“Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, renowned for colorful insults of world leaders, called U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin a confused ‘beauty queen‘ on Friday after she said he was a dictator.

… ‘I saw the vice presidential candidate, there she was talking about ‘the dictator Hugo Chavez.‘ The poor thing, you just feel sorry for her,’ he said during a televised broadcast.

‘She’s a beauty queen that they’ve pulled out to be a figurehead. We need to say as Christ did: Forgive her, she knows not what she’s saying.‘” — Reuters

Hugo Chavez may be anathema to President George W. Bush, but he remains very popular in Venezuela and any attacks by American politicians will only serve to solidify his support.

Hugo Chavez has a better grasp of politics and Christianity than Sarah Palin. Chavez knows that to call an American vice-presidential candidate a beauty queen is more damaging than for an anyone to call him a dictator. Chavez probably doesn’t mind being called a dictator, because it’s a reminder to his countrymen that he has an iron grasp on power.

Palin is always throwing around a “God Bless” or a “God’s will“, but it’s the socialist leader of Venezuela who can quote scripture correctly and at the most opportune time.

I would feel comfortable with Chavez in the Oval Office, he wouldn’t shake like a clueless beauty queen during a crisis. But some might argue, “Chavez is a damn commie!” Chavez may be a socialist, but it’s the capitalist George W. Bush who is taking over banks to avert an economic catastrophe.

I would also feel quite at ease hearing Chavez delivering a sermon, unlike Palin and televangelists he wouldn’t preach “pie-in-the-sky” nonsense. Chavez would invoke the name of Christ not for political expedience, but to motivate people to feed the hungry, and minister to the sick.

Americans don’t have to look for Venezuela for capable leadership, thank goodness the next president of the United States will be the statesman Barack Obama.