Mommy! Daddy! Stop fighting; you're tearing me apart!!!

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Psephos  (1000+ posts)      Sun Jul-03-11 12:15 AM
Original message
Noam Chomsky denounces old friend Hugo Chávez for 'assault' on democracy
 Source: Guardian UK

Hugo Chávez has long considered Noam Chomsky one of his best friends in the west. He has basked in the renowned scholar's praise for Venezuela's socialist revolution and echoed his denunciations of US imperialism.

Venezuela's president, who hasrevealed that he has had surgery in Cuba to remove a cancerous tumour, turned one of Chomsky's books into an overnight bestseller after brandishing it during a UN speech. He hosted Chomsky in Caracas with smiles and pomp. Earlier this year Chávez even suggested Washington make Chomsky the US ambassador to Venezuela.

The president may be about to have second thoughts about that, because his favourite intellectual has now turned his guns on Chávez. Speaking to the Observer last week, Chomsky has accused the socialist leader of amassing too much power and of making an "assault" on Venezuela's democracy.

"Concentration of executive power, unless it's very temporary and for specific circumstances, such as fighting world war two, is an assault on democracy. You can debate whether circumstances require it: internal circumstances and the external threat of attack, that's a legitimate debate. But my own judgment in that debate is that it does not." Chomsky, a linguistics professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke on the eve of publishing an open letter (see below) that accuses Venezuela's authorities of "cruelty" in the case of a jailed judge.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/03/noam-chomsk...

Gnome Chomsky: CIA tool

No.

Wait.

It's someone impersonating Chomsky in the pages of that notorious RW rag, The Guardian:

Judi Lynn  (1000+ posts)      Sun Jul-03-11 01:10 AM
Response to Original message
3. Seeing the opening lines I immediately wanted to know who wrote this gem.
 Edited on Sun Jul-03-11 06:16 AM by Judi Lynn
Of course many Latin American watching DU'ers recognize him instantly. What a hoot. We've been watching him for years. Big embarrassment for the Guardian.

Here's the first article I could grab in a hurry:
Carroll in wonderland: how the Guardian misrepresents Venezuela
Samuel Grove takes apart the pro-US, anti-Chavez bias of the Guardian's Latin American correspondent Rory Carroll
Samuel Grove
September 2008

<snip>

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4904664#4904689

[Bodadh]

I recall a few years ago reading that Chomsky is a millionaire because of his books and lectures. I wounder if he is one of the people that are not "paying their fair share"?

[Skul]

Perhaps the title of this thread should be placed in every abortion clinic.
Just a thought.

[BlueStateSaint]

Perhaps the title of this thread should be placed in every abortion clinic.
Just a thought.

I was thinking the exact same thing.  H5.