Bush rejects Chávez aid

Now, I know not everyone really likes President Hugo Chávez from Venezuela, especially President Bush. Some say he's a Commie, others a Socialist, others a brutal dictator...I don't necessarily think they're right, but whatever. I'm not the most objective when it comes to this, because I've actually met Chávez and had coffee in his palace. Here's a picture I took from the delegation I participated on two years ago. This was during his televison show, "Alo Presidente," which we were invited to observe. Don't get me wrong...Chávez has his faults (many of them, including an ego the size of South America, and some questionable hirings and firings and appointments, oh my!), but I don't think he's the demon spawn lots of folks make him out to be.

Anyway, I digress. What got me thinking about Chávez in the first place is this article from The Guardian, which says that the U.S. is not going to accept aid from Venezuela for Hurricane Katrina. Uh, hello? People are dying, starving, drowning, and getting diseases, and we're going to turn down aid?

This is when I really start to hate politics. My coworker wrote and said, "Oh, may this empire's cruelty be further unmasked." I couldn't agree more. Does it matter that Chávez is a leftie? Help is help, right? So what if he doesn't get along with the Bush administration...there are more important things on the line here than keeping up the cowboy routine. If Bush was a real leader, he'd understand this catastrophe is bigger than politics. If Bush was raised by a real leader, his mother wouldn't be saying this Hurricane is a blessing in disguise for poor people.

I'm going to keep buying my gas at Citgo just to show my disgust. Oh, on a more interesting note, Venezuela offered to sell more oil to the U.S., and the Bush administration kindly accepted that offer. So food and water treatment supplies are rejected, yet more oil is accepted.

If that's not the epitome of cruelty, I don't know what is.