Hugo Chavez is actually a popularly elected president of his country. The U.S. and the International oil companies we support, were incensed when he wouldn't support turning Venezuela's oil rights and revenues over to them.

And remember the Right wing "religious" leader Pat Robertson said that Chavez should be assassinated when he wouldn't cooperate? Maybe we should we have a bumper sticker "Who would Jesus assassinate?

Chavez also is completely supported and appreciated by his electorate. He is ploughing the oil revenues back to benefit his country, so they love him all the more. And he likes to do terrible things to this country like giving heating oil to poor people last winter and to victims of Katrina.

This is unlike Mexico where the oil companies got what they wanted and the people are poor (and have to come to our country to survive.)

When we buy gas from CITCO, we also help take some of the pressure off the Middle East monopoly. (The oil barons don't like that either.) Notice that the gas prices are down before the upcoming election. This is to try to calm the electorate and keep the oil men in control.

Now, maybe if we want to question a president, how about the president of this country, Mr. Bush who has just pushed a bill through Congress authorizing torture in our name?

All the retired generals (who are free to speak out now) are horrified at this. It sets up our soldiers to get tortured when they are captured by any other country in war (or military actions). We have had the current Geneva Conventions since 1949 increasing protections through the years till 1977. (This humanitarian set of agreements actually started in 1863 forming the Red Cross). We've never had a lessoning of protections. This is an affront and 
betrayal to our signatures to the treaty.

By the way, the Iraq occupation is costing us $2 billion a week now. It is bankrupting this country and we and future generations will have to be paying for it. And it is all about building four big bases there (so big you can see them from satellites) to protect "our" oil. We are pretty obviously not there to protect anything else.

Ah, power is so seductive... it made the nice people of Germany avert their eyes when 6 million citizens were carted off to their deaths. Afterward, they said that they "had no idea."

Sadly, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. You are asleep or awake. And once awake, you won't go back.

I only pray that Democrats take control of Congress so there can be some accountability for what has been going on. This administration is so out of control because they don't have any checks or balances.

Contact Sharon Cameron