HITLER Lost Elections TOO!1

[alcibiades_mystery]

Er...oh...wait....

:-)

The ironic thing about the Venezuela referendum is that the "Chavez is a dictator" argument suddenly seems absurd and silly, no?

[MADem]

1. Who said he WAS a dictator? The argument was that the referendum articles, that HE supported

would MAKE him a dictator. Not that he already WAS one.

But that's detail. Just grab that word DICTATOR and wave it about, like it proves a point.

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. Right

Nobody's been arguing that Chavez is a dictator.

And now, nobody can, right?

Good good, then. We're settled.

[MADem]

8. No, they've been arguing that the referendum would MAKE him one.

A quick look at the current Constitution rebuts your assertion.

But hey, whatever. Shift those facts to suit, if you'd like.

[provis99]

9. No, here on DU I've read post that he was, and IS, a dictator

Sometimes, reading DU on anything to do with Chavez is like reading freeper material. Seriously.

[MADem]

12. Well, I have read those threads and have not seen that. What I have seen is that

passage of this referendum would have turned him into one. And it would have--no checks or balances.

People here have a better grasp of the issues than that.

[provis99]

14. oh? well here's a threat today where the OP compares Chavez to Hitler

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2392184&mesg_id=2392560

[MADem]

15. The poster is completely inaccurate. He has his facts wrong from start to fininsh.

If I tell you the sky is mint green with fluffy orange clouds, are you gonna listen to anything ELSE I say?

The guy you are complaining about was operating from an absurd assumption that the referendum succeeded.

And he's making the comparison based on that erroneous assumption.

[Hosnon]

21. The road to dictatorship is not black and white. It's like piling up sand: slow but at some point

a dune is created.

[alcibiades_mystery]

22. And sometimes we make mountains out of molehills

Or sand dunes, as the case may be...

[Hosnon]

23. Hooray for metaphors!

:)

My point is that there is no magic line between non-dictatorship and dictatorship. And Chavez not winning this election doesn't necessarily make the claim that he is a dictator absurd.

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. Oh, I'm all for nuance and the continuum rather than the strict distinction

I'm all for infinite shades of gray, yes. Really, I am (even though nuance is often the fallback position for people whose initial contention makes no fucking sense).

But, really, at a certain point, doesn't it turn over to the other side of the continuum, and just take its ordinary, disgracefully unnuanced meaning? How many people have to screw up their eyes and make a face before the nuance of a position leans toward blowing sand, rather than dune?

So there was this dictator, and he wanted to do this thing, so he called for an election, and the people voted against it, and he was all like "Hey, I guess I can't do that thing now, since the people voted against it" and so he didn't do it. What a dictator, right?

I mean, come on, now.

[Hosnon]

26. At a certain point, yes, reasonable minds cannot differ on which side

of the spectrum the reality of a situation is.

I don't know too much about the current situation. But I do know that a leader can effectively be a dictator and still lose a battle every now and then. And a dictator does not have to have absolute control because no leader has ever had truly absolute control. Certain actions make a leader more or less of a dictator.

This vote probably makes him less of one...but that doesn't mean he hasn't gone from a 6 to a 4 on the Dictat-o-Meter (with 5 being the non-existent bright line).

[alcibiades_mystery]

27. Angels on the head of a pin, then

There's complex, and then there's complex.


:shrug:

[Hosnon]

28. I'll go with the second one.

Most things, I find, are horribly complex.

[LittleClarkie]

10. And don't forget to load up on the sarcasm

Because it brings people to your side and promotes civil discussion, doncha know.

[MADem]

13. Heh, the more the merrier I suppose....

Ain't it something!

[alcibiades_mystery]

18. This issue has very little to do with almost every DUer

So sarcasm is probably the way to go.

:hi:

[Seen the light]

2. Thank God the Venezuelan people weren't fooled by his propaganda

He wanted to be a dictator and they shut him down FINALLY. I'm very happy tonight. NOT because I don't respect a lot of the things that Chavez has accomplished, but I'm weary of any attempts to hold on to power, no matter what political philosophy the individual might have.

[Bakunin]

5. It was close, no? Recount?

[Bolo Boffin]

4. ROFL!

Excellent.

[lvx35]

6. Hey man, he's sitting on 77.2 billion barrels of tyranny!

We've got to make sure to liberate it by any means necessary, yo!

[Rex]

7. So did George Bush

Kinda funny, not so haha. Everyone wants to be the tyrant. I blame this all on Kim. :crazy:

[Swamp Rat]

11. blame it on the burritos

:dunce:

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

16. That argument was always silly...

...and it annoys me when people (not naming any names) accuse me of making that argument in order to invalidate my criticism of Chavez.

[ellisonz]

17. I've always stated that he wants to be dictator. Not that he is one, yet.

We'll see what Hugo does now...

[alcibiades_mystery]

19. So, if he stands by the results

You'd have to admit that he really isn't one, and maybe you were wrong all along?

Just wondering.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

20. LOL!!!11111 n/t

[Gold Metal Flake]

24. But, but, I have a FEELING!

I'm feeling that he WANTS to be a dick-tator! He wanted to have the opportunity to be re-elected in the future, that is what a dick-tator does! He subjects himself to the democratic electoral process! Dick-tator!1 I have a dick-tionary!1