Thou shalt not call for the assassination of foreign leaders

Pat Robertson, known for making inflammatory and asinine statements, dropped another doozy, calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said. "We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," he continued. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

Although Presidente Chavez, a vocal critic of President George Bush, has been spotted palling around with good old Fidel lately, members of the State Department were quick to condemn Robertson's comments. Venezuela's Vice President retorted both angrily and humorously, calling Robertson's remarks "very Christian." Heh. An article in Time touches on what I believe to the most interesting part of the ordeal, the recent rise in popularity of leftist politics in Latin America, and the fact that Robertson's statements will do nothing but increase Chavez's popularity in Venezuela.