But Robertson, like so many conservative blowhards, has no sense of responsibility.

He makes outrageous statements. And those statements undermine the safety and security of the United States.

Robertson's latest outburst came in the form of a suggestion that the U.S. government ought to arrange the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Appearing Monday on his ridiculous Christian Broadcast Network program, "The 700 Club" - where he regularly prays for shifts in weather systems and big donations from his viewers - Robertson announced: "We have the ability to take him (Chavez) out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability."

"We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," continued Robertson. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

The problem with Robertson's statement is that Chavez is not a dictator. He is an elected president with broad popular support in his home country and growing popularity in Latin America.

Chavez is not a perfect player. But he has left no doubt that he is on the side of the great mass of people in Venezuela and the rest of Latin America who are poor. At a time when the Bush administration is pushing for trade policies that will make the most disenfranchised people of that region even poorer, Chavez's popularity will only increase.

Robertson has a right to his warped opinions - even when he tries to gloss over them with the disingenuous suggestion that he wasn't really talking assassination, but rather some other strategy to "take out" Chavez. But the fact that he is a key player on the same team that produced President Bush has done more than merely make one more right-wing television personality look like a fool. It has provided another reminder to the great majority of Latin Americans that when a leader stands up on their behalf, powerful players in America want him dead.

No message could possibly do any more damage to the reputation of the United States.

© 2005 Capital Times

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