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293 comments on DrumBeat: September 20, 2006

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Prodigal Son on September 21, 2006 - 11:25am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Doesn't matter who ultimately benefits. If the Venezuelan political system had worked they wouldn't have had to elect a left-wing populist that has alienated the middle classes, was nearly toppled by a coup, and who was corrupted the Venezuelan political process.  
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Samsara on September 21, 2006 - 1:27pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
"If the Venezuelan political system had worked they wouldn't have had to elect a left-wing populist.. "

I guess that answers it.

The only thing they need it would seem is Diebold Voting machines to to ensure No "Left-Wings" would get elected.

BTW,  the "Coup" that nearly toppled them was staged by the CIA,  not Unlike the successful one that changed Iran from a democractically elected president to a dictator in 1953, or the other hundred other examples.

<SNIP>
"In 1953, Iran had a democratic government. This is a very jarring thing for us to realize now because we are not used to seeing the word "Iran" and the word "democracy" in the same sentence. The fact is, however, that Iran was developing a long, rocky but democratic path in the early 1950s. For reasons which my book explains in great detail, the United States decided, in the summer of 1953, to go in and overthrow that democratic government. The result of that coup was that the Shah was placed back on his throne. He ruled for 25 years in an increasingly brutal and repressive fashion. His tyranny resulted in an explosion of revolution in 1979 the event that we call the Islamic revolution. That brought to power a group of fanatically anti-Western clerics who turned Iran into a center for anti-Americanism and, in particular, anti-American terrorism. "

http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/03/07/29_kinzer.html

"There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know."
- Harry Truman

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Prodigal Son on September 21, 2006 - 3:23pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
A coup, even with outside support, relies on internal proxies to do the bidding of the outside power else they would not be successful. An intelligence agency cannot whip up a coup out of nothing. Clearly, Venezuela is polarized to the point where the two sides view each other as illegitimate contenders for political power. Neitehr trusts each other enough to play the rules of liberal democracy. If that was the case, Chavez wouldn't have corrupted the political system and a coup wouldn't have been attempted because there would have been no internal support for it.

Same thing with Iran.

Chavez, like Bush, is a symptom of dysfunction and polarization.

"There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know."

(Yawn) Spare me your cliches.

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293 comments on DrumBeat: September 20, 2006

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