Too bad, I think, that Hugo chose to accentuate the negative. Time is, after all, of the essence. And the dissin ain’t as chillin, frankly, in my humble opinion, as news circulating about how the world is going to have to meet the challenges that are going to hit us head on when the big fat void presents itself.

Well, to be fair — that’s probably Reuters leaving out all the good stuff he said about how we are going to emerge a new and improved economy that will emerge prosperity for all without leveraging genocide and slavery.

Why am I such a hard ass?

It’s going to be a lot of work. For all of us. All hands on deck. We don’t want anyone planning naps.

it is not too much to expect one’s leaders to be reasonably polite and diplomatic. sometimes, one has to put their personal feelings aside to get the job done. chavez does not do that, at the expense of an entire country. it must be embarrassing for venezuelans to hear their leader being told to shut-up and it echo around the world.

this also applies at home. chavez’ combative nature and polarizing rhetoric keeps getting in the way of his apparent good deeds. until he sees that he can’t going around pissing people off at home and abroad, he is going to fail as a world leader.

cuz if anyone has ever worked in any environment, they know, no matter how good a manager is technically, if they cannot garner the respect of those above and below, then that manager is of little value.

Na. I don’t think anyone was embarrassed for Chavez as far as the King of Spain goes. What Chavez was doing in Iran was empathizing. The Iranians have been the focus of an incredible hate campaign courtesy of the United States. Chavez was just trying to build rapport.

I think if you were going to give one living man the prize for being the most respected living man on earth, by the most people on earth — that man’d surely be Hugo Chavez. He might even take the prize historically. Not sure where you’re getting your data. But it’s skewed. I guarranFNtee it.

Respect is earned.

Speaking openly on matters which others only dare to think about may not enhance your popularity and insures the creation of new enemies; but steadfastly speaking Truth to power is the sole means by which an honest man maintains his self-respect for his own opinions and due to this fact, it is his only hope of having his opinion truly valued by others.

Nobody has disrespected, disappointed, polarized and ultimately dispatched as many people around the globe as has Bush in the recent past, it’s just that nobody dares tell him to shut up.

Given the choice, I’d rather listen to Chavez.

Peace,

we’re all on the same side with bush. when i think of chavez, bush doesn’t even need to figure into it. bush is in a league of his own. bush feigns civility and insults the world over with lies and deceit. but i don’t wanna talk about that a-hole…

chavez gets into trouble when he calls people facists, murderers, clowns, compares people to snakes, satan… i can’t think of any modern-day politician who has called more people more different derogatory names than chavez. (btw, that doesn’t mean there isn’t someone else who is worse, i just said i cannot think of one right now).

he is worthy of respect. and maybe many of the insults he hurls are true, but sometimes its better not to say everything you think.

all the negative verbage that emenates from chavez diminishes him. and i cannot imagine (whether i voted for him or not) how embarrassed i would with all the rhetoric, if he was the prime minister of canada (i’m embarrassed enough with harper).

chavez has been voted to represent the venezuelan people. i know there are those in venezuela who cringe every time he opens his mouth. and not just the opposition.

I agree in part. Hugo could take lessons from Fidel on the matter of speaking out on the issues of the day, yet maintaining a diplomatic rather than purely dogmatic tone.

As an underdog and up and comer on the world stage he’s taken a very adversarial posture following the coup attempt that had the potential to cost him his life.

Could be a bit of post traumatic stress syndrome at work in that regard, playing him into a level of bravado that he may not have engaged in otherwise.

I don’t follow his actions or his rhetoric all that closely and were it not for his more brash statements, I’d have likely heard very far less about the impact he’s had on Venezuela, which impresses me as at least improving life there for the poor and lower middle classes anyway.

Improving literacy rates and access to health care are hard to regard as anything but positive.

Peace,

Why am I such a hard ass?

Microdot, what would we do without you? lol

‘Shut up’ is hit ringtone in Spain

i can’t think of any modern-day politician who has called more people more different derogatory names than chavez.

How about the time he called Bush an “Asshole”.
(best headline evah

Then The Russians stepped in and got him media lessons and a suit to try and fix him.

i have been corresponding with a number of venezuelans on facebook. i’ve been challenging the anti-chavez groups. there has been a lot of cutting through the crap.

obviously, those who have computers and internet in venezuela are unlikely to be in the barrios, so i take what is conveyed in context.

chavez has been very devisive.

there are many reasonable people who have first-hand experiences of food shortages, rising crime rates, intimidation via chavistas or the chavez government. events which we would all consider unacceptable if they happened in canada, the US or europe.

you are correct GW, much of his combative nature is due to his near miss in 2002. it is very much fresh in chavez’ mind and i continually remind students who accuse him of concentrating power, that this is the reason.

chavez is a military man. he was imprisoned for a coup attempt himself, don’t forget. unfortunately, he doesn’t have the finesse of a politician (which can be good), but he treats people with a drill sergeant manner.

while i cannot confirm, there are reports of a new chavista elite driving luxury cars, acquiring properties etc. people have been threatened with losing property if they don’t toe the line.

there are also reports of chavista tough-guys (remember those guys on motorcycles a few weeks back?) who are very pro-chavez and in a small way remind me of the brown-shirts of the 30’s.

so there are legitimate beefs with chavez.
chavez might be the most respected man on the planet but i highly doubt it. first, a leader needs to maintain the respect of his own people. if chavez wants to succeed with these reforms and venezuela on a whole, he needs to achieve this.

right now, he isn’t pulling it off.

guano, Hugo compared fascists to snakes, not people. and who would you say commands more respect than Hugo? Worldwide. Just out of curiosity. Name one person who even comes close. Other than maybe Che Guevara, and even then, I wouldn’t bet on it.

For those of you not familiar with the motorcycle incident, here’s the background : U.S. Media Bias and Recent Student Violence in Venezuela

OPEN QUOTE

According to Chávez supporters, eyewitnesses, and videotape recorded by the community TV station, Catia TV, opposition students, mainly from neighboring privates Universities, chased down a group of pro- Chávez students putting up signs in favor of the reform. The pro-Chavez group found refuge in the faculty of Social Work, which is known to be a Chávez friendly zone, and where it was also reported that another group of pro-Chavez students were meeting. The opposition students surrounded the faculty, armed with weapons, rocks, and gas masks shouting, ³We will lynch you all.² According to reports, opposition students fired weapons, threw rocks at the students inside the building, and lit fire to the entrance. Chávez supporters present that day affirm that the motorcyclists televised to the world as sinister gunmen, arrived on the scene as part of a rescue mission to help their companions trapped inside the building by the rabid opposition outside. They argue that this was necessary because the Venezuelan army or police force are, by law, not allowed to enter the grounds of the University.

END OF QUOTE

VeeGee, sweetie pie, wherever did you hear the Russians were dressing Hugo? Please to cough up corroboration.

if its the most popular person we are looking for by sheer votes, then stephen colbert got a million people on facebook pretty darn quick.

and you’re in denial if you think chavez is a misquoted statesman. he calls people names all the time.

...and don’t worry, i know all about the media bias and that misrepresented event at the university. that event notwithstanding, chavez still blurts before he thinks far too often.

if you want a serious list of people who are highly respected around the world, here’s a list of people who politically appreciated. they may not have a Q factor but each of them are well respected.

Mohandas Gandhi
the dalai lama
bishop desmond tutu
jimmy carter
che guevara (as popular as ever)
nelson mandela
martin luther king jr.

in my view, each of these people exceed the popularity of chavez.

i hope chavez will right himself and history will put him in the ranks of the above people, but right now, its not happening.

if you want a serious list of people who are highly respected around the world, here’s a list of people who politically appreciated. they may not have a Q factor but each of them are well respected.

Mohandas Gandhi
the dalai lama
bishop desmond tutu
jimmy carter
che guevara (as popular as ever)
nelson mandela
martin luther king jr.

in my view, each of these people exceed the popularity of chavez.

i hope chavez will right himself and history will put him in the ranks of the above people, but right now, its not happening.

I lose more and more respect for Chavez every time he cozies up to Mahmoud… Exactly how does he square his Socialistic views with his support for a repressive Theocratic State?!?

The world leader that commands the most respect on the world stage today is without doubt, Vladimir Putin.

His rise in popularity and esteem is attributable to the same economic fundamentals the Chavez has enjoyed. An ever increasing stream of income due to rising oil prices and reserve oil production capacity for export.

Peace,

The world leader that commands the most respect on the world stage today is without doubt, Vladimir Putin.

Well, I’m sure his KGB background earns him a lot of street cred…

LOL Junta. Two points.

guano, I didn’t say anything about Hugo being or not being a misquoted statesman. All I said was that he didn’t compare people to snakes. What he said, literally, was that “snakes are more human than fascists”.

Thus he was comparing fascists to snakes. He was not comparing people to snakes. He wasn’t even calling fascists to snakes. He was saying that fascists aren’t as human even as snakes. In other words, snakes are more human than fascists.

i think you’re missing the essence of my point. its not about which order the words were in. its the fact that chavez spouts off and it totally works against him.

boil it down to just being people. forget these are world leaders for a moment.

how easy is it to make friends with people you call all sorts of names?

or think about work.
i’ve worked with some very talented people. brilliant people. but they were impossible to get along with. being very difficult hampered their effectiveness. and they could never be managers because they couldn’t manage to get along.

respect comes with the ability to rally people without making so many enemies. what made those people i listed exceptional leaders was to have brilliant ideas to see those ideas through AND their ability to disarm their opponents (literally and figuratively).

of course, no politician can have everyone like them all the time, but chavez is extremely divisive in a way that will hamper him from achieving his goals…

...that is, unless he changes his ways.

he needs to tone it down. he needs to build relationships even where there are ideological inconsistencies. he needs to be polite. this will reduce the friction; giving him more traction to execute his goals. like any manager, he can’t do it on his own.

GWhunta – The world leader that commands the most respect on the world stage today is without doubt, Vladimir Putin.

What is it with people and Putin?

regalo para guano

exactly my point. he goofed again. maybe it was well intentioned but another example that being a cowboy isn’t always the route to travel.