Bitch Slapping A Couple of Cheap 'Hos'

Daniel Duquenala, a Venezuelan letter writer delivers a well-deserved bitch slap to the Globe Op Ed page today for a remarkably illogical editorial supporting Congressman Delahunt’s special delivery of discounted Venezuelan oil last November that came courtesy of Venezuelan dictator Chávez:

What is really going on in Massachusetts, at least from the viewpoint of the average Venezuelan who knows where to pinpoint Boston on a map, is a congressman shamelessly playing politics for his reelection on the backs of Venezuela's poor. The actions of William Delahunt are close to despicable, at least as seen from here. They give liberals a bad name, and it is beyond belief that The Boston Globe supports such actions in its editorial.

I wouldn’t call anything that appears in a Globe editorial is “beyond belief”. My expectations of Boston Globe editorials are always low but seldom met. Here is one especially obtuse passage from the Globe editorial that probably lit Mr. Duquenala’s fuse:

Many Venezuelans are far poorer than the Americans who will benefit from the discounted oil. A case can be made that Chavez should help his own countrymen first. Americans, however, are major consumers of Venezuelan oil. It's appropriate for Chavez to offer discounts as an informal rebate to the customers who are most affected by high prices.

Representative Joe Barton, the Texas Republican who heads the Energy and Commerce Committee, is investigating to determine whether the oil deal is ''part of an unfriendly government's increasingly belligerent and hostile foreign policy." If this is belligerence, let's have more.

There is superb Globe editorial perception! They conveniently look past the fact that the only oil discounts offered by Chávez were targeted precisely to give maximum political mileage to his favorite Washington toady, our own Congressman Delahunt.

A far more accurate editorial assessment of the blovatious Congressman Delahunt came last November 30 on the Wall Street Journal Op Ed page (which, regardless of ideology, is a far superior and more influential Op Ed page than the Globe musters). The Journal Editorial began:

Money can't buy love, unless you're Anna Nicole Smith. But these days a little heating oil can buy friends in Washington, especially when they come as cheap as Democrat William Delahunt. Massachusetts wants bargain oil prices to help it through the winter. Venezuelan tyrant Hugo Chávez wants influence in Washington. Leave it to the Congressman from the Commonwealth and a Kennedy to close the deal.

Last week Venezuela announced that its U.S.-based Citgo Petroleum would sell 12 million gallons of home heating oil at a 40% discount to help the poor in Massachusetts. The deal was announced by Mr. Delahunt on the lawn of a beneficiary before Thanksgiving, with Congressman Ed Markey at his side. "This today is about people, it's not about politics," Mr. Delahunt said with a straight face. Massachusetts-based Citizens Energy, run by the Kennedy clan, will be one of the distributors.

"To Citgo, to the people of Venezuela, our debt," the Congressman pledged. Mr. Delahunt should rightly feel a debt to the people of Venezuela, whose per-capita income is perhaps one-tenth that of Massachusetts and whose sole source of hard currency is the oil that their leader is now giving away to the second-richest state in the union. But Mr. Delahunt has no unpaid debt to Mr. Chávez. For some years now the Congressman has been lobbying hard for the Venezuelan despot, whom he paints as a misunderstood humanitarian. How French.

And concluded:

Mr. Delahunt returned to Caracas to dine with Mr. Chávez in August and was asked whether he might be acting in opposition to U.S. policy. "I don't work for Condoleezza Rice. I don't report to the State Department. I report to the people who elected me in the state of Massachusetts. I belong to an independent branch of government."

Which would be more accurate if it were possible for Massachusetts to have a separate foreign policy. Mr. Delahunt's lobbying for the dictator undermines any official U.S. pressure on Mr. Chávez to behave more humanely, which is precisely why Mr. Chávez is returning the favor by plying Mr. Delahunt with cheap oil.

For less pliable Americans, el jefe del Caracas has a different policy. On Monday, a U.S. Congressional delegation led by House International Relations Chairman Henry Hyde and ranking Democrat Tom Lantos was barred from entering the country and held aboard their aircraft for two hours. The delegation's itinerary had been known to Venezuelan officials for weeks. For a little more discount oil, perhaps Mr. Delahunt will explain to his colleagues how this was all just one big misunderstanding.

Delahunt serves as a cheap Washington hooker in for Chávez, and the Globe Editorial page serves the same role at home for the Congressman. I say “ick” to both of them.