Chavez, Now and Forever? Plus today's Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Cross-posted

My article, Chavez, Now and Forever? on Hugo Chavez's referendum victory, is up at Real Clear World. Please read it and leave a comment.

The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Undoubtedly the big story of the week is yesterday's Venezuelan referendum. Please scroll down to the Venezuela section for a roundup of posts and articles.

ARGENTINA
El día después

BOLIVIA
U.S. rancher at center stage in Bolivia land dispute

BRAZIL
Brazil's oil industry: Plunging in
Petrobras sets some ambitious targets

COLOMBIA
“The ‘Intellectual Bloc’ of the FARC”

IDEAGlobal Sees Mexico, Colombia Debt Prices Under Fire Due to U.S. Recession. Colombia Bond Yields Should Rise Further

CUBA
Te toca a tí

1971-2009: The Grey Millennium

Cuban human rights activist jailed

ECUADOR
Out of Ecuador, A Latin Lesson for Obama

'Difficult' for Ecuador to pay debt interest: minister

HAITI
Rebuilding Haiti: Weighed down by disasters
A modest success for the United Nations is threatened by nature and lassitude

MEXICO
Warrior in Drug Fight Soon Becomes a Victim
Mexican General Seized, Slain in Cancun

Video: Las parteras de Santa Teresa

1530: Tangaxuan II, the last Tarasco ruler

Via Instapundit, What does Slim want?

NICARAGUA
The pathetic political situation that is Nicaragua

VENEZUELA
Dictatorial reforms

NY Times: Chavez victory injects "fresh vibrancy into his socialist-inspired revolution"

Leftist Political Parties & Power

Welcome To The Revolution- No Term Limits For Chavez

Chavez Wins

Dictator for Life

No More Term Limits for Venezuela’s Chavez

Bye Bye Venezuela: Chavez Wins Referendum, Gets to Run Again

POLICE BEHIND SYNAGOGUE ATTACKS IN VENEZUELA

Chavez reports attempted coup

Views of Venezuela's Chavez Have Hardened in the Region -- and at Home

Chavez tries Mugabe style 'democracy'

Venezuela Expels EU Lawmaker for Comments on Election

Telling Venezuela how to vote
Hugo Chávez is abusing the resources of his petrostate to fund a campaign to ensure his presidential term is extended

Chavez Delays Valentine's Day for Referendum, Promises a Whole Week of Lovin Starting Monday

Venezuela opposition complains of Chavez tactics

Journalists' Association asks government to halt attacks

Hugo Chávez's Venezuela: Oblivious to the coming storm
In his first decade Hugo Chávez has presided over social programmes, inflation, crime and rising intolerance. Venezuelans will pay the price in years to come

Chávez Decisively Wins Bid to End Term Limits

Mr. Chávez vs. the Jews
With George W. Bush gone, Venezuela's strongman has found new enemies.

AMERICAN POLITICS
Chavez and Obama

Chavez power grab: is this our future, too?

IMMIGRATION
16 illegals sue Arizona rancher
Claim violation of rights as they crossed his land

Mending Fences

For more Carnival goodness
Shiny happy dhimmi - #13



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Did McCain call his wife a [expletive deleted] SIXTEEN years ago?

I asume the man asking was trying to get a rise out of McCain when asking this,

Q: This question goes to mental health and mental health care. Previously, I've been married to a woman that was verbally abusive to me. Is it true that you called your wife a (expletive)?

You can watch McCain's reaction here:

Here's McCain's reply,

McCain: Now, now. You don't want to... Um, you know that's the great thing about town hall meetings, sir, but we really don't, there's people here who don't respect that kind of language. So I'll move on to the next questioner in the back.

Allahpundit points out that the man asking is a former campaign worker for Joe Biden.

There are three aspects to this question:
1. First of all, the lack of intelligent policy questions on which to debate McCain.

2. Trying to demonstrate he is an unhinged abusive husband because SIXTEEN years ago (apparently) he called his wife that. Obviously whatever issues the McCains might have had over a decade ago have been resolved.

3. Trying to get a rise out of him during a township meeting.

And what better way to handle it than by doing exactly what Sen. McCain just did in the video?



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Obama's 'Distractions'?

Dr. Krauhammer asks in his article, Obama's 'Distractions'?

How does one explain campaigning throughout 2007 on a platform of transcending racial divisions, while in that same year contributing $26,000 to a church whose pastor incites race hatred?

Dr Krauthammer gets to the heart of the matter (emphasis added):

What is Obama to do? Dismiss all such questions about his associations and attitudes as "distractions." And then count on his acolytes in the media to wage jihad against those who have the temerity to raise these questions. As if the character and beliefs of a man who would be president are less important than the "issues." As if some political indecency was committed when Obama was prevented from going through his latest -- 21st and likely last -- primary debate without being asked about Wright or Ayers or the tribal habits of gun-toting, God-loving Pennsylvanians.

Many of us who voted for Bill Clinton the first time learned the hard way that the character of a man who would be president is a crucial matter.

I would even venture to say that is possibly the main reason why so many Democrats are in Obama's camp, instead of Hillary's: they learned from the Clintons that the Clintons are not to be trusted.

Character and personal beliefs permeate every action and decision a person makes. They are not "distractions". To the contrary, they are signposts directing you to what road they will take.

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Don't miss today's podcast at 11AM Eastern. The morning's going to be busy, but there will be more posting later.



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The seventy-five percenters

It's that magical time of the year again, when tyrants make a show of "democracy" to the world at large. Today's turn: Robert Mugabe
Vote count under way in Zimbabwe

Vote counting is under way in Zimbabwe, with the main opposition MDC claiming it is winning the battle to oust President Robert Mugabe.

The MDC said it was ahead in most constituencies but continues to fear the vote will be rigged.

Results may not be finalised for some days and the government warned the MDC not to declare an early victory.

Forgive me if I sound cynical, but what are the chances of anyone defeating a megalomaniacal murderous thug through an election?

The BBC is also not helping: Look how they make it sound as if it was Mugabe who was battling the odds, instead of the other way around:

Mr Mugabe is battling the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai and independent Simba Makoni for president.

I hope I'm wrong and that the MDC can win, but from here it looks very unlikely indeed (h/t Instapundit).

Nowadays fashionable tyrants win by 75% of the vote. It's only the old-style, crassly out of fashion tyrants like the Chinese Communist Party who still win by 98%.

The modern fashionable tyrant soothes what passes for conscience at the UN by holding an election, calling in international observers (a dozen observers to stay at carefully-selected, scrupulously-guarded locations in countries at least as large as California, because you know that a dozen people staying for a day or two really can get a good idea of what's going on in a country) IF they decide to call observers in the first place, making a show of the polling process, and then winning with a 3:1 margin over the opposition. If they really want to make a point, then they win 4:1.

Then Jimmy Carter flies back to Georgia to celebrate Rosalyn's birthday, the UN goes back to condemning Israel, and we all tune in to E! for the latest in celebrity gossip.

In Caracas, the honeymoon is over with the media: Chavez 'stifles Venezuelan media'

Private media companies from across the Americas have accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of stifling press freedom in his country.

Delegates at a meeting of the Inter- American Press Association in Caracas said Mr Chavez was using intimidation to curb criticism of his government.

I expect that Jimmy will be whispering sweet nothings in Hugo's ear to calm down Hugo's frazzled nerves.

But not to worry, there's free healthcare in Venezuela.

------------------------------------------------------------------
This morning's old movie at TCM is Boom Town, about oil wildcatters. In spite of a burning oil rig, it has absolutely nothing in common with There Will Be Blood, especially when it showcases Clark Gable's impeccably attired profile holding the impossibly glamorous Claudette Colbert or Heddy Lammar in his arms.

They don't make them the way the used to, and I'd like to know who would wear a sequined negligee outside of a Hollywood movie.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's WSJ's Five-Best books about the search of Eden, selected by Jonathan Rosen:




Paradise Lost is also available on line

Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view
Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cause
Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State,
Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off [ 30 ]
From thir Creator, and transgress his Will
For one restraint, Lords of the World besides?

------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's shoes, John Fluevog's Renata, with a moderate heel and casual/dressy style.

You all know I love red shoes, and these are lovely. The Manolo has another Fluevog style.

You can never have enough red shoes.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Pat has the Carnival of the Insanities.

In the meantime, mark your calendars, pay your reservation, and come to Saturday's party!





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Carville to the rescue?

Becoming unglued while facing the stages of grief, team Hillary's looking for help.

Ben Smith:

James Carville, Paul Begala, and CNN are denying reports that the consultants are taking a role on the Clinton campaign.

Fox first reported the move, and a source close to CNN told Politico of conversations between Carville and the network.

Over to you, Golum...



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"Iron my shirt": Mary Katherine was there, but I have the joke.

Mary Katherine watched as two guys heckled Hillary by yelling "Iron my shirt!".


Video via Gateway Pundit

Allah thinks it was a radio show stunt.

For the benefit of my readers, here's an "Iron my shirt" joke:

During a very long airplane flight, after hour of terrible turbulence, the passengers are exhausted with fear, anxiety, motion sickness, and sheer dread. In the front row of seats one beautiful young woman, crying, stands up and yells,

"I am going to DIE!! This is it! I know I'm going to die, but before I die, I want a MAN to make me feel like a WOMAN RIGHT NOW!!!!"

She collapses in her chair, sobbing hysterically, repeating, "I want a MAN to make me feel like a WOMAN, RIGHT NOW!!"

Another passenger, a handsome Italian man, sees this, gets up and walks down the aisle. His smoldering hazel eyes drink in her beauty. He stands in front of her. She lifts her eyes and admires his muscular lean body, his dark hair, his very smoldering presence. She stops sobbing, and whispers, "I want a man to make me feel like a woman, right now..."

Their eyes meet. The chemistry is instantaneous.

Suddenly, he takes off his shirt, crumples it into a ball and yells at her, "Make me a sandwich, bring me a beer, and IRON MY SHIRT!"



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McCain bloggers' call: an agent for change

I was on a bloggers' call with Sen. John McCain right now, and it was very exciting to hear him discuss his campaign and how it is developing.

As Erick from Red State explains,

asked John McCain about Governor Romney raising "fees" in Massachusetts by $700 million. He said that whether they were fees or taxes, raising fees had the same effect as on the pocketbook as raising taxes. I pointed out that both he and Mitt Romney were less than supportive of the Bush tax cuts. He said that he supports tax cuts, never voted for a tax increase, but wanted tax cuts tied to spending cuts. He was insistent on that point.

On the issue of going negative, Soren Dayton asked him about Romney's ads. Again, though, McCain said he was just going to stand behind what the newspapers had said and he himself would not go negative.

Matt Lewis from Townhall asked about going after independents with Obama and would that hurt him. McCain first pointed out that it was only Obama and McCain going after independents. He said he does not think it will hurt him as there will also be a good number of independents and Republicans who support him voting in New Hampshire. He also admitted to Matt that his bus is much more crummy this time around -- not enough room for all the bloggers.

Senator McCain stressed the importance of securing America's borders and implementing existing technologies in employment.

He also stressed that all tax cuts should be done with spending cuts, as was done during the Reagan revolution.

He talked about being an agent for change not only during the Reagan years but also in changing the Rumsfeld strategy into the Surge, actively working against pork-barrel politics, and his involvement in the Abramoff investigation.

Sen. McCain certainly has every reason to be enthusiastic.

Update
Others blogging on the call:
american Spectator Blog
Townhall Blog
Lieberman for SecDef?
Althouse
Brainster
Commentary/Contentions



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Iowa, Laurie's 100k, and more FIHMYs

Huckabee, Obama have huge night in Iowa. Don Surber has the photos.

Betsy says, Poor Hillary: they're just not into you.

Friend I Haven't Met Yet (FIHMY) Jeremayakovka's having huckmares, while Beth (another FIHMY) calls Iowa an archaic, stupid, expensive, absurd process that gives undue weight to voters that do not represent America as a whole.

Update
Iowa caucus critique
------------------------------------------------------------
FIHMY Laurie Kendrick is celebrating her first 100,000 views. Go say hi and help her get to 200,000.
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Maria - a very dear friend who's put up with me for decades - tells me that A cold spell soon to replace global warming. Right now it's 14F outside, so I want to know where's my global warming, or has it been replaced already?
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Another friend I haven't met yet, GM Roper, posts on healthcare: Just Give Me A Corner To Die In. The Anchoress (also a FIHMY) realizes that If you're not perfect you might as well just die, while Doug Ross (also a FIHMY) finds a sickening punchline.
------------------------------------------------------------
After Wednesday's troubles with my podcast, which had to be cancelled, I'll be doing a 15-minute podcast today at 11AM. FIHMY Siggy will be calling in, and you can join us by calling (646) 652-2639, and I'll also have live chat. It would be a big help if you could join us.

Hopefully this one will go better than Wednesday's!



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Somebody's very afraid of Fred

Back in June Charlie Foxtrot was saying that

You know that the left is feeling threatened, when they have already started trying to tear down Fred Thompson. And he isn't even in the race yet....

There's the time the NYT phoned one in, fireman's hat non-story, and more recently the Mad Magazine School of Journalism.

And let's not forget about the gun-toting womanizing twice-married gay guy who is loved by his children and liked by attractive women lawyer -who might have lobbied on abortion sixteen years ago -Senator movie star on horseback meme, which was preceded by a racist smear, plus that other time an idiotic reporter named Monica who - of all people - said the name Fred is low rent.

Today's attack was more direct: Jonathan Martin at Politico is quoting unnamed sources trying to make us believe that Fred's about to drop out and endorse McCain.

The one thing I've learned since I started blogging is that unnamed sources should make you ask one thing:
Who has the most to gain from spreading a rumor?
And that was exactly what crossed my mind when I first read about this rumor at Betsy's this morning. I'll leave the speculation to you, but I don't believe it was the McCain people.

Fortunately Fred's speaking out for himself:

GOP presidential hopeful Fred Thompson said in an in-studio interview with KCCI-TV in Des Moines that there is no truth to rumors that his campaign will fold before New Hampshire if he doesn't have a strong showing in Iowa.

"That is absolutely made up out of whole cloth," said the former U.S. Senator from Tennessee.

Thompson said a rival campaign was likely the source of that rumor.

"Can you imagine such a thing in politics?" he asked.

You can see Fred's message to Iowa voters at his campaign website.

And here's what Fred had to say this morning,


Hang on in there, Fred. You've got them scared.



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Hillary's idea of a conversation: no questions allowed

When Hillary Clinton launched her campaign she was saying that she was starting "a conversation." Well, like everything else Clinton, it all depends on what "conversation" means.

Clinton's "don't ask" policy

As she races through Iowa in the days before next week's caucuses, Hillary Clinton is taking few chances. She tells crowds that it's their turn to "pick a president," but over the last two days she has not invited them to ask her any questions.

Before the brief Christmas break, the New York senator had been setting aside time after campaign speeches to hear from the audience. Now when she's done speaking, her theme songs blare from loudspeakers, preventing any kind of public Q&A.

The no-questions-allowed extends to the most obvious questions; for instance,

She was no more inviting when a television reporter approached her after a rally on Thursday and asked if she was "moved" by Benazir Bhutto's assassination. Clinton turned away without answering.

Considering that her campaign release actually said that Hillary had known Bhutto "over many years", the least Hillary could have done was to express some sympathy.

Unless she feared being caught in a lie, again. Sweetness and Light points out that all the contact Hillary had with Benezir came down to "an official luncheon and a little 'private conversation' afterwards".

Iowans certainly should ask themselves why Hillary feels she cannot handle extemporaneous questions -- especially after the revelations of planted questions at earlier events.

A moratorium on questions certainly won't dispel her image as

haughty, arrogant, and ill-tempered. And a liar, too boot.

UPDATE
Via Gateway Pundit,


Now imagine if Laura Bush had been the one coming up with the lies...

UPDATE, Monday 31 December:
When it comes to Chelsea, Mum's the word on Mom.



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Hillary's campaigning Bill

Having watched Hillary's impersonation of Mrs. Claus-playing-with-your-tax-dollars-because-she-knows-what's-good-for-you-and-you-don't, I'm glad Erick improved on it:
Hillary's Crap Ad Made Better

The implication is that the only thing standing between you and Hillary’s trinkets is a president who doesn’t want you to have 'em.

Well, at least Bill wasn't watching over her shoulder handing her the cards.

Having gotten away - among other things - with Whitewater and that $100,000 commodities training windfall, Hillary of course thinks it's OK to charge your Christmas gifts on your credit card. After eight years of living in the White House, she's ready for a second spin. She wants to be in charge. She's entitled. God knows she's paid her dues.

She wants us to believe that being the pilot's wife qualifies you to fly the 747 she has presidential experience.

Well, maybe that's not the best phrase. Lots of Bill's women have presidential experience and they're not running for POTUS. Not yet, at least.

Bill, on the other hand, is ready for the White House, too. And he's sucking the air off every campaign stop:

He ended up drawing more attention to himself than the candidate -- which is in keeping with his formal campaign speeches. On the stump, he draws big crowds and comes off as charming, eloquent and persuasive. But reporters who have tallied his words say that he talks more about himself than about his wife -- at a ratio of about 9 to 1.

Ed Morrissey remembers lyrics from The Sound of Music in his post, A Flibbertigibbet, A Will O' The Wisp, A Clown, as Bill consistently remains focused on Bill:

We're about to get the 2-for-1 argument that we heard in 1992, but now the Clintons may disagree on who the one is.

The Anchoress believes that Bill doesn't want Hillary to win. I'm not so sure. The way I see it, once Hillary's in office and her Senate seat vacated, Eliot Spitzer can name Bill, and Bill can look forward to being the next Ted Kennedy, safely ensconced in the halls of power (with all those perks) for the rest of his mortal life since there are no term limits. Bill might mind being "NY's junior senator", but if there's one person who can hog the public light even more than Chuck "Where's my camera?" Schumer, that's Bill.

Nobody's going to upstage Bill. Nobody can.

And that's the problem:

Since the Constitution provides for one president, not two, could he find a way to live in a White House that wasn't all about him?

It's always going to be about him. It always has been.

The question is, does Hillary realize that?

UPDATE
Irish Spy looks at the possibility.



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Hillary out to show her likeability, and the best political putdowns

Two stories not totally unrelated:
New Clinton campaign out to show her likability

The woman's been in the national public eye for twelve years and none of us have noticed how likeable she is, so now we need to be told.

Where is Winston Churchill when we need him?

From Pericles to Obama
Thursday's Democratic debate added to a long and noble tradition of poltical putdowns

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is said to have been drinking at a party when he bumped into Bessie Braddock, a prudish political opponent. "Mr. Churchill, you are drunk," Braddock said.

"And Bessie, you are ugly," Churchill said. And then, after a pause, he added: "I'll be sober in the morning."

More blogging later.

Update
Why is Hillary Clinton so exempt from media scrutiny?



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Liveblogging the Dem debate - I blame Al Gore

My friend Ed Morrissey and I are liveblogging the Dem debate at Heading Right.

I had a change of schedule because of Global Warming. My appointment got cancelled because of icy roads.
Winter hasn't even started yet.

Fred, flowers, and food

"No hand shows"

As MacQ said,

hand raising has no place in a presidential debate. People are there to hear the candidates on issues, not watch them wave their hands around.

Dean Barnett liked Fred at the debate, too.
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"A new Gallup Poll, conducted Dec. 6-9, finds 37% of Americans approving of the job George W. Bush is doing as president, an improvement from his recent scores in the low 30s. Meanwhile, 22% of Americans approve of Congress, essentially unchanged from last month."

Someone send Nancy Pelosi flowers, and bring back her make-up artist.

Sing, it, Barbra!

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Via Karen and Jay, Democrats Vote Yes to Ramadan, But No To Christmas
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Doug Ross lists the Democratic-approved interrogation methods but forgets to mention Kenny G. and Barry Manilow.
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Blue Crab Boulevard posts on Cynical manipulation on food being diverted to ethanol production. (h/t Larwyn)

Samuelson points out that the embrace by politicians of this cynical subsidization to benefit a few special interests has, at best, dubious impact on anything the increased use of ethanol is supposed to address. If 100% of American corn production were diverted to ethanol production, it would replace only 12% of petroleum fuels used in the US. In other parts of the world Rainforests are being burned to the ground to make way for palm oil plantations. The net effect of all this is actually worse for the global environment.

-----------------------------------------------------------
I had neglected to mention that my friend Pieter Dorsman has launched PoliGazette. Pieter tells us that PoliGazette

a new moderate right-of-center news and blogsite developed by Michael van der Galien (Van Der Galien Gazette) Pieter Dorsman (Peaktalk) and Jason Steck (Militant Moderate). You will find it here:



http://poligazette.com/



The founders of PoliGazette want to encourage debate and discussion without descending into shrill partisan rhetoric which has increasingly become the norm on both the left and right blogosphere. PoliGazette will be a place where moderate liberals, centrists and conservatives feel at home. We want this site to be a place for civilized debate. We want, in short, to offer readers a wide range of opinions and perspectives so that they can make their minds up more easily - or at least more informed. We therefore will not be reluctant to invite bloggers and writers from both sides to participate in PoliGazette by writing and commenting on our site.

PoliGazette already has the benefit of having contributors and writers in different geographical areas and that is something we wish to expand over time. And while the focus will be on news and recent developments, there will over time be more analysis and culture, such as book and film reviews.

I added PoliGazette to my blogroll and it has become one of my daily reads.



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One big "Por que no te callas?": Venezuela Hands Narrow Defeat to Chavez Plan

UPDATED
I signed off early last night and woke up this morning to this good news!The people have come through:
They have told Chavez that he is not invincible

Simon Romero of the NYT: Venezuela Hands Narrow Defeat to Chavez Plan

Voters in this country narrowly defeated a proposed overhaul to the constitution in a contentious referendum over granting President Hugo Chavez sweeping new powers, the Election Commission announced early Monday.

An opposition group celebrated after the referendum. Venezuela had remained on edge since polls closed Sunday afternoon and the wait for results began. More Photos >
It was the first major electoral defeat in the nine years of his presidency. Voters rejected the 69 proposed amendments 51 to 49 percent.

The political opposition erupted into celebration, shooting fireworks into the air and honking car horns, when electoral officials announced the results at 1:20 a.m. The nation had remained on edge since polls closed Sunday afternoon and the wait for results began.

The outcome is a stunning development in a country where Mr. Chávez and his supporters control nearly all of the levers of power. Almost immediately after the results were broadcast on state television, Mr. Chavez conceded defeat, describing the results as a "photo finish."

Hugo is losing his constituency:

Turnout in some poor districts was unexpectedly low, indicating that even the president’s backers were willing to follow him only so far.

The economy is in ruins:

Uncertainty over Mr. Chavez's reforms, meanwhile, has led to accelerating capital flight as rich Venezuelans and private companies rush to buy assets abroad denominated in dollars or euros. The currency, the bolívar, currently trades at about 6,100 to the dollar in street trading, compared with an official rate of 2,150.

Venezuela's state-controlled oil industry is also showing signs of strain, grappling with a purge of opposition management by Mr. Chavez and a retooling of the state oil company to focus on social welfare projects while aging oil fields need maintenance.

Petróleos de Venezuela, the state oil company, says it produces 3.3 million barrels a day, but OPEC places its output at just 2.4 million barrels. And private economists estimate that a third of oil production goes to meet domestic consumption, which is surging because of a subsidy that keeps gasoline prices at about seven cents a gallon.

Hell No!...it's OFFICIAL!

Quico says: Venezuela rejects authoriarianism. It's a historic day. The myth of Chávez-the-invincible is no more.

NO 51%
SI 49%

Thanks to everyone for your support. The road back to something like a real democracy will be long, but at least we're on it now!

Gina Cobb:

I give partial credit to Spain's King Juan Carlos for helping to tip the margin of victory to the opposition. While it probably was not his intent to rally opposition to Chavez, when King Juan Carlos said "Why don't you shut up?" to Hugo Chavez, he was heard around the world.

Chavez defeated over reform vote

"Venezuela won today, democracy won today, and I am sure that this victory for the Venezuelan people will have a very important impact in the rest of Latin America," Leopoldo Lopez, opposition mayor of Caracas' Chaqua municipality, told the BBC.

This is a most significant event in the history of Latin America.

Chavez is not done, but for the first time in nine years he has been defeated at the very polls he has manipulated so often.

I don't know what comes next, but for now, it's good to see him sweat:


Update:
Welcome, Instapundit readers! Please listen to last night's podcast on the Venezuelan referendum, and visit this week's Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

GM Roper has the photoshop.
Wretchard's commenters started off the wrong foot.
¡Gloria al Bravo Pueblo!
Ed Morrisey asks,Chavez loses - but does that vindicate him?

Having expressed those limits, does this election vindicate Chavez? If the results stand, has he not shown himself bound by the electoral process and therefore no dictator? Chavez almost had a no-lose situation in this sense; if he won the referendum, he'd get even more power thrust into his hands by popular acclaim, and if he lost, he'd prove himself a democrat, at least for now. The only way he could lose is if he claimed victory in a tight election, as everyone would have assumed he manipulated it.

The important calculation for Chavez is not a single data point -- one election -- but the thrust of his policy over the long term. He has shut down media outlets critical of his rule. He has nationalized industries. Chavez regularly sings the praises of Fidel Castro and makes no secret of his plans to turn Venezuela into a Socialist state using Cuba as a model. If he is not in fact a dictator at the moment, thanks to the momentary intervention of the Venezuelan people, he certainly aspires to that status. And the Venezuelan people need to keep him from realizing that goal.

Chavez should worry about this, too. The blinders are off, and Venezuelans have decided to push back against the creeping dictatorship. Chavez can't bully them into compliance, and anti-Americanism has reached its limit. Does he have any other tricks in his bag?

Dan Riehl posts about the fireworks in San Felipe.

Update 2:
Did Juan Carlos help defeat Hugo Chavez?
Venezuela votes NO
The Limits of 21st-Century Revolution

Update 3
No!
Interesting news from around the Web
Surprise; Chavez loses constitutional reform

Welcome, Weekly Standard readers! Please visit often.

Update 4
Venezuela: the loser (and the winner) is—Chavez!
Don't miss Rick Moran's excellent post, too.

Update, Tuesday December 4:
Via commenter Elmondo, On Chavez and Laughland

Who is Raul Baduel?



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Countdown to Tyranny: Last-minute Chavista Propaganda Offensive

As I write this I received an email from one of my contacts telling me the contact's son was beaten by the police during a demonstration.


Two days before the constitutional referendum, the Chavista propaganda machine goes into full offense:

First, the Reuters "facts":
Gustavo Coronel debunks Five Reuters "facts" about Chavez:

"Chavez has won the backing of the poor majority with massive social spending that has expanded health and education programs. He has also cultivated support by openly confronting the United States..."

This is a dangerous "truth". Chavez has not engaged in structural health and education programs. He has spent billions of dollars in massive handouts, not to be confused with plans to attack the structural roots of poverty, illness and ignorance. He distributes fish but does not teach the people to fish. As a result poor Venezuelans are more dependent than ever on the paternalistic, populist and vindictive leader. The entire health, educational and commerce infrastructure has been decimated due to incompetence and corruption. The state of the most major hospitals is deplorable and thousands of patients are flown every year to be operated in Venezuelan funded hospitals in Cuba. Chavez' support domestically has not been increased by his attacks on the U.S. In fact, most Venezuelans reject those attacks, as shown by all credible polls.

Read the rest.

Chavez is doing the old "Blame the CIA" game to distract from the missing electoral observers:
I posted about the blame game this morning; in the same article, Simon Romero in the NYT points out that no electoral observers are invited to the referendum.

Both Mr. Chavez, a self-described socialist who has won elections by wide margins, and his critics say opinion polls show they will prevail, suggesting a highly contentious outcome. But departing from its practice in last year's presidential election, Venezuela did not invite electoral observers from the Organization of American States and the European Union, opening the government to claims of fraud if he wins.

Violence has already marred the weeks preceding the vote. Two students involved in anti-government protests claimed they had been kidnapped and tortured this week by masked men in Barquisimeto, an interior city. And in Valencia, another city, a supporter of Mr. Chavez was shot dead this week in an exchange of gunfire at a protest site.

Gateway Pundit comments,

The New York Times insists that the regime is still some sort of a legitimate democracy. (Healthy democracies don't generally hold elections to give one person abolute power.) However, the Times does at least recognize that Chavez is having some problems controlling the momentum against his referendum on absolute power.

Additionally, the Chavista propaganda wants to portray him as the only hope for the FARC hostages:
As readers of this blog know, Ingrid Betancourt is the Colombian-French politican that was kidnapped in 2002. The French government (which under de Villepin had sent a plane to the jungle searching for her) has been pressuring Colombia's Uribe to negotiate with the FARC for her release. Uribe agreed but after it became evident that Chavez was in cohoots with the FARC, Chavez was fired.

The Economist:

Mr Uribe may reckon that a few insults are a price worth paying for ending a venture that seemed certain to provide political gains for Mr Chávez and the FARC but looked unlikely to free all the hostages—if any.

Now A colombo-americana's perspective has a post on the latest video released of FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt:

Proof of FARC captives' survival
The Venezuelan media opine, and --surprise, surprise-- the plot thickens. (Video included.) "Información de inteligencia indica que el destinatario de estas pruebas era Hugo Chávez y que iba a recibir la encomienda antes del domingo." ("Intelligence information indicates that the proof of life were to be given to Hugo Chávez, and that he was to receive them prior to Sunday's vote." My translation.) From the Venezuelan daily El Nacional, Betancourt's mother Yolando Pulecio says the proof was to be delivered to Colombian senator Piedad Córdoba.

While The Economist says that

The referendum may be decided by how many Venezuelans bother to vote. Those in the opposition who called for abstention in past elections (claiming that the electoral authority was not impartial) have this time called on their supporters to vote, whereas in the chavista camp, there are signs of apathy. How widespread this proves to be may determine whether or not Venezuela remains a democracy.

I am very pessimistic and share A Second Hand Conjecture opinion that " have zero confidence that the referendum will result in anything other than what Chavez wants (i.e. dictatorial control)." Gustavo Coronel, writing at NRO states that

the Chavez government has already printed, at significant expense, some eight million copies of the "new" constitution, one that has not yet been approved and could well be rejected.

Citizen Feathers has An utterly grim view of the future of Venezuela, too.

I hope we're wrong.
-------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday's countdown

Reminder:
Dr. Luis Fleischman will be my guest at 6PM Eastern next Sunday, December 2, the day of the referendum, to talk about the day's events.
Join us!




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A depressing debate?

Richelieu at the Weekly Standard thinks so:

What a depressing debate. CNN's long slide into mediocrity accelerates. Is this what running for president of the greatest democracy in the world has become? Standing in front of CNN's corporate logo in a hall full of yowling Ron Paul loons and enduring clumsy webcam questions from Unabomber look-a-likes in murky basements?

but I disagree; the basements weren't all murky. Some of those basements actually looked quite bright.

Several bloggers are upset that there were Hillary campaign employees planted in the audience. I would like to see a debate of an entire audience of Hillary employees asking questions to the Republican candidates.

After all, campaign politics is all about bringing your message across under pressure, and that would make for an interesting evening (moronic questions and all -"What Would Jesus Do about the death penalty?" included).

James Joyner, however, doesn't let CNN off the hook:

If one didn't know better, one might suspect that CNN intentionally assembled a bunch of yahoos in the crowd to represent the Republican base and then fed the candidates gotcha questions from Democrats in order to make them look bad. That would be entertaining, I suppose, but horridly bad journalism. It's perhaps more hopeful to think that they simply didn't bother to vet the questioners. Of course, that's not exactly good journalism, either.

Since CNN is known for its fine journalism, however, there's almost certainly a third alternative explanation. It alludes me at the moment.

UPDATE: Wizbang's Jay Tea offers up a new CNN slogan: "If It's News To You, It's News To Us."

Leave it to ScrappleFace (who's actually nice looking) to come up with the best question, though:


More about the debate here


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Last night on Blog Talk Radio: Pharma and Debate

Last night I joined the guys at Heading Right who liveblogged the CNN/YouTube debate.

I had to break at 9PM for my prescheduled podcast on the pharmaceutical industry. I will post later about what my two guests, Siggy and Dr. Sanity (who called in with questions) had to say about the subject.

After my podcast I went back to listening to the debate. At 10:30PM Ed Morrissey hosted a post-debate wrap-up at Debate Central. Rick Moran of Right Wing Nuthouse, Uncle Seth from Political Vindication and Jim of bRight and Early and I discussed the debate with Ed, who hosted both the Debate Central podcast and the liveblogging at Heading Right. Overall it was a good debate, and it was a pleasure to have been invited.

Listen to the podcasts. You will enjoy them.

Gateway Pundit aces Lebanon

Gateway Pundit has today's must-read: Fireworks in Lebanon... Pro-Syrian President Steps Down

Some 2000 Anti-Lebanese-president and pro-government supporters, set fireworks dancing beating drums and shouting 'Lahoud out' as they gathered in a Sunni Muslim neighborhood celebrating the departure of president Emile Lahoud, in Beirut, Lebanon, Late Friday Nov. 23, 2007.

Go follow his links.

More at From Beirut to the Beltway

"The debate broke Hillary's double-talking dishonesty out into the open",

says Ed Morrissey, who posts about damage control in Hillaryland.

Of course, if she can't manage to defend herself within her budget, she’ll be a monumental failure as a chief executive. For another, how will more money help her perform better in the debates?

It won't, but it shows her mentality that any problem's solution is to throw more money at it.

Meanwhile, there's this vicious rumor in the sidelines.

Update:
The Anchoress: Mean reporters dared ask Poor Hillary real questions!
And here's that driver's license question,


Update, Friday 2 November
Hillary Clinton sings Mama Rose!


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