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TUESDAY,  FEBRUARY 17,  2009

WHAT WORLD ARE THEY LIVING IN? - AT 7:24 P.M. ET:  From Britain's Guardian:

Syria expects the US to send an ambassador to Damascus soon to make good on Barack Obama's offer to engage in dialogue with countries the Bush administration shunned, President Bashar al-Assad told the Guardian today.

Little problem here.  From the Jerusalem Post:

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said...Syria was not forthcoming regarding debris found in a site reportedly destroyed by IAF warplanes in 2007. He said samples from the site were not conclusive and called for greater cooperation from the Syrian authorities.

Another little problem, from Jane's Defence News:

Satellite images from several commercial sources gathered from 2005 to 2008 have shed light on activity at the chemical weapons facility identified as Al Safir in northwest Syria. Imagery obtained by DigitalGlobe's WorldView-1 satellite indicates that the site contains not only a number of the defining features of a chemical weapons facility, but that significant levels of construction have taken place at the facility's production plant and adjacent missile base.

COMMENT:  We'll soon find out the degree to which the Obama foreign-policy team is made up of suckers. Why do I think I already know the answer?

BURRIS BLOWS IT - AT 6:01 P.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

PEORIA, Ill. – A few months before Senator Roland W. Burris was appointed by former Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich to the United States senate, Mr. Burris tried, without success, to raise money from his friends for the governor at the behest of the governor’s brother, Mr. Burris has acknowledged for the first time.

COMMENT:  News reports say that even the Democrats are disgusted with Burris and want him gone.  The problem, of course, is race.  If he resigns, will the new Illinois governor be forced to appoint another African-American to show that race wasn't involved in forcing Burris out?  It gets ugly. 

BULLETIN AT 4:01 P.M. ET:  At the close, preliminary figures show the Dow is down 298 points, to 7553.

BULLETIN AT 3:57 P.M. ET:  The president has signed the stimulus package.  The stock market felt so stimulated that it went into another dive.

SEE THE USA IN YOUR RESTRUCTURED VEHICLE - AT 3:54 P.M. ET:

Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s chief spokesman said the administration can’t rule out a restructuring through bankruptcy for struggling automakers, while adding the industry is “tremendously important” to the economy.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration won’t “prejudge” the next steps for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC until the automakers present their own plans under terms of a government aid package.

COMMENT:  Oh, swell.  Just the kind of encouragement we need to get buyers into showrooms for American cars.  People will worry about whether they can get spare parts, service, trade-in value.  With friends like these...

CONGRESS MORE POPULAR - AT 3:27 P.M. ET: 

Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Congress’s approval rating rose 12 percentage points in the last month to 31 percent, the highest level in two years, according to a new poll by Gallup Inc.

The popularity of the Democratic-controlled Congress has more than doubled since July 2008 when only 14 percent of those polled approved of the job lawmakers were doing, according to Gallup.

The jump in Congress’s approval rating was spurred by support from Democrats. In the new poll, 43 percent Democrats gave Congress positive reviews, compared with 19 percent of Republicans and 29 percent of independents.

COMMENT:  As the 16th president said, you can fool some of the people all of the time.

INCREASED DIVE - AT 9:55 A.M. ET:  The Dow is down 274 points, to 7576.  It is approaching the psychological figure of 7500.

DOW DIVE - AT 9:43 A.M. ET:  The Dow opened down 212 points, to 7639.

DEFENSE ANYONE?

Posted at 9:35 a.m. ET:

Defense gadfly and Washington Times columnist Frank Gaffney is disturbed by what he sees as a weak defense policy by the Obama administration, and he worries about its implications:

President Barack Obama proposes a set of changes with respect to American security policies and programs that will....transform the "world's only superpower" into a nuclear impotent, with possibly catastrophic consequences.

Nothing like waking us up in the morning.

Such a transformation would be the more extraordinary for it coming against the backdrop of others' buildups of their nuclear arsenals. Every other declared nuclear weapon state is modernizing its stockpile and the most dangerous wannabees - North Korea and Iran - are building up their offensive missile capabilities and acquiring as quickly as possible the arms to go atop them.

Our deterrent is at risk:

We have allowed a steady decline in investment in the science-based Stockpile Stewardship Program that promised to assure the safety, effectiveness and reliability of our nuclear weapons in the absence of below-ground tests.

And...

Not surprisingly, the nuclear laboratory directors' certifications about the status of our weapons are increasingly qualified by warnings of uncertainties about how long the present situation can be sustained.

Now we begin to see the catastrophic consequences.  The quality of our deterrent is what has kept the peace.

Today, we have fewer than the 2,200 fielded nuclear arms we are permitted to have under the U.S.-Russian Treaty of Moscow signed by Presidents Bush and Putin in 2002.

Now, President Obama wants to cut that number down to roughly 500 deployed weapons. His Office of Management and Budget contemplates no modernization of these forces and no upgrading of the capability to produce or refurbish them.

It takes an expert like Gaffney to point this out.  There is no concern in the mainstream media.

In addition, the Obama administration apparently believes that the remaining strategic weapons - presumably on submarines - would have to be taken off what it wrongly claims is "hair-trigger" alert status.

And...

The cumulative effect of these actions would be to render the U.S. nuclear arsenal, to quote President Reagan, "impotent and obsolete." That was, of course, not something he ever contemplated having the United States do unilaterally. In fact, even though our 40th president is increasingly invoked by the anti-nuclear crowd (whose latest campaign is called "Global Zero" and seeks the hopelessly unrealistic goal of ridding the world of nuclear weapons) because of his avowed antipathy towards such arms, arguably no one did more than he to build up America's deterrent.

Obama's goals may produce the reverse effect:

The tragic irony is that the Obama administration's goal of global denuclearization is likely to be made more remote, not less, as America's deterrent becomes ever less certain. Our adversaries stand to benefit geostrategically from building up their nuclear arsenals as ours vanishes. Long-time allies will surely feel constrained to acquire their own nuclear forces if our "umbrella" ceases to assure them protection. In short, more proliferation, not less, is in prospect.

Finally...

In these ways, Barack Obama risks standing the time-tested Reagan philosophy of "peace through strength" on its head in favor of a posture shown to be a formula for war - sometimes on a global, cataclysmic scale: the failed pursuit of peace through U.S. weakness.

Actually, that philosophy - peace through strength - goes back much further than Reagan, to Harry Truman.  At one time it was called "power for peace." 

The Obama defense program that Gaffney describes is consistent with Obama's past.  It can produce disaster, if not immediately for us, than for many of our allies.  It can also tempt friendly nations to become less friendly, and to make deals with our enemies, for their own survival.

Obviously, there is still time for correction.  But for those of us who were concerned that Barack Obama would be another Jimmy Carter, our worst fears may come true.

February 17,  2009.      Permalink          

DRIVE, THEY SAID - AT 8:40 A.M. ET: 

Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, already relying on government aid to survive, take their case to the U.S. Treasury today that they can undo past mistakes and justify more U.S. aid to return to profit.

GM, with a pledge for $13.4 billion in loans, may seek support beyond an $18 billion request made Dec. 2 because of worsening economic conditions, people familiar with the automaker’s plan said. Chrysler has said it needs at least $3 billion in addition to $4 billion it received last month.

COMMENT:  There are reports that the White House has already agreed to lend GM $4-billion more.  I suspect the tolerance of the American people for this will have its limits.  The crunch could come soon.  The economy is worsening, and the auto companies are trying to sell cars to a public wary of buying from corporations that may go bankrupt. 

COVERT ACTION - AT 8:23 A.M. ET:  From London's Telegraph:

Israel has launched a covert war against Iran as an alternative to direct military strikes against Tehran's nuclear programme, US intelligence sources have revealed.

It is using hitmen, sabotage, front companies and double agents to disrupt the regime's illicit weapons project, the experts say.

The most dramatic element of the "decapitation" programme is the planned assassination of top figures involved in Iran's atomic operations.
Despite fears in Israel and the US that Iran is approaching the point of no return in its ability to build atom bomb, Israeli officials are aware of the change in mood in Washington since President Barack Obama took office.

They privately acknowledge the new US administration is unlikely to sanction an air attack on Iran's nuclear installations and Mr Obama's offer to extend a hand of peace to Tehran puts any direct military action beyond reach for now.

COMMENT:  The story, by respected reporter Phil Sherwell, says that the U.S. is cooperating in these covert operations.  I certainly hope so. 

WHO ARE WE TO QUESTION CULTURAL DIFFERENCE? - AT 7:55 A.M. ET:  From The Buffalo News:

Orchard Park police are investigating a particularly gruesome killing, the beheading of a woman, after her husband — an influential member of the local Muslim community — reported her death to police Thursday.

Police identified the victim as Aasiya Z. Hassan, 37. Detectives have charged her husband, Muzzammil Hassan, 44, with second-degree murder.

Sadly, there's also this, from the New York Daily News:

An Afghan diplomat was charged Friday with beating his wife "like a dog" for more than 15 hours in their Queens home, prosecutors said.
Mohammed Fagirad, 30, a vice consul at the Afghanistan Consulate, brutalized his wife inside their Flushing home from about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday until nearly midnight, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

COMMENT:  Thank goodness for law enforcement.  The authorities take these cases seriously.  But notice the lack of outrage, or even interest, by so-called "women's" groups or "civil liberties" groups.  Some of these groups have become despicable.  They're nothing more than front operations for off-the-cliff ideologies, and they're drunk on "multiculturalism."

LIVING IN THE PAST - AT 7:32 A.M. ET:   From Bloomberg:

Some Democrats in Congress don't want to let George W. Bush leave town.

They want to continue investigating alleged wrongdoing by former administration officials like Karl Rove just as President Barack Obama is urging them to turn the page.

House Judiciary Committee Democrats have a long bill of particulars. They want to force Bush-era officials to testify about the firing of nine U.S. attorneys and alleged politicization of law enforcement. They want to press inquiries into Bush's program of warrantless wiretaps and into allegations that suspected terrorists were tortured in U.S. custody or turned over to other countries for such mistreatment.

COMMENT:  You'd think a party with the ethical problems of the Democrats would leave this alone.  But, again, the extremists want their way.  They want to criminalize policy.

THE LEFT DEMANDS - AT 7:20 A.M. ET:  From The Washington Post:

As President Obama prepares to sign a $787 billion economic stimulus package today amid gales of Republican criticism of its cost, he is also facing quieter misgivings from liberal Democrats who say the bill does not go far enough -- and who are already looking ahead to future legislation that they hope will do more.

COMMENT:  This will be one of the defining issues of this administration - whether the president can resist the demands of the radical left.  The radical left will never be satisfied, and its foreign-policy views are chilling.  This left wants to remake America in its own image, though it actually has very little support.  It can do enormous damage, even as a minority movement - witness the way it influenced American opinion about Vietnam, helping to produce a catastrophe.

THAT'S ALL HE DID? - AT 7:12 A.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

TOKYO — Japan’s finance minister resigned Tuesday after widespread criticism of embarrassing behavior at the weekend Group of 7 meeting in Rome.

The minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, raised eyebrows for slurred speech, muddled answers and appearing to fall asleep at a news conference in Rome on Saturday.

COMMENT:  Hey, Shoichi, you're livin' in the wrong country.  They force you out for a little merriment?  Why, in America you could be finance minister (secretary of the treasury) even though you didn't pay your taxes.  We're just so much more understanding here.  And if you fly to Mexico we can get you into the country illegally.  Why stay where they don't respect you?

TRUTH TELLING AT 7:02 P.M. ET: 

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Seoul will call North Korea a ''direct and serious threat'' in its upcoming defense report, an official said Tuesday, amid spiking tensions on the divided peninsula over Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs.

The South's biyearly report on defense for 2008 will likely further strain ties between the two countries, whose relations have dipped to their lowest level in a decade since President Lee Myung-bak took office in February last year with a pledge to get tough with Pyongyang.

COMMENT:  The question is whether our South Korean ally will be supported by the United States in its tough stand, or undercut?  The record of this administration in its first month in dealing with our allies is not good.  Hillary Clinton, now in the region, has warned North Korea not to test a new missile, but the warning was vague.  Watch this one to see if American allies will be treated as friends or liabilities.

MONDAY,  FEBRUARY 16,  2009

FAIRNESS? - AT 10:33 P.M. ET:  An intriguing survey from Rasmussen on the fairness doctrine:

Just 38% of U.S. voters think that the government should require all radio stations to offer equal amounts of conservative and liberal political commentary.

Forty-seven percent (47%) oppose government-imposed political balance on radio stations, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure which course is better.

These findings are a dramatic nine-point drop-off in support for the Fairness Doctrine from a survey last August when 47% said the government should require all radio and television stations to offer balanced political commentary.

Only 26% of voters believe conservatives have an unfair advantage in the media, the argument several senior congressional Democrats use in pushing for the restoration of the Fairness Doctrine. Sixty-four percent (64%) disagree.

COMMENT:  The American people are beginning to learn the truth about the so-called "fairness" doctrine.  But will this influence the left-wing ideologists who are determined to diminish talk radio?

FROM A READER - AT 6:32 P.M. ET:  Yesterday we ran a report on financial experts who caught on to Bernard Madoff's ponzi scheme, but failed to report their concerns to the authorities.  Reader Jon Chambreau responded with a provocative note, which might interest other readers:

Regarding Leon Gross and others who knew Madoff's claimed returns were specious:

Their lack of action may have involved the knowledge that the SEC would do nothing.   Heavens, Harry Markopolous, a Boston-based money manager, gave the SEC an iron-clad case and nothing was done.  

For a peek at the SEC's culture, take a look at this piece of puffery, (found at  http://www.sec.gov/news/press/sec-actions.htm):

During the current turmoil in the credit markets, the SEC has worked closely with the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and other regulators in the U.S. and around the world to protect investors and the markets.  (emphasis added)

Not.

Realistically, doing nothing was the only possible option, unless Gross was able to burst through door, photographer in tow, and somehow catch Bernie in flagrante. That was not going to happen.  The Grosses of the world are not the problem.  The problem is enforcement officials who see their task as mantaining order rather than catching crooks.  This remains the SEC's attitude, if we are to judge from the weak tea served up on the SEC's website.

Jon Chambreau
Ilwaco, WA

DISGUSTING AND DESPICABLE - AT 6:12 P.M. ET:

GENEVA (Reuters) – Washington's "war on terror" after the September 11 attacks has eroded human rights worldwide, creating lingering cynicism that the United Nations must now combat, international law experts said on Monday.

Mary Robinson, who was the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights when al Qaeda militants flew hijacked planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001, said the United States caused harm with some of the ways it responded.

"Seven years after 9/11 it is time to take stock and repeal abusive laws and policies," the former Irish president said, warning that harsh U.S. detentions and interrogations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba gave a dangerous signal to other countries that could easily follow suit.

COMMENT:  This relates to the story just below.  Mary Robinson presided over Durban I, the infamous "human rights" conference held a few days before 9-11, and hijacked by America haters, dictator nations and professional anti-Semites.  The U.S. walked out.  Robinson stayed.  She is more a fool than an evil person, but fools can do a great deal of damage.

DISTURBING TREND

Posted at 11:12 a.m. ET

Why would the United States Government make an important announcement late on a Saturday night?  The reason, of course, is to make sure it doesn't get too much attention.

On Saturday night the Obama administration announced it is sending a delegation to assist in the planning of Durban II, a UN project known formally as the World Conference Against Racism.  Sounds innocent enough, but recall that Durban I was held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, a few days before the 9-11 attacks, and descended into an orgy of hatred, blatant anti-Semitism, and open season on Israel.  The Bush administration walked out of that conference, refusing to lend it the dignity of America's name.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, before she took her new office, that the U.S. should boycott Durban II as well.  And, indeed, planning for the conference signals a meeting even more degenerate, anti-freedom and bigoted than Durban I.

But there are apparently other voices in the administration.  From the AP:

The State Department said it would send diplomats next week to participate in preparatory meetings for the World Conference Against Racism, which is set to be held in Geneva, Switzerland in April and which some countries including Israel have already decided to boycott.

In a statement released late Saturday, the State Department said the U.S. delegation to the planning discussions would review current direction of conference preparations and whether U.S. participation in the conference itself is warranted.  

One of the boycotting countries is Canada.  President Obama visits Canada late this week, so the decision to send diplomats to those planning meetings undercuts Ottawa.  Of course, undercutting allies has been a hallmark of this new administration since the moment it took office.  Obama has already insulted President Karzai of Afghanistan, has undercut our East European allies on missile defense, has shown indifference to Iraqi democracy, has insulted Britain by returning a bust of Winston Churchill that sat in the Oval Office, has interfered in internal Israeli politics, and has generally signaled that allies have no greater standing than some enemies.  Great stuff.

One of the leading officials pressuring Clinton on "Durban 2" is the new U.S. ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, who was Obama's close campaign adviser.

Rice is also pushing for the U.S. to join the UN Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva.

This doesn't surprise me.  It's Rice's reputation.  We'll be given the argument that by "participating" in these bodies, we can change them.  That's absurd.  It's never happened.  By participating we simply lend them legitimacy and prestige.  They will do what they wish to do.  The U.S. has one vote.  Once again we are sending a message of weakness, of accommodation to some of the worst governments in the world.

The other official pushing for American participation in "Durban 2" is Samantha Power, another Obama adviser at the National Security Council.

Power participated in the initial Durban conference as the representative of a non-government organization and is known for her strong criticism of Israel.

This is disgraceful.  Apparently, the secretary of state has been cut out of the loop.  The hard leftists are getting their way.  True, the U.S. statement said that Washington would decide at a later date whether to participate in Durban II, based on what direction the planning took, but that looks like window dressing.  If we did pull out on principle, it would be great.  But I have the uneasy feeling that this initial step will simply lead to our participation.  And that would be a slap at the very "American ideals" President Obama loves to talk about.

The AP story contains this intriguing line:

Senior State Department officials contacted Israeli diplomats and asked them to take swift action to block the Durban initiative.

The term "senior" is used carefully by experienced journalists.  In this case it would apply either to the secretary of state or to those just below her, who would act only with her approval.  One gets the sense of growing conflict in the administration, something that could flare up.  I've said before in this space that Hillary Clinton might be forced out of the administration, or could even feel the need to resign in protest over policies she opposes, setting up a new battle within the Democratic Party.

Things are getting sticky.

February 16, 2009.       Permalink          

REQUIRED READING - AT 9:56 A.M. ET:  From Toronto's Globe & Mail, via reader Ken Braithwaite:

Poor Piotr Stanczak. He's the Polish geologist who after four months of being held hostage was killed in the most ghastly way by a Pakistan branch of the Taliban over the weekend.

Well, actually, to say he was killed in a bestial manner is putting it a tad mildly. Mr. Stanczak had his head cut off by a hooded man hacking away with a knife, while two other brave, armed-to-the-teeth hooded men watched over the whole business. Minutes before, one of those three men had initiated a "conversation" with Mr. Stanczak with a cheery, "Hi. How are you?"

COMMENT:  That is the beginning of a column by Canadian writer Christie Blatchford.  It is one of the best columns on the nature of the enemy we're fighting in Afghanistan, and I urge you to read it all.

BREATH OF FRESH AIR, SO TO SPEAK - AT 9:41 A.M. ET:  From the AP:

SANTA FE, N.M. - Former astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who walked on the moon and once served New Mexico in the U.S. Senate, doesn’t believe that humans are causing global warming.

"I don’t think the human effect is significant compared to the natural effect," said Schmitt, who is among 70 skeptics scheduled to speak next month at the International Conference on Climate Change in New York.

Schmitt contends that scientists "are being intimidated" if they disagree with the idea that burning fossil fuels has increased carbon dioxide levels, temperatures and sea levels.

"They’ve seen too many of their colleagues lose grant funding when they haven’t gone along with the so-called political consensus that we’re in a human-caused global warming," Schmitt said.

COMMENT:  Schmitt went to Cal Tech and has a doctorate from Harvard.  Not a slouch.  He is one of a growing number of scientists, not associated with industry, who are questioning the religion of global warming. 

CHARLIE BEATS ABE - AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  From the Harvard Crimson:

The Harvard community celebrated Darwin’s 200th birthday in style with free drinks, science-themed rock bands, cake, decor, and a dancing gorilla.

The birthday party, which was sponsored by the Harvard Humanist Chaplaincy and held in the Queen’s Head Pub, concluded a full day’s events that celebrated Darwin, his theory of evolution, and its contributions to humanity.

COMMENT:  Charles Darwin was born on the same day, in the same year, as was Abraham Lincoln.  But there is no mention in the Crimson of any recognition of Lincoln's 200th birthday.  You know, when you're not Ivy League...

SETBACK, POTENTIALLY MAJOR - AT 8:48 A.M. ET: 

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) -- The government agreed to impose Islamic law and suspend a military offensive across a large swath of northwest Pakistan on Monday in concessions aimed at pacifying a spreading Taliban insurgency there.

The announcement came after talks with local Islamists, including one closely linked to the Taliban.

The move will likely concern the United States, which has warned Pakistan that such peace agreements allow al-Qaida and Taliban militants operating near the Afghan border time to rearm and regroup.

COMMENT:  Concern is an understatement.  If Pakistan folds, our entire position in South Asia will fold with it.  Pakistan is a nuclear power, and the possible takeover of the country by Islamic militants isn't out of the question.

CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE - AT 7:24 A.M. ET:  From The Washington Times:

President Obama's blunt but little-noted statement last week that bad teachers need to be fired and that some fellow Democrats resist real change in public schools has jolted educators and education critics alike.

"It was unusual for a Democratic president to say that," said Cynthia G. Brown, director of education policy for the liberal Center for American Progress. "I applauded when I watched him say it on television."

On the right, the surprise in some quarters was just as great.

"For any nationally recognized Democratic official, let alone a Democratic president, to bluntly talk about the need to remove teachers for poor performance is unprecedented," said Frederick M. Hess, American Enterprise Institute director of education policy studies.

COMMENT:  We applaud the president for his statement.  Now the hard part:  Just what will you do about it, sir?  We remain skeptical that this president will take on the education unions, which have our schools in a lock grip.  But we'd be happy to be proved wrong.

ILLINOIS GOP SHOWS A PULSE - AT 7:14 A.M. ET:  From The Washington Post:

CHICAGO. Feb. 15 -- Illinois Republicans called Sunday for a perjury investigation of Sen. Roland W. Burris (D), who declared that he did not try to mislead state lawmakers about his contacts with associates of former governor Rod Blagojevich.

"I can't believe anything that's coming from Mr. Burris at this point," said state Rep. Jim Durkin (R). He described Burris's version of his contacts with Blagojevich insiders as a "continuously changing story."

"I think it would be in the best interest of the state if he resigned," Durkin said the day after news broke that Burris had filed an affidavit contradicting two earlier statements he made under oath.

COMMENT:  I hope the GOP goes all the way on this one.  Burris plainly lied in earlier testimony.  If Republicans can't get him to resign, at least they can wound him, making his election to a full term in 2010 less likely.  He was appointed to succeed Barack Obama, who seems not at all interested in what has become of his Senate seat.  When you come from Chicago politics, you don't ask too many questions.

REMEMBER WHEN THEY WERE TAKING OVER THE WORLD? - AT 7:05 A.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

TOKYO — Japan’s economy, the world’s second largest, is deteriorating at its worst pace since the oil crisis of the 1970s, hurt by shrinking exports and anemic spending at home.

The country’s real gross domestic product shrank at an annual rate of 12.7 percent from October to December after contracting for two previous quarters, the government said Monday. When compared with the third quarter of 2008, Japan’s economy receded 3.3 percent.

COMMENT:  Apparently they tried stimulus package after stimulus package.  Nothing has worked.  We should learn, but probably won't.

THE GOOD GUYS DON'T ALWAYS WIN - AT 7:01 A.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chávez handily won a referendum on Sunday that will end presidential term limits, allowing him to run for re-election indefinitely and injecting fresh vibrancy into his socialist-inspired revolution.

COMMENT:  Note the celebratory tone of the story.  If you read down, you find that Chavez mobilized the entire government, and Venezuela's nationalized industries, to work for his victory.  Compare please to what's happening in the United States, as the government extends its power into industry after industry.