Just when you thought that Iran's president was the biggest showman-dictator in the world, good old Hugo Chavez steps up to the plate yesterday with one of the great moments of un-statesmanship in recent memory. Calling a fellow head of state the devil...class.
Not that one feels particularly sorry for Bush. His cowboy-diplomacy has never ventured into declaring opponents literal devils, but he's been loose and fast enough with calling folks evil that Chavez can legitimately say, 'Senor Jorge started it."
The real point once again is that the past five years have been such an unmitigated diplomatic disaster that clowns with guns like Chavez and Ahmedinajad (spelling from memory, so go easy on me) can embarass us a subway ride from Ground Zero while all we can do is unconvincingly pretend not to listen. Torture, a war of choice, a disastrous recovery and the total neglect of Israel-Palestine have characterized a foreign policy that's growing impotent before the midterms even take place.
