Tuesday, August 23, 2005
The Weakness of the White House
Lord help me, I have to agree with Venezuela's ambassador, Bernardo Alvarez, to the U.S. on the subject of Pat Robertson's fatwa against Hugo Chavez. I think Chavez is a repulsive throwback and a regional problem, but when a man with Pat Robertson's influence calls for an assassination the White House has to do more than say that he doesn't represent US policy and that his remarks were "inappropriate." A strong condemnation would be a start.
From CNN:
Nothing has damaged the reputation of the US in Latin American eyes so much as the perception that we unseated popular governments in Guatemala and Chile. Robertson has helped to invoke a real bogeyman and if the White House really cares about relations with Latin America it will need to do a lot more to distance itself from a man almost everyone would agree is a nutcase.
From CNN:
- Alvarez said the Christian Coalition, which Robertson no longer leads, claims some 2 million members and helped jump-start President Bush's 2000 presidential campaign after his New Hampshire primary loss to Arizona Sen. John McCain.
"Robertson has been one of this president's staunchest allies," he said.
"The United States might not permit its citizens to use its territory and airwaves to incite terrorists abroad and the murder of a democratically elected president," Alvarez said. "Venezuela demands that the U.S. abide by international and domestic law and respect its country and our president."
Nothing has damaged the reputation of the US in Latin American eyes so much as the perception that we unseated popular governments in Guatemala and Chile. Robertson has helped to invoke a real bogeyman and if the White House really cares about relations with Latin America it will need to do a lot more to distance itself from a man almost everyone would agree is a nutcase.
