Parsing "Pravda"

It's been many years since I've given the Boston Globe, a.k.a. "Pravda", a.k.a. "The Boston Daily Worker" a dime (I think it's actually over a dollar now) for a copy of their rag.  The local weekly is just as good for wrapping fish and it generally has some news I can use.

However, to give the devil his due, they've had an excellent sports page for many years.  Fifteen or twenty years ago, when I traveled fairly often on business, I realized why it was considered one of the best in the country.  I have no idea whether that is true any longer, but - ESPN and MLB.com and other Internet outlets notwithstanding - I still find their sports coverage worth reading... online!

It was during just such a foray onto their website this morning that I chanced upon an article about the political outlook in Massachusetts, in particular the re-election prospects of my own congressman, the outwardly-respectable moonbat William Delahunt.  Let me say at the outset that being represented by Delahunt for the past few years has been a step up - before we moved to North Carver we had the pwiviwedge of being wepresented by Bawney Fwank.  So, things are not as bad as they could be...

Anyway, Pravda's worldview is clearly evidenced by the manner in which they treat a certain, um, controversial issue.  Perhaps a wee bit of fisking might serve to bring some clarity and balance to the paragraphs in question:

Still, several Republicans see a chance to recapture one of the state’s conservative districts, where Brown received some of his highest margins of victory on Jan. 19. And they have seized on an unlikely issue: Venezuela. Unlikely to the editors of Pravda, who regard Chavez almost as highly as the Brothers Castro. Or, more specifically, Delahunt’s good relations with Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela, who once called President Bush “the devil’’ in a speech at the United Nations. Which comports perfectly with their own opinion.

In 2005, Delahunt persuaded Chávez to agree to give deep discounts on home heating oil for more than 30,000 low-income residents in Massachusetts annually. Was there any quid-pro-quo? Delahunt has been rather closed-mouthed on the topic. When Citgo, an oil company controlled by Chávez, as in "'The Flamingo', a casino controlled by Meyer Lansky" already supplies about 13 percent of US crude oil imports.

Delahunt’s deal opened the door for low-income households in Massachusetts to receive 100 gallons of free heating oil - enough to last several weeks or more - through a program run by Citizens Energy, a nonprofit arm company run by Joseph P. Kennedy II, the former Massachusetts congressman.  And why is Mr. Kennedy a "former" congressman?  Has it got anything to do with not wanting to answer questions about his relationship with Hugo Chavez?

Joseph Malone, a Republican former state treasurer who is seen as Delahunt’s strongest potential challenger, has criticized the deal, calling Chávez “a dictator who has stripped his citizens of their rights.’’

“Everywhere I go, that is one of the major issues that is developing during this campaign,’’ Malone said.

“Whatever gains come from oil deals [Chávez] does with Bill Delahunt and his friends is far outweighed by the harm he does in the international community.’’

Republicans who have already thrown their hats into the race are state Representative Jeffrey Perry, Donald Hussey of Hingham, and Ray Kasperowicz of Cohasset.

Others in the GOP have also cited Delahunt’s connection to Chávez. At a recent party breakfast, the chairman of the Plymouth County GOP joked about Delahunt hugging Chávez.  So, how many U.S. Congressmen wouldn't hug a man who numbers amongst his friends Fidel Castro, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and international terrorist "Carlos the Jackal"?

The strategy could prove risky for Republicans, so - this is simply a Republican attack strategy, eh? No Democrat or independent would have any problem with U.S. Congressmen and U.S. businesses making deals with an avowed enemy of America? since many voters have a positive view of the home heating oil program, which is advertised frequently by televised Citizens Energy commercials which is why "many" voters have such a positive view that tell needy families to “call Joe-4-oil,’’ a reference to Joseph Kennedy. Francis T. Manzelli, president of the Cape Cod Republican Club, acknowledges that the program itself is not the problem. “Obviously it is a good thing to give people in need assistance,’’ he said. But the tie between Delahunt and Chávez “does upset some people.’’

Chávez, elected in 1999, Just another average, democratically-elected politician, right? Except that he led a failed coup in 1992 in which 18 people were killed.  He was pardoned two years later and  was subsequently elected to office.  Does this remind you of anyone? has a 58 percent approval rating in Venezuela, recent polls say. Polls taken by whom? The Chavez-controlled media in Venezuela? He has opened clinics and schools for the poor, just like Cuba financed by oil sales from Citgo. But, in the United States, he has become a favorite target of conservatives since he launched scathing verbal attacks on former president George W. Bush, nationalized the oil industry, and shut down TV stations that failed to air his speeches. Chávez has also called President Obama an “ignoramus.’’ So it's only "conservatives" who are upset by having Presidents Bush AND Obama denigrated, assets of American businesses seized and American executives muscled-out, and state control of the media?  Granted, most of that may align with the agenda of the far left, but you'd think that anyone who dared to call Obama an "ignoramus" might arouse a few of his worshippers to at least a mild grumble...

Still, Jose Miguel Vivanco, a Human Rights Watch researcher who was expelled after criticizing Chávez’s human rights record, said “it’s a stretch to call him a brutal dictator.’’ Straw Man Alert - who called him a "brutal dictator"? Vivanco also said that Chávez’s actions were “hardly unique.’’ Compared to whom? Castro?  Kim Jong Il?

But Paul Fitzpatrick Jr., a 43-year-old consultant from Marshfield who campaigned for Brown, has launched a word-of-mouth campaign i.e. "word-of-mouth" as in rumormongering, a whispering campaign to highlight Delahunt’s ties to Chávez. perhaps because Pravda et al have no interest in reporting this sort of thing...

“Chávez hates America. Delahunt has been trying to score political points by allying himself with someone who hates the United States,’’ Fitzpatrick said.

“The Chávez issue is going to be a huge issue in this campaign,’’ he said. “If we let a guy like Chávez fester . . . it’s going to be another Iraq.’’

In Marshfield, a town with a median income of $83,540, only 331 of 8,905 households qualified for federal heating assistance. And why is this relevant? But in Orleans, a Cape Cod town where the median income is $42,594, 10 percent of the 867 households received heating assistance last year. A-ha, now I see.  The old "class warfare" card.  There, Delahunt’s decision to seek discount oil from Chávez was seen as a no-brainer.  "No-Brainer" is right, because it's far easier to take charity from criminals if you disengage your brain first!

“Take it wherever you can,’’ IOW, the end justifies the means said Bret Christopher, 46, who lost his cement-pouring business two years ago in the housing bust. Christopher once did well enough to build his own home, employ three people and vacation in Aruba. Now his home is slated for auction. He washes dishes at a local restaurant, but still needs food stamps to get by.

He was on his last five gallons of heating oil when Citizens Energy approved his oil shipment of 100 gallons free.

“Joe Kennedy whose salary from Citizens has been reported to exceed $500,000 and Mr. Delahunt, God bless them,’’ he said. God HAS richly blessed them, but how have they used those blessings?

Delahunt said that people like Christopher are the reason he got into politics in the first place. To give away other people's money and goods?

Some, Delahunt said, “would let people suffer through cold winters. That’s not who I am.’’ Then how much of your own money are you donating to local fuel-assitance programs?


He dared Republicans to openly criticize the program. “Do they want us to buy the expensive stuff, but say no to cheap oil?’’  So would he have take handouts from Hitler?  Stalin?  Mao?  Meanwhile, speaking of the "expensive stuff" one wonders why the oil companies owned by the Kennedy family are not offering free oil to the poor.

Even as he considers retirement, he still sounded like a candidate: “They don’t have to bring it up, because I will.’’ If you believe that I have some free, no-strings attached oil for you...

Hey, that was fun, maybe I'll do more of this in the future.