becomes a net exporter of energy, this resource will be sold off to Chinese interests while we freeze our balls off because many people can't afford the basic luxury of heat. Obviously Chavez put Venezuela's energy resources under state control.
However, the commentary did gloss over one area - Chavez' association with loony world leaders such as Ahmadinejad and Ghadaffi. You're judged by the people you associate with, and when you lay down with dogs, you get fleas. Chavez put himself squarely in the ranks of US adversaries. As such, it is to be expected that he will not be thought well of by most Americans.
I'm not sure why our mainstream media treats Chavez so badly. I for one don't believe in some master conspiracy by some all-powerful corporate cartel, giving orders to front-line journalists. Journalists are not cowards. Hundreds have died on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. I don't believe these brave individuals, who faced bullets and bombs, would simply lay down and do what they're told.
I think it's more the case that we've got an intrinsic mistrust of socialist states, a fear that the redistribution of wealth inevitably leads to open class warfare and a brain drain. We've been taught all our lives that the Soviet, Cuban and Chinese systems of government were pure evil, something to fight to the death. With this type of programming, is it any wonder that the consensus opinion of someone like Chavez is inherently unkind? Chavez merely put the frosting on the cake by aligning with America's adversaries.
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