Robertson calls for assassination of Chavez

[RPankn]

That d**n liberal media again, failing to bring up Pat has been laundering money for al-CIAda through his African diamond mines.

Updated: 10:44 AM EDT

Pat Robertson Calls for Assassination of Hugo Chavez

Televangelist Calls Venezuelan President a 'Terrific Danger' to the United States

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (Aug. 22) - Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson called on Monday for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, calling him a "terrific danger" to the United States.

Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a former presidential candidate, said on "The 700 Club" it was the United States' duty to stop Chavez from making Venezuela a "launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."

Chavez has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President Bush, accusing the United States of conspiring to topple his government and possibly backing plots to assassinate him. U.S. officials have called the accusations ridiculous.

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

Electronic pages and a message to a Robertson spokeswoman were not immediately returned Monday evening.

Venezuela is the fifth largest oil exporter and a major supplier of oil to the United States. The CIA estimates that U.S. markets absorb almost 59 percent of Venezuela's total exports.

Venezuela's government has demanded in the past that the United States crack down on Cuban and Venezuelan "terrorists" in Florida who they say are conspiring against Chavez.

Robertson accused the United States of failing to act when Chavez was briefly overthrown in 2002.

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said.

"We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," he continued. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

8/22/2005 23:07:21


aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050822234809990001&ncid=NWS00010000000001

Some other choice quotes from Pat:

KRT"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."
-- On Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, August 2005

"If they look over the course of 100 years, I think the gradual erosion of the consensus that's held our country together is probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings."
-- On whether "activist judges" are more of a threat than terrorists, May 2005

"Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up."
-- Referring to the State Department's location while criticizing the agency, October 2003

[RPankn]

Venezuela slams Robertson over remarks

By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER, Associated Press Writer

Last Updated: August 23, 2005, 10:27:11 AM PDT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela's vice president accused religious broadcaster Pat Robertson on Tuesday of making "terrorist statements" by suggesting that American agents assassinate President Hugo Chavez.

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said Venezuela was studying its legal options, adding that how Washington responds to Robertson's comments would put its anti-terrorism policy to the test.

"The ball is in the U.S. court, after this criminal statement by a citizen of that country," Rangel told reporters. "It's huge hypocrisy to maintain this discourse against terrorism and at the same time, in the heart of that country, there are entirely terrorist statements like those."

The State Department distanced itself from Robertson's comments.

"We do not share his view, and his comments are inappropriate," spokesman Sean McCormack said.

There was no immediate comment from Chavez, who was winding up an official visit to Cuba on Tuesday. Scores of journalists awaited Chavez at the airport, where he was to board a plane for a trip to Jamaica to discuss a Venezuela initiative to supply petroleum to Caribbean countries under favorable financial terms.

On Monday, Robertson said on the Christian Broadcast Network's "The 700 Club": "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability."

"We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," he continued. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

Chavez has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President Bush, accusing the United States of conspiring to topple his government and possibly backing plots to assassinate him. U.S. officials have called the accusations ridiculous.

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

Rangel called Robertson "a man who seems to have quite a bit of influence in that country," adding sarcastically that his words were "very Christian."

The comments "reveal that religious fundamentalism is one of the great problems facing humanity in these times," Rangel said.

Robertson's remarks appear likely to further stoke tensions between Washington and Caracas. Chavez has repeatedly claimed that American officials are plotting to oust or kill him - charges U.S. officials have denied.

The United States is the top buyer of Venezuelan crude, but Chavez has made it clear he wants to decrease the country's dependence on the U.S. market by finding other buyers.

Chavez has survived a brief 2002 coup, a devastating two-month strike that ended in early 2003 and recall referendum in 2004. The former army paratroop commander, a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, is up for re-election next year, and polls suggest he is the favorite. [I wonder if Carville will be going back down to Venezuela to help the opposition again.]


www.modbee.com/24hour/nation/story/2654216p-11160100c.html

[RPankn]

Chavez ally: Robertson a 'fascist'

Tuesday, August 23, 2005; Posted: 12:15 p.m. EDT (16:15 GMT)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- A Venezuelan lawmaker on Tuesday accused U.S. televangelist Pat Robertson of shedding his Christian values by calling for President Hugo Chavez's assassination.

Pro-Chavez lawmaker Desire Santos Amaral said she was shocked to learn that Robertson, a former U.S. presidential candidate, said on his show that if Chavez believes the United States is out to kill him, then it should. Robertson said this would stop Venezuela from becoming "a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism." [It's surprising no one notes that this rhetoric combines the two neocon bogeymen, and suggests Pat is working off a script.]

"This man cannot be a true Christian. He's a fascist," Santos said. "This is part of the policies of aggression from the right wing in the North against our revolution."

Robertson's comments appear likely to further stoke tensions between Washington and Caracas. Chavez has repeatedly claimed that American officials are plotting to oust or kill him -- charges U.S. officials have denied.

Chavez has irritated U.S. officials with his leftist policies, his fiery rhetoric against American "imperialism" and his increasingly close ties to U.S. regimes in Cuba and Iran. [HELLO! Was that a Freudian slip? US regimes in Cuba and Iran?] He says he is leading Venezuela toward socialism and, in a visit to Cuba this week, praised President Fidel Castro's system as a "revolutionary democracy."

Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a former presidential candidate, called Chavez a "terrific danger" to the United States on his TV show "The 700 Club" and said it would be easier to kill Chavez than invade Venezuela.

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

The United States is the top buyer of Venezuelan crude, but Chavez has made it clear he wants to decrease the country's dependence on the U.S. market by finding other buyers.

Santos rejected Robertson's allegations that Chavez aims to turn the South American country into a sanctuary for radical groups hostile to the United States. [Too late, State and pro-Israeli groups have already claimed the border region between Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay -- which also happens to sit on a large hydrocarbon deposit -- is a hotbed of al-CIAda training camps. And where Rev. Moon and wealthy Israelis have been buying a lot of real estate lately.]

Santos said Venezuelan authorities have long been aware of the threat of an assassination attempt against Chavez, who has increased security to reduce such risks.

She said radical right-wing Chavez foes are mulling the possibility of killing him "because they haven't been able to defeat him through elections or coups."

Chavez has survived a brief 2002 coup, a devastating two-month strike that ended in early 2003 and recall referendum in 2004. Chavez is up for re-election next year, and polls suggest he is the favorite.

Santos said she thinks U.S.-Venezuelan relations could still improve, but she added that comments seeking to spur violence by "charlatans and fascists" like Robertson only get in the way.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/08/23/robertson.chavez.react.ap/index.html

[RPankn]

U.S. Dodges Robertson Comments on Chavez

By BARRY SCHWEID
The Associated Press
Tuesday, August 23, 2005; 2:19 PM

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration swiftly and unequivocally distanced itself Tuesday from a suggestion by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson that American agents assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a frequent target of U.S. foreign policy. [So State denies it, but the neocon Post admits it.]

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, appearing at a Pentagon news conference, said when asked: "Our department doesn't do that kind of thing. It's against the law. He's a private citizen. Private citizens say all kinds of things all the time."

"This is not the policy of the United States government. We do not share his views," McCormack said in a flat refutation of Robertson's suggestion that the United States "take out" Chavez to stop Venezuela from becoming a "launching pad for communist influence and Muslim extremism."

In Caracas, Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel called Robertson's statement criminal and terrorist. "The ball is in the U.S. court," he said.

Robertson, 75, is a founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a supporter of President Bush, who was elected twice with the solid backing of Christian conservatives.

"I would think that people around the world would take the comments for what they are," McCormack said. "They are the expression of one citizen."

The United States was believed in the past to have been involved in the assassination in 1963 of South Vietnam President Ngo Binh Diem and attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro of Cuba. [Believed? Ha ha ha.]

Political assassination was put off-limits by former President Gerald R. Ford in an executive order in the mid-1970s.

Rumsfeld said he knew of no consideration ever having been given to assassinating Chavez.

"Not to my knowledge and I would think I would have knowledge," Rumsfeld said. [Oh Don, stop being so coy. You know the spooks at the CIA have already tried it a couple times.]

McCormack said, "Any accusations or any idea that we are planning to take hostile action against Venezuela or the Venezuelan government - any ideas in that regard - are totally without fact and baseless."

The spokesman said the administration had urged Venezuela "to play a positive role in the hemisphere" and to have "an open, transparent and positive relationship that you would have between two sovereign states anywhere around the world."


www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/23/AR2005082300688.html

[RPankn]

Media Matters Calls on ABC Family to Discontinue Robertson Broadcasts

8/23/2005 2:25:00 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: National Desk

Contact: Melissa Salmanowitz of Media Matters for America, 202-756-4109 or [e-mail]

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following his Aug. 22 call for the United States to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Media Matters for America is urging ABC Family to stop showing Pat Robertson's The 700 Club. ABC Family shows The 700 Club three times a day.

Robertson, 700 Club host and founder of the Christian Coalition of America, has a history of vitriolic and false statements, as Media Matters has pointed out.

In addition to urging the assassination of a foreign leader, Robertson has blamed gays for divorce, abortion, and September 11, said that a gay-oriented event would bring about "terrorist bombs ... earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor," and stated that liberal judges are a bigger threat to society than Al Qaeda.

"Robertson's vitriol is not appropriate for children, or for anyone else, for that matter. His calls for the killing of a foreign leader certainly do not belong on a television channel that purports to offer family-friendly programming," said Media Matters for America President and CEO David Brock.

---

Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. Media Matters for America is the first organization to systematically monitor the media for conservative misinformation every day, in real time. For more information, visit www.mediamatters.org.

www.usnewswire.com/

-0-

/© 2005 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/


releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=52001

[RPankn]

Robertson's Call for Chavez Assassination Draws Criticism

By James Gerstenzang, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- Televangelist Pat Robertson's call for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez provoked a storm of criticism today, triggering condemnation from his fellow religious leaders and international outrage, while the Bush administration said he was a "private citizen" whose remarks were "inappropriate."

Robertson remained publicly silent during the furor, in which he was criticized across the political spectrum in the United States by former Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole as well as several liberal Democratic members of Congress and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

The head of the National Assn. of Evangelicals said Robertson was endangering the lives of Christians in Venezuela. [Ha ha ha ha ha ha, what religion does he think the majority of Venezuelans are? Oh, that's right, we Catholics are not "Christians" to the evangelicals, but a "cult."]

Robertson, the founder of the Christian Coalition of America, was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988. His conservative Christian fans tune in to his 700 Club television show daily.

On Monday's program, Robertson said that the Venezuelan leader would make his nation "a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent."

Killing Chavez, an ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, [I bet Brownstein just had to slip that in.] would be "a whole lot cheaper than starting a war," Robertson said.

In Venezuela, Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said today that Robertson's remarks were "terrorist statements." He condemned them as incitement to commit murder, and called on U.S. officials to make clear that the law applies "even to such Christians."] [No chance of that, because that would mean calling Bush the terrorist that he is.]

Speaking at a news conference in Caracas, Rangel said, "The ball is in the U.S. court after this criminal statement by a citizen of that country. It's a huge hypocrisy to maintain this discourse against terrorism and at the same time, in the heart of that country, there are entirely terrorist statements like those."

Robertson's remarks caught the deep tensions that have existed between the Chavez and Bush administrations, as Chavez seeks to maintain his political foundation with open hostility toward the United States. The U.S. government, wary of Chavez, nevertheless looks to Venezuela as a reliable supplier of oil. [Wary? They've only tried overthrowing him 3 times that we know of.]

The scope of Robertson's influence drew considerable debate. His syndicated television program, which had only recently been described as reaching an audience of at least a million, has drawn an average audience of 863,000 a day during the 2004-2005 television season, according to Nielsen Media Research.

His political reach was at an apex in the 1988 presidential campaign.

However, a leading national evangelical figure said Robertson's influence among evangelicals in the United States had ebbed.

"He's an old man and there's a group of old women and old men who watch him," said this leader, who asked to remain anonymous because he said he respected Robertson's past ministry and also did not want to alienate Robertson's followers. "The spokespeople for evangelicalism are significantly distanced from him politically and spiritually. The Moral Majority days are long gone. It's a different world." [Why is the LA Times acting as a Robertson apologist?]

Robertson's office did not respond to a telephone call and e-mail message seeking comment.


www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-082305robertson_lat,0,2075668.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[RPankn]

Venezuelan Ambassador Says Embassy Flooded With Support After Assassination Comment

By William C. Mann Associated Press Writer
Published: Aug 23, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) - For Venezuela's ambassador, the day began with word that a prominent American television preacher was asking the Bush administration to assassinate Venezuela's president.

By the end of the day, the Venezuelan Embassy's voice mail and e-mail systems had been overloaded with American well-wishers, and Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez considered Tuesday a very good day indeed.

"You don't have an idea how good I feel with all the support I have got and I keep getting. It keeps coming to us, and to all the consulates, the Venezuelan government, the media. Hundreds of people in this country that are supporting a president who was elected," Alvarez told reporters. [This is why I like the Venezuelan representatives because they always get these jabs in at Bush and the administration.]

A week after his 49th birthday, Alvarez was asked how much more difficult his job had become after former presidential candidate Pat Robertson had told viewers of his Christian Broadcast Network that the United States should had the capability to "take out" Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

"Let me tell you," Alvarez said, "today is one of the days I haven't felt alone at all. I have felt a lot of support from many people in this country, particularly in the Christian community."

He waved a stack of papers that he said was a sampling of hundreds of e-mails he had received from Americans angered by Robertson's suggestion. Particularly Christians, he said, told him Robertson was out of line.

"For any Christian, including ourselves, this is not the way we read the Bible," which teaches people not to kill, Alvarez said. And that holds even when countries and their leaders have differences, he said.

President George W. Bush's administration considers Chavez, who was elected in 1999 and is running for a second six-year term next year, as a troublemaker who, along with President Fidel Castro of Cuba, is trying to create problems for the United States in South America.

"We have had in the past, other people, saying that the solution ... (was) to kill President Chavez, but this person, Robertson is asking, is calling the U.S. administration to use the covert operations to as he said to 'take out' President Chavez," Alvarez said.

"So we do have differences with the U.S. administration, President Chavez has differences with President Bush, but never asking for killing of President Bush. This is why it is so important that we consider this special situation, and this is why we need the strongest condemnation" from the White House.

On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Robertson's comment was "inappropriate" and the United States did not agree with him, but neither he nor anybody else condemned the comment. Both McCormack and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Robertson was a private citizen stating an opinion. [What a bunch of sick bastards we have for a government.]

"We don't consider that it is enough just to say that this is a private citizen with an opinion," Alvarez said.

AP-ES-08-23-05 2112EDT


ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB58E5WQCE.html

[RPankn]

Statement by Ambassador Alvarez on Pat Robertson's call for the murder of President Chavez

EMBASSY OF THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA
Statement by Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez on Pat Robertson Declarations
August 23, 2005

We would like thank the American people for the support they have offered us in the wake of the Reverend Pat Robertson´s call for the murder of our President, Hugo Chávez.. The messages of support have flooded our Embassy´s electronic and voice mails.

We are very disappointed with Pat Robertson´s statements over the Christian Broadcast Network. Mr. Robertson is of course no ordinary private citizen. He was a candidate for the GOP´s Presidential nomination in 1992. The organization that Mr. Robertson leads, the Christian Coalition, claims nearly 2 million members and has a multi million dollar a year budget. In 2000 it was credited with helping George W. Bush win the important South Carolina primary and catapulting him to the nomination of his party for President. Mr. Robertson has been one of this President´s staunchest allies. His statement demands the strongest condemnation by the White House.

Mr. Robertson´s call that U.S. government covert operatives murder President Hugo Chávez is a call to terrorism. His call that President Bush violently impose the outdated Monroe Doctrine on Venezuela is a call for American intervention in the sovereign affairs of our democratic country.

The United States may not permit its citizens to use its territory and airwaves to incite terrorism abroad and the murder of a democratically elected President. Venezuela demands that the U.S. abide by international and domestic law and respect our country and its President.

Pat Robertson´s statement must be condemned in the strongest terms by the Bush Administration, and we are concerned about the safety of our President. It´s essential that the U.S. government guarantee his safety when he visits this country in the future, including his scheduled visits to the United Nations in New York.

From the messages we have received, it´s clear that Pat Robertson does not speak for Christians in the United States, nor even for the Christian Coalition, when he calls for the assassination of our President.


www.embavenez-us.org/news.php?nid=1566

[RPankn]

PATHETIC. Coleman and Martinez are only US senators to criticize Robertson. In the House, only Barbara Lee.

Hellary was probably standing on Capitol Hill with her finger in the air waiting to see how the public would react to Robertson's statements first before deciding what she would say.

U.S. Senators Criticize Robertson Call to Assassinate Chavez

Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senators Norm Coleman, Republican of Minnesota and Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida, said a call by U.S. televangelist Pat Robertson for the U.S. government to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was ``irresponsible'' and ``incredibly stupid.''

The senators, visiting Brazil to meet with government and business leaders, spoke with reporters today in Rio de Janeiro.

``It was an incredibly stupid statement and has no reflection on reality,'' said Coleman, the chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations subcommittee on the western hemisphere. ``I met with President Chavez on my last visit a couple of months ago and he related that concern to me, about how the U.S. was out to assassinate him. I told him not to lose any sleep about it.''

Robertson, a television evangelist, said yesterday on a broadcast of his ``700 Club'' program that Chavez is a ``dangerous enemy.'' He said killing Chavez would be cheaper than going to war to remove him.

``We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come to exercise that ability,'' Robertson said.


www.embavenez-us.org/news.php?nid=1571

Barbara Lee Calls on Bush to Condemn Robertson Remarks

(Oakland, CA) - Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) issued the following statement today, calling on President Bush to condemn Pat Robertson's remarks calling for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, the democratically elected leader of Venezuela, in light of the fact that the Bush administration's recently named Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and former Bush political advisor, Karen Hughes, has appeared on Robertson's show, the 700 Club:
"President Bush should quickly and clearly condemn Pat Robertson's call for the assassination of the democratically elected leader of Venezuela, particularly since his new Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, Karen Hughes, has appeared on Robertson's show.
"It is especially important in the current struggle against terrorism that the Bush administration send a clear message that America stands for the rule of law and democracy, not lawlessness and murder, and it is incumbent on the President to condemn the ideology of hatred and lawlessness, wherever it raises its head.
"As a person of faith, I am deeply offended by Mr. Robertson's remarks. The call for murder from someone who claims to be a man of God is an insult to people of faith everywhere."


www.embavenez-us.org/news.php?nid=1570

[RPankn]

Correction. Jose Serrano did too. However, I still don't see any of the heavy hitters in the Democratic Party.]

Congressman Serrano Denounces Robertson Comments Advocating Chavez Assassination

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Today, Congressman José E. Serrano issued the following statement on Reverend Pat Robertson's immoral call for the assassination of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela:
"Reverend Pat Robertson's statement advocating assassinating President Hugo Chavez was beyond the pale" said Congressman Serrano. "President Chavez is the democratically-elected leader of the Venezuelan people. He has been repeatedly targeted by this administration and its proxies with the worst kind of character assassination, solely because they disagree with his social and economic policies. Now it seems that their campaign has turned into one of overt intimidation."
"Assassination should never again be an instrument of US foreign policy. We must respect the democratic process in Latin America even if some in this country disagree with its outcomes. Pat Robertson calls himself a man of God. It is extremely distressing to hear that someone who claims to hear the call of the Lord would advocate for breaking one of his commandments.
"A full retraction and apology is warranted from Rev. Robertson. The State Department and this administration should denounce this statement."


www.embavenez-us.org/news.php?nid=1569

[RPankn]

I see Pat is playing the semantics game, like Bolo and his friends do re: Larry Silverstein's comment to pull WTC 7, as well as indulging his "persecuted Christian Republican" complex, when it's clear what each meant from the context of their respective statements.

Robertson: Chavez remarks misinterpreted
Broadcaster says 'take him out' didn't mean assassination

Wednesday, August 24, 2005; Posted: 12:40 p.m. EDT (16:40 GMT)

(CNN) -- Conservative religious broadcaster Pat Robertson said Wednesday that his remarks about the removal of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were taken out of context and that he never called for the killing of the Latin American leader.

"I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out.' And 'take him out' can be a number of things, including kidnapping; there are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted by the AP [Associated Press], but that happens all the time," Robertson said on "The 700 Club" program. [d**n that liberal media!]

The controversy began Monday when Robertson called Chavez "a terrific danger" bent on exporting Communism and Islamic extremism across the Americas.

"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it," said Robertson on Monday's program. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war." [Sure Pat, assassinate in this context means kidnapping, or any number of other things. ::) ]

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," he said. "We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

Venezuelan officials reacted angrily to the broadcaster's comments, while U.S. officials dismissed the remarks.

Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel accused Robertson of inciting violence and challenged the White House to take action against him.

"What is the U.S. government going to do about this criminal statement made by one of its citizens?" he asked.

In Havana, where he had met with Cuban President Fidel Castro to discuss ties between the two countries, Chavez told reporters he had never heard of Robertson.

Asked about the broadcaster's call for his assassination, Chavez said, "It doesn't matter to me."

"I don't know who that person is," he said. "As far as his opinion of me goes, I couldn't care less."

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Tuesday that Robertson has the right of any private citizen to say whatever he wants but added that the broadcaster's remarks "do not represent the views of the United States." [Uh huh, just like the US government "doesn't mind" when someone makes a threat against a president's life.]

"His comments are inappropriate," he said. "Allegations that we are planning to take hostile action against the Venezuelan government are completely baseless and without fact."

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also dismissed Robertson's comments Tuesday, saying "our department doesn't do that kind of thing."

But Venezuela's ambassador to the United States, Bernardo Alvarez, said Robertson was "no ordinary private citizen" and demanded the White House strongly condemn the remarks.

Alvarez said the Christian Coalition, which Robertson started but no longer leads, claims some 2 million members and helped jump-start President Bush's 2000 presidential campaign after his New Hampshire primary loss to Sen. John McCain.

"Robertson has been one of this president's staunchest allies," he said.

"The United States might not permit its citizens to use its territory and airwaves to incite terrorists abroad and the murder of a democratically elected president," Alvarez said. "Venezuela demands that the U.S. abide by international and domestic law and respect its country and our president."

Venezuela's vice president said the U.S. response "challenges the antiterrorist ideology of the American government."

Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, who ran against Robertson for the GOP presidential nomination in 1988, called the comments "stupid" and "ludicrous" and suggested the broadcaster apologize "very quickly."

Bush administration critical of Chavez

Chavez has built ties to Cuba since he was elected in 1998, becoming a close friend of Castro's and selling oil to the communist island at preferential rates. [Ooooh, scary Commies, blah blah blah.]

The colorful former Venezuelan army officer has the widespread support of his country's poor.

His opponents, largely drawn from the country's middle and upper classes, accuse him of undermining democratic institutions.

Chavez was re-elected under a new constitution in 2000. In 2004, he won a recall referendum with the support of 58 percent of voters.

He has become an increasingly outspoken critic of the United States, which he accuses of having been behind a 2002 coup attempt that forced him from office for two days.

The Bush administration denied involvement but refused to condemn the attempted coup.

Assassinations of world leaders have been forbidden since President Ford signed an executive order in 1976. The rule came after congressional hearings in the 1970s documented CIA attempts to kill Castro and U.S. interference in the politics of other Latin American countries. [Yes, of course. If we've shown the world anything in the past 5 years, it's a respect for the rule of law.]

This month, Chavez warned that U.S. troops would be "soundly defeated" if Washington were to invade Venezuela.

But Tuesday, he offered to sell Venezuelan fuel directly to "people who are most in need within the United States" -- bypassing American oil companies to bring cheaper gas prices.

Administration officials have been sharply critical of Venezuela, the fourth-largest supplier of oil to the United States.

During her confirmation hearings, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice singled out Venezuela as a "negative force" in the region, and Rumsfeld has suggested Chavez's government has interfered with the internal affairs of other countries in the region.

Last week, Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked Rumsfeld to tone down his anti-Chavez rhetoric, warning that the United States needed Venezuelan help to battle the drug trade.

Venezuela has accused agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of spying on Chavez's government. The Bush administration denies those allegations as well.

Controversial statements are not new to the 75-year-old Robertson.

He has suggested in the past that a meteor could strike Florida because of unofficial "Gay Days" at Disney World and that feminism caused women to kill their children, practice witchcraft and become lesbians.

CNN's Lucia Newman contributed to this report.


www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/24/robertson.chavez/index.html

[RPankn]

Aired August 23, 2005 - 20:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. Glad to have you with us tonight.
Has controversial Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson finally gone too far or is he on to something?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): Preaching assassination.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE 700 CLUB")

PAT ROBERTSON, "THE 700 CLUB": We have the ability to take him out. And I think the time has come that we exercise that ability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Should Pat Robertson take it back, or should Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, be taken out before he becomes another Fidel Castro?


transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0508/23/pzn.01.html

[wowposter]

Hi,Do you have used LCDs, second hand LCDs and used flat screens and used LCD monitors? Please go here:www.sstar-hk.com(Southern Stars).We are constantly buying re-usable LCD panels and working for LCD recycling.The re-usable panels go through strictly designed process of categorizing, checking, testing, repairing and refurbishing before they are re-used to make remanufactured LCD displays and TV sets.Due to our recent breakthrough in testing and repairing technology of LCD, we can improve the value for your LCD panels.
Contact Us
website:www.sstar-hk.com[idbdhdcdicjaf]