By Mark Rhoads
Without a hint of irony, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called George Bush the devil at the UN and then showed up the next day at a church in Harlem wearing an all-red suit. Does Chavez have a sense of humor? No, but someone does. His staff must have left his horns and tail back at the hotel. Danny Glover, Castro's number one fan in Hollywood, showed up to cheer as Chavez slandered Mr. Bush again. Shame on Danny--again.
But liberal Democratic leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and Rep. Charles Rangel all did the right thing and blasted Chavez for his mindless attack on the American president. Good for them!
Even in the heat of a partisan campaign, they realized how crazy it was for a guest in the US who is a head of state to launch such a personal and stupid attack against the president. The second attack was the same with more references to the devil and Noam Chomsky, only this time Chavez spoke in a Harlem church on US soil and not on the diplomatically neutral ground of the UN. Closing ranks in a bipartisan way behind the president of our country when attacked by a foreign leader always was the right thing to do and the Democratic leaders in New York deserve credit for dusting off an old and honorable tradition.
This is the same Comrade Chavez who hinted broadly just a few weeks ago that his opinion of himself is so high that it would be just plain silly to hold any further elections in Venezuela now that he is president because it would be a waste of time and money.
See the remarks of Rep. Rangel and Sen. Schumer in the New York Daily News.
