Welcome to Banana Republic America...

So, what's the difference between Bush, the Right Wing, fascists and Hugo Chavez, the socialist President invested with near dictatorial powers in Venezuela? Apparently not much as he has taken a page out of our book and put in his own version of The Patriot Act:

A new intelligence law brought in by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has caused concern among rights groups who say it threatens civil liberties.

Mr Chavez argues the law will help Venezuela guarantee its national security and prevent assassination plots and military rebellions.

The new law requires Venezuelans to cooperate with intelligence agencies and secret police if requested.

Refusal can result in up to four years in prison.

The law allows security forces to gather evidence through surveillance methods such as wiretapping without obtaining a court order, and authorities can withhold evidence from defence lawyers if it is considered to be in the interest of national security.

Can it be any clearer these two clowns are peas in a pod? Or what we have become as a country?

Some of you may still see the land of the free, home of the brave that requires a bit of tinkering. I see a land that has imprisoned more people than Russia and China and lacks basic civil liberties and equal rights for a large portion of its people. I see a land whose populace routinely gives control of the government to an incompetent, inhumane conservative cause, which works to destroy, or at least limit, most of the guaranteed rights within it's own Constitution. I further see a cowardly country that is run by draft-dodging, war-avoiding cowards and their enablers with just the barest minority willing to make any sacrifice of their life to serve their country. All because the majority of this country is, well, a bunch of narrow-minded, incompetent bigots.

So, flag-cling-magnets, delusions of self-righteousness and patriotic slogans to the contrary, really, how are we different? Our courts are corrupt. Our executive branch is corrupt. Our legislative branch is corrupt. Further, the entrenched, corrupt players in the game have set it up that squeaky wheels are demonized and cast-out of the political process.