Hugo's Gas N' Go

I wonder if our lapdog press, as they blare the headline that Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez called Dubya “the devil,” will pay as much attention to these paragraphs of this news story as they did to what Chavez called our red state president (though somehow I know the answer).

Accusing Bush of neglecting the poor, Chavez started a program last winter for Venezuela's U.S.-based oil company Citgo to sell discounted heating oil to poor American families. It distributed more than 40 million gallons of oil last winter to low-income Americans, and Chavez announced a doubling of that this winter.

And…

He also referred to his past threats that he could cut off oil exports to the U.S. if it tries to oust him.

"Believe me, if I were to decide tomorrow to stop sending oil to the United States ... the price would go up to $150, $200 a barrel. But we don't want to do it, and we aren't going to do it," Chavez said. "We ask only for respect."

And I love the quote from U.N. Rep. John Bolton calling Chavez “a junior note taker” (hey, how’s that confirmation going for you, Mr. “if the U.N. Secretariat lost 10 stories it wouldn’t make a bit of difference”?).

I should add, though, that I don’t approve of world leaders calling each other names, and that goes for everybody.

Update 9/22: Yes, I posted on this story of course, but the name calling was way down on my list when it came to what was important. I think that the fact that Chavez is providing heating oil for people in this country who need it while our government ignores that problem is what matters more than anything else here.