Quick, take a shot as guessing who said this: “Society cannot allow the private sector to do whatever it wants…”.
If you said Hillary Clinton, I can’t blame you. That was my first impulse, too, given that she’s never shied away from the socialist taglines before. But no, it’s the left’s Current Favorite Socialist and Bush-Hater, Hugo Chavez.
It seems that Chavez doesn’t believe the school system can be trusted to indoctrinate Venezuela’s children well enough without his help, so he’s introducing a brand new curriculum that all schools must teach, or else the state will take them over. Of course, the new curriculum’s developers say that there’s nothing wrong with indoctrination. It’s all for the greater good!
“We must train socially minded people to help the community, and that’s why the revolution’s socialist program is being implemented,” said Zulay Campos, a member of a Bolivarian State Academic Commission that evaluates compliance with academic guidelines.
“If they attack us because we’re indoctrinating, well yes, we’re doing it, because those capitalist ideas that our young people have — and that have done so much damage to our people — must be eliminated,” Campos said.
Capitalism bad? Socially-minded community-helping good?
Gosh, it’s almost like listening to a John Edwards speech, isn’t it? What is it with Democratic Presidential candidates and old hoary socialist talking-points?
(via memeorandum)
[...] that questions some of the social views of Sen. Hilary Clinton are being compared to Hugo Chavez. Quick, take a shot as guessing who said this: “Society cannot allow the private sector to do whate… “Many of you are well enough off that … the tax cuts may have helped you,” Sen. [...]
So this is what it’s come down to for you wingnuts? Whine about clinton, check. Compare Democrats to Osama, check.
Lose november elections? Check. see you in 2008 sucker!
Actually, it’s “compare Clinton to Chavez”.
Given how well you read my post, I look forward to November 2008. It ought to be a good day for conservatives.
Jimmie,
First I’m glad you responded and I thank you for reading this blog.
As for your quote, and comments on your blog, I wish to clarify myself. I did NOT intend to compare your words with anything to do with Moveon.org. The implication simply is the bad wording I made in trying to express what I did mean.
What I intended to mean was that various websites, like your own, have begun to question Sen. Clinton which is something we have not seen as much prior to the MoveOn.org ad. I wanted to highlight that views, less heard on the net, are becoming more vocal on both sides.
I obviously disagree with what MoveOn did. It personally offends me, as a former military man with family that also served in the military, as well as just an American.
When I say that it was something I would expect MoveOn to defend, I meant that the statement of Sen. Clinton was what they would defend. I believe that MoveOn would agree with Hugo Chavez, and Sen. Clinton’s “government-first solutions” as you mentioned.
My surprise was that there were other vocal bloggers also noting this distinction. In my reading of many blogs, I have seen few who raise this comparison, and often they are shouted down vigorously. I am not attempting to do so, nor do I wish to.
I agree that the statements by Clinton stand for themselves. I further agree that they are similar to Chavez. Moreso I feel that this is directly in line with the motives and ideology of MoveOn. To highlight these things is important, and that was my intention of using your words.
I feel strongly that all Americans should be aware of the views each of the candidates have. I am happy to mention websites, like yours, that point out the positions that candidates hold, and not merely the soundbites reported by the major news media. To point out these positions is a positive; and necessary as the next President will have an enormous impact on the nation for perhaps decades to come.
I apologize for misrepresenting your views and words. That is never my intention and I want to make that strongly understood. I hope this response does clarify that.
Michael Vass
Michael,
Thanks for coming over and posting that. You were eloquent and, I think, right on the money. I hope your blog gets a ton of visits as the election season goes on!