Venezuela’s President Passes Away: VP Blames U.S. For “Giving Chavez Cancer” and Expels Two U.S. Embassy Officials

Hugo Chavez passed away from cancer today, and his U.S. ultraliberal supporters have been paying tribute to him, Sean Penn among them.   Hearing them sing his praises is like listening to a dying mule moaning.

He may have been popular with the poor of his country, but he definitely didn’t do them any favors.  He stole $2 billion of their money, leaving their currency in free fall, their inflation rate extremely high, food shortages, electrical shortages and housing shortages throughout their country.

His vice president (and current acting president) is still repeating Chavez’s mantra that the United States gave him cancer, while ignoring the fact that it wasn’t the cancer that got him, it was a massive heart attack.  This is according to the head of Venezuela’s Presidential Guard. 

Where are the intellectuals in Venezuela?  They’re in the opposition, in jail, or outside the country where Chavez couldn’t make them disappear, like so many others who dared to speak out against Chavez’s reign.

Venezuela will be better off getting rid of the bus driver who is now their President and putting Chavez into the ground, instead of keeping his body on display like Lenin in a glass box.

Like my reaction to Arafat, I do not extend my sympathies to the people of Venezuela on the loss of their Dear Leader.   I mourn Chavez’s many victims and their families.  That’s more appropriate than the liberals in this country crying for the Mouth of the South.

The Word “Resigned” Isn’t the Right Word to Apply to Benedict XVI’s Actions; The Correct Term is “Abdicated” or “Retired”

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI didn’t resign the throne of St. Peter; he abdicated, which is the correct term to use, or he retired. 

There are a couple of definitions that need to be looked at:

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resign

1. To submit (oneself) passively; accept as inevitable: I resigned myself to a long wait in line.
2. To give up (a position, for example), especially by formal notification.
3. To relinquish (a privilege, right, or claim). See Synonyms at relinquish.

To give up one's job or office; quit, especially by formal notification:

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abdicate

to renounce (a throne, power, responsibility, rights, etc.), esp formally
[from the past participle of Latin abdicāre to proclaim away, disclaim]

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“Abdicated” is the more accurate term to describe Benedict’s actions.  He pledged his allegiance to his successor and vowed to stay out of high level Vatican politics.

There are a lot of conspiracy theories out there as to why the pope chose to go into retirement; I’m inclined to believe that the job was too much for him to handle, and that a younger back was needed to do the heavy lifting.  I’m hoping that they choose a pope young enough to have a decades-long reign, instead of someone who is already in his late 70s or 80s.