to now being healthy, he may not be long for this world.)
Oogoe gained another term (the plan is presidente for life) through political machinations and deceit, just as his counterpart Barack Obama is looking to do in 2012.
James Petras is delusional.
“James Petras is delusional.” Even worse than that..
Dan, this article confuses readers more than it informs.
There is really not good reasons to compare these two
and I disagree with the title.
I am no Obama supporter, but you are way over the line here.
I suppose Obama is no better than Castro either…
“I suppose Obama is no better than Castro either.”
If the shoe fits….
But seriously, you make a good point. Obama has not actually ordered property owners lined up against walls and shot the way Castro did in his early days. He has not built a huge series of very harsh new prisons to house “enemies of the people” either.
But he’s not that different ideologically either. Castro loathes the United States and Obama does not seem to differ significantly. While the details of their struggle against freedom in their own countries varies, no one knows the future. Certainly many people here have concerns that Obama will not step down gracefully if defeated in an election or impeached and convicted. Would he actually go as far as overthrowing the government like Castro did? That’s anyone’s guess.
Oogoe rallied “the poor”, while our own magnificent healer of the racial divide is, apparently…
Diving into the race hustling business big time
Netflix Attacks Consumer Privacy Law
http://epic.org/privacy/vppa/
“The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves.”
George Washington
I bet if lefties like Obama and Chavez hadn’t spent so much time learning how to organize revolution they might have actually learned something useful by now. As it is they flaunt their talent for destroying whole economies and personal wealth as if they are geniuses when in fact they are ignorant as snails about how to create wealth. But as long as their policies please fellow leftists, why that’s all that all that matters.
My apologies for the typo.
Obama’s Latest Gaffe: Jews and Janitors
There’s long been more than a sneaking suspicion that President Barack Hussein Obama is a dyed-in-the-wool anti-Semite although there’s no doubt he is more prone to gaffes than even George W. Bush. His closet anti-Semitism may have met his “gaffery” over the weekend at the Congressional Black Caucus awards in Washington.
Quickly scrubbed from the official transcript of Obama’s speech advocating class warfare–technically, he was addressing what he called a growing disparity of wealth in the United States–the president mixed up Jews and janitors before he realized his Freudian slip but he had already been caught by the tale of the (video)tape.
I guess it’s easy to confuse the two. After all, both words begin with a “J.”
Not that much of the mainstream media will make mention of Obama’s “Jews janitors” flub; they’re still more interested in Bush gaffes.
The Jewish vote is, of course, critical to his re-election, not as critical as the black, union, and homosexual votes but very significant nonetheless. He needs money from all of them to hit his goal of a billion dollar campaign chest.
Blacks, unionists, and gays are guaranteed supporters but those Jewish backers have been slip, slip, slipping away in view of the administration’s policies on the Mideast and his kowtowing to Arab potentates and catering to Muslim interests at home. The last thing he needed at this point was to demean Jews but he did so anyway, assuming that confusing Jews with janitors is demeaning.
In Obama’s talk to the CBC, he was in the middle of another rant against the rich when he blurted out, “If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew uhh as a janitor . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=5558)
Did yoo hear what Hugo Chavez had to say about climate change, precious???
“Well then, Mr. President, climate change is undoubtedly the most devastating environmental problem of this century. Floods, droughts, severe storms, hurricanes, melting ice caps, rise in mean sea levels, ocean acidification and heat waves, all of that sharpens the impact of global crisis besetting us.”
El Presidente really gets it! OMG dumb conservatives Ronald Reagan would have been w/ Chavez years ago!! Like duh!!!
I was insulted by Obama’s most recent speech, when he told black Americans to “Quit whining, take off your bedroom slippers, and put on your marching boots.”
Why are we wearing bedroom slippers, Mr. president? Why aren’t we wearing steel-toed workboots, like the illegal immigrants who have seized so many of our construction jobs for less than half of what we once earned? Does this clueless demagogue actually believe that we will follow him over the cliff like so many lemmings? Don’t believe the media lie. Obama lost the black vote a long time ago. 2012 can’t come soon enough.
Let Venezuela eat oil until they get their act together and rid themselves of el Presidente Chávez.
It’s time to stop relying on energy from enemy sources.
Fox Reports Massive Food Shortages! THIS YEAR 2011!!! Uploaded on Jan 14, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob-ubrC2RnU&fe…
“The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves.”
George Washington