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Politics : THE WHITE HOUSE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (17947)	3/4/2008 1:11:40 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25737

"looks like this boy chavez has some 'splain' to do..." Standard Operating Procedure for any aspiring Autocrat: ...The home-front stakes are high for Chavez right now. In spite of all the oil money, cracks in the Venezuelan economy are widening. Corruption, incompetence and the shortage-inducing effect of price controls are taking a toll. With paradise crumbling, Chavez’ bold bid to become president for life was rejected. His populist sway is fading.... If dictators were handed a playbook along with the keys to the new regime, the top “Hail Mary” play would be this one: “When there’s trouble at home, make trouble abroad.” Dictators always need a cause to rail against or an enemy to fight. This gives them an excuse to keep the country in lock-down mode. Meanwhile, stirring up nationalist sentiment is a kind of sleight-of-hand; it gives the people something to focus on other than their own troubles. For a dictator on the ropes, making trouble abroad hits all the right strategy points. When the people are angry and ready to rise up, redirect their ire towards an outside target. If normal political functions can be suspended in a time of military emergency, so much the better. This is why the possibility of an actual Colombian invasion can’t be ruled out. The more Venezuela’s economic situation deteriorates, the less Chavez has to lose in executing an insane gamble abroad.