Now that you mention it, it does seem rather odd that of all the loathsome dictators in the world, Augusto Pinochet is the only one to be demonized by the left. As to why that might be, Opinion Journal has an answer.
Augusto Pinochet died on Sunday at the age of 91, more than 18 years after he agreed to a 1988 plebiscite that turned him out of power. The standard Pinochet narrative is to emphasize the loss of liberty during the 17 years he ruled the country as a military dictator. The real story is more complicated.
Though General Pinochet became a devil symbol of the international left, he was a far more complex figure and cannot be understood apart from the global Cold War conflict of which he and his country were a part. Pinochet's legacy is a paradox--a long string of them.
He took power in a coup in 1973, but ultimately he created an environment where democratic institutions would prevail.
Had he stayed in power to continue the murder and torture the left would no doubt have lionized him as they have Fidel Castro. But Chile is a democracy now. What a tragic turn of events for the left.
Pinochet's CIA-supported coup overthrew a popularly elected President who ran on a platform about nationalizing Chilean natural resources (most notably copper and other minerals that the Andean mountain range is rich with) that had been developed and monopolized by Western companies.
On top of that, tens of thousands of opponents of Pinochet and his illegal government, including members of opposing political parties and the media, were systematically rounded up, tortured, and ultimately never to be heard from again. Tens of thousands.
And this is the kind of guy that YOU lionize? Good God, you are becoming more and more of a ranting fascist lunatic every day.
Posted by: ny patriot | December 12, 2006 at 12:17 PM
Pat, I'm not at all surprised that you misinterpret or mischaracterize the point of the post. But I'm getting tired of your name calling and the unpleasant tone of your comments. I was particularly put off that you would presume to lecture the mother of a combat soldier.
If that's the best you can do don't bother commenting here. I have never taken the step of blocking anyone's comments, but I have no problem starting with you.
Posted by: Tom Bowler | December 12, 2006 at 03:41 PM
Tom
Time and time again I call you out out in directt response to both your own inflammatory and bombastic postings characterizing the left/democrats/all-sane-thinking-people as being the root-cause for all the ills that you claim paralyze this country. You constantly rail against those on the left in the most condescending of tones which frankly I find to be almost always without merit and almost always categorically false. So you post and I respond. J
And as far as Teresa is concerned let's get one thing straight - in my first reply to her statement I clearly made my point that the best way that I know to support any troop placed in harms way is to hope for their most expeditious way home. You can't show anymore concern for one's well being than that - to be brought home safe and sound. And how does Teresa respond? By cavalierly riding in upon her sanctimonious high horse and lecturing me about my misdirected "concern." I don't know about you but I found that to be almost cryptically ironic coming from the mother of a combat pilot.
So go ahead - ban me if you wish. This way you can continue to go about and post your own incendiary posts, unchecked and, most likely, unheeded by the handful of observers that check in here on most days. But remember Tom - reading like-minded blogs (and undoubtedly wrongly informed) and then just rewriting the words to place your own spin upon it is no better than an echo chamber. After a while, you just become a member of the same crew on the boat that is sailing towards the waterfall.
Posted by: ny patriot | December 12, 2006 at 06:38 PM
Tom, it's obvious that ny patriot doesn't really read the posts - he reads bits and pieces and fills in the rest in his head to make it sound the way he thinks it is.
First he misread your above post and now thinks you're a Pinochet supporter. That's a good one. BTW ny patriot - my son is a CREW CHIEF - not a Combat Pilot - huge huge difference. I realize that these little details are not of importance... but it's the details that get you in the end.
And I'm not going to go back and restate what I posted in an earlier comment or even argue the point further - it's useless to keep bashing one's head against a wall (guess I should add "metaphorically"... except that this is another detail that will be missed in the reading) when basically all ny patriot wants to do is argue without even figuring out the facts first.
Posted by: Teresa | December 13, 2006 at 12:04 AM
Pat, I don't consider offering contradictions without the facts to support them, "calling me out", and while I've called you out on that time and again, I haven't called you a lunatic. I think Teresa has it right when she says, "all ny patriot wants to do is argue without even figuring out the facts first."
If you feel it's your duty to respond to everything I post with some form of contradiction, by all means do it. But let me refer you to Blogspot or Typepad where you can set up your own blog to do it.
Posted by: Tom Bowler | December 13, 2006 at 06:32 AM
Want to really know what the soldiers think? Want to know what's going on?
In their own words - from Iraq...
http://hotair.com/archives/2006/12/12/video-us-troops-on-kerry-the-media-and-iraq/
Posted by: Teresa | December 13, 2006 at 03:41 PM
Brings tears to my eyes, Teresa. Thanks for the link.
Posted by: Tom Bowler | December 13, 2006 at 09:10 PM