The counter-revolution is being televised

MIchelle writes the post I thought about writing, trying to present both sides in the controversy over the non-renewal of the broadcast license of anti-Chavez TV station RCTV in Venezuela. WIIIAI has been pointing out, with some justification, that President Hugo Chavez has been acting a tad bit dictatorial. Here is part of a comment I left at WIIIAI:

This is the Venezuelan government's defense of the actions taken against RCTV. I can only add that when I was in Caracas in 2004, the vociferous opposition of the mainstream media to the government was far beyond anything I've ever seen in any other country (especially this one). If there were a scale for anti-government sentiment in media, with the NY Times being a 1, the WIIIAI blog being a 5, and the John Wilkes Booth newsletter "Sic Temper Tyrannis" being a 10, the major TV stations and newspapers in Caracas would be about a 15. That they are being used and supported by the Bushies as a tool for regime change in Venezuela seems a near certainty.

Obviously I can't defend all the actions of Hugo Chavez. I do strongly suspect that the very real attempts to overthrow him coming from Washington have caused him to act in a more dictatorial fashion than he would have otherwise, as has been the case with Castro. People really are out to get them.

But, while WIIIAI, the Venezuelan Information Office, Michelle and I have reading about what's going on, Jeopardy champ and best traveloguer ever Bob Harris has been WATCHING it.