"I pity the fool"

"Who's more foolish: the fool, or the fool who follows him?"
Obi Wan Kenobi.

"Every nation has the government it deserves."
Joseph de Maistre.


The fact that Mr. Chavez has been able to hold on to power for seven years now, and with no end in sight, speaks volumes about the political IQ of the average Venezuelan. A tyrant like Chavez would not be electable in any civilized country, not even as a city Councilman. His antics are reminiscent of those of a snake oil peddler in a Western movie and he speaks with the forked tongue of a used car salesman. Nonetheless he seems to hold under his spell a wide chunk of the population. That is why democracies do not always work in nations where ignorance is paramount. There is the ever-present danger of a snake charmer, or a pied piper taking center stage. I feel sorry for Venezuela, but at the end, I have to admit, it had it coming.