After the righteous outrage from the right over anyone
wishing ill of their heroes or dissing their memory, that part of the political
spectrum is today home to an awful lot of tongue biting as the passing of
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez brings the temptation to jump for joy at
the fall of one of their most feared bogeymen. This mood is epitomised by the
unoriginal group blog The Commentator.
Gone but not forgotten ... Hugo Chávez
Yes, the Spectator has Coffee House, and The
Commentator has ... The Tea Room.
Validation of the tired but true adage “you
pay peanuts, you get monkeys” was never more succinctly demonstrated. And
what’s with “We rely on your support to
exist”? Why does a group blog need folks to throw money at it in order to
function? But, as Clive James might have said, I digress.
The Commentator’s Chávez hatchet job has been penned by Raheem “call
me Ray” Kassam, who asserts “I
have myself seen classified documents that appear to show Chavez’s plans for
military deployment in the unlikely event that his vote-rigging in the 2012
election went wrong”. Appear to show, eh, Ray? Give us all a good laugh and
publish them. You won’t be doing that any time soon.
The idea that Venezuela’s elections have been rigged has
approximately zero credibility: even the conservative mainstream, typified
by former Dubya Bush insider David Frum, has abandoned that meme after
successive contests have
been called as “free and fair” by
international observers (Frum concentrates instead on accusing Chávez of “vote
buying”).
What the right
cannot get into its head is that, whatever wacky ideas Chávez may have expounded in discussion with
visitors, he was a genuinely popular leader. That it was not difficult for
right-wingers to find significant numbers opposed to Chávez does not invalidate that fact: no
regime enjoys 100% popularity, despite what some genuinely totalitarian
Governments might like to pretend.
And what is also
uncomfortable for the right is that Chávez epitomised a new wave of South American leaders: ferociously
independent and not necessarily prepared to look to the United States for
approval. Whether that is a good or bad thing I do not judge, but it is a fact
of today’s geopolitical world. It is also what causes Ray and his pals
significant discomfort.
Heck, even as
currently acting President Nicolas Maduro announces new elections within 30
days, Ray and his pals will still complain. And they’ll keep on whingeing
unless the next election delivers the result they demand. Meanwhile, the legacy
of Hugo Chávez will endure, as
South America transforms itself into the next area of significant economic
growth.
That’s the way the
world is, right-wingers. You’ll just have
to get over it.
2 comments:
Fair Point. This is the way people are, and righties must accept that many poor people are open to being bought, at the cost of their long-term prospertity.
Of course winning free and fair elections is easy when you shut down opposition media.
Excellent - start with a false premise, then finish with a straightforward whopper.
The Venezuelan press has most certainly not been shut down, and is overwhelmingly anti-Chávez.
Nice try though. I do hope Ray and his pals buy you a beer for that.
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