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Bush, Hillary and the devil
By Chris Walker
It was a rare moment in which Democrats came to the president’s defense.
The weekend of Sept. 23, remarks were made at the United Nations regarding the character of President Bush. Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, gave a speech to the General Assembly in which he characterized Bush as “the devil.”
“The devil came here yesterday,” Chavez spouted. “Yesterday the devil came here. Right here. And it smells of sulfur still today.”
In my opinion, those remarks were uncalled for. It is one thing to disagree with Bush’s policies; I do that all of the time. It’s even permissible to crack the occasional joke at his expense. It can even be argued that it could be forgivable to call him a funny name. But to compare him to Lucifer is downright despicable.
We don’t always have to respect politicians in this world of ours — my personal rule is to just treat them with the same respect they give others — but it’s a disgrace when someone calls our leader (no matter how much we may disagree with him) the devil.
I would normally be the last to come to Bush’s defense. But I have more respect for the office that he holds than Chavez does.
Republican lawmakers nationwide were joined by Democrats in the denunciation of Chavez. It was a rare moment in which Democrats came to the president’s defense, which is why it struck me as somewhat odd when the Rev. Jerry Falwell, a well-known religious zealot, compared Sen. Hillary Clinton to the devil as well.
"I certainly hope that Hillary is the candidate," Falwell said. “ … Because nothing will energize my [constituency] like Hillary Clinton. If Lucifer ran, he wouldn't."
I know it’s not quite the same as what Chavez said, but I still have to ask: Where’s the outrage? Nowhere to be seen. While a few Democrats cried foul and demanded an apology — Falwell himself has called it a “tongue-in-cheek” moment but still hasn’t apologized — the story has gone largely unnoticed. Just when the political world was looking a bit more cordial, Falwell has to say Hillary Clinton is worse than the devil in the eyes of his constituency.
In the aftermath of Chavez’s rant, I had the naive thought that perhaps, just maybe, mudslinging in America would lessen a bit.
I hadn’t completely lost my mind. I knew that dirty tricks wouldn’t completely disappear from politics, but I thought Democrats and Republicans could put aside their hostilities and maybe discuss issues for a change. I’m looking at you, gubernatorial candidates.
But the hypocrisy to which this situation yields us is nothing short of laughable. Here we have the leader of another nation calling our chief executive the devil, and the representatives on both sides of the aisle become outraged. But when a religious conservative compares a former first lady to the devil, no one seems to care.
Well, one thing’s for sure: I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for Falwell to apologize. After all, this is a man who blamed gays and lesbians for causing 9-11. That’s not representative of mainstream religious views — that’s just stupidity. And I don’t waste my time waiting for stupid people to apologize.
Like I said, treat them with the same respect they give others.
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