Man, the pollsters and focus group leaders inside the DNC must be spinning out of control today.
Not one, but two Democrats, Charlie Rangel, and Nancy Pelosi, have gone on the record denouncing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for referring to President Bush as "the devil," in remarks made both yesterday at the UN and today in Harlem.
When Chavez spoke yesterday to the UN General Assembly, he said:
The devil, the devil himself is right in the house. And the devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the devil came here. Right here. (crosses himself) Right here. And it smells of sulfur still today.
Maybe someone should tell El Presidente about Beano. Chavez also gave Noam Chomsky's book Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance a nice long plug.
Chavez was of course referring to the speech that President Bush made to the UN General Assembly the day before, and not the speech made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Chavez made the same comment in Harlem today during a rally held by Venezuelan-owned Citgo Petroleum:
Chavez, dressed in his signature red shirt, was introduced at the podium by activist actor Danny Glover.
At one point Chavez told the crowd, "sometimes the devil takes human form," a comment that drew some boos — and applause — from the crowd who interpreted the reference to mean President Bush.
Chavez was visiting the church as part of ceremonies to announce the sale of discounted home heating oil to qualified low-income families.
The appearance came after reports circulated early Thursday morning that the Venezuelan president had left the country overnight after delivering an insult-riddled speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday in which he called President Bush the 'devil.'
The crowd chanted "Chavez, Chavez, the people are with you" in Spanish as he walked into the Mount Olivet Baptist Church on Lenox Ave. in Harlem.
The event, one of a series designed to boost the Venezuelan leader's popularity in the U.S., was organized by Citgo, a Houston-based energy company that is owned and controlled by the Venezuelan government. Under a Citgo program, and in partnership with Citizens Energy, a program started and run by former Congressman Joe Kennedy II, families from low-income neighborhoods in New York, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia have the ability to purchase discounted home heating oil over winter months.
Apparently no more book endorsements were made today. That's too bad; I'm sure that Why Mommy Is A Democrat could use the spike in Amazon sales that Chomsky's book reportedly received.
In response to Chavez' remarks, Drudge reported that Harlem Representative Charlie Rangel said:
You do not come into my country, my congressional district, and you do not condemn my president. If there is any criticism of President Bush, it should be restricted to Americans, whether they voted for him or not. I just want to make it abundantly clear to Hugo Chavez or any other president, do not come to the United States and think because we have problems with our president that any foreigner can come to our country and not think that Americans do not feel offended when you offend our Chief of State.
And now Reuters is reporting that Rep. Nancy Pelosi said the following during a news conference today:
"Hugo Chavez fancies himself a modern day Simon Bolivar but all he is an everyday thug," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said at a news conference, referring to Chavez' comments in a U.N. General Assembly speech on Wednesday.
"Hugo Chavez abused the privilege that he had, speaking at the United Nations," said Pelosi, a frequent Bush critic. "He demeaned himself and he demeaned Venezuela."
Normally the Democrats take delight in anyone who denounces the President; they have even thrown their fair share of racist and Nazi mud at him. So what gives?
I think that the Democrats finally got a big knock on the head with the common-sense cluebat yesterday. Most Americans, whether or not they vote for a particular party or candidate, don't like to see any Americans berated by Communist dictators.
Hugo Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are big buddies. Ahmadinejad's government funds and equips the terrorist group Hezbollah and was in large part responsible for the recent war waged by Israel and Hezbollah. Chavez and Cindy Sheehan are big buddies. And Cindy Sheehan is a big buddy of a number of left-leaning Bush-hating Democrats. When people see Hugo and Mahmoud embracing each other like long-lost siblings, and then they see Hugo plant a big sloppy one on Cindy Sheehan, well, that can't be good news for Democrats trying to swing undecided voters.
Michelle Malkin has more, including a suggestion to boycot Citgo products.
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ADDED: Why don't we have a little Photoshop fun with El Presidente? Do you have a suggestion for a better list of books that Hugo Chavez can plug during his speeches? Paste them onto these pics (or any other pics of the same event that you like better) and I'll post the results in the extended entry. Email your suggestions to [email protected].
Here's my own contribution:
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