Western Resistance

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative U.S. evangelist Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, saying the leftist leader wanted to turn his country into "the launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."

The founder of the Christian Coalition said during the Monday night television broadcast of his religious program, "The 700 Club," that Chavez, one the most vocal critics of
President George W. Bush, was a "terrific danger" to the United States.

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said.

I won't bother with the reaction of the American left: I expect nothing but support for one of their favorite dictators. Let's listen instead to a good portion of the American right practicing their favorite sport, running for the hills:

Glen Reynolds:

I WOULD MANAGE TO CONTAIN MY DEJECTION if someone bumped off Hugo Chavez, but Mark Daniels notes that Pat Robertson's call for just that is bad politics and bad religion.

Well, those are Robertson's stock-in-trade, which is why he was one of the original models for the term "idiotarian."

Charles Johnson:

Yesterday the Soros-funded far left group Media Matters made a big issue of Pat Robertson’s idiotic statement that the US should assassinate Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. Today Robertson’s comment is all over mainstream media. Are we supposed to think it’s news that Robertson has a few screws loose?

Oh, come down from the high horse already. Here's the important question: was he wrong? George Moneo at Babalu doesn't think so. I actually have a criticism of Robertson's remarks: killing Chavez would be a good thing, but not enough to stop the comeback of Communism in Latin America. Venezuela already is, and has been for several years, a Communist dictatorship. If Chavez is killed, one of his goons will take power, and continue the covert war on Venezuela's neighbors, as well as political oppression at home. What is needed is the creation of an insurgency in Venezuela, as other political action is futile.

Either that, or we can watch Latin America descend into perpetual war, or worse.