But at least not everyone appears to be buying Rice and beans program in Congress.

As evidence, the following was released by the Venezuela Information Office today:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez became a prominent figure in the confirmation hearings of Condoleeza Rice this week, drawing the ire of a number of US Senators who pressed Rice to stop exacerbating the divide between the two nations and called for more consistency in US foreign policy.

SENATORS DEFEND VENEZUELA

While Rice repeatedly expressed her distain for a Chavez administration, calling it "unconstructive" to US interests in South America, Senate Democrats and Republicans alike took the opportunity to point out inconsistencies in US Foreign Policy and defend the sovereignty of Venezuela's democracy.

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) took immediate issue with Rice's statements, commenting that improved relations are "a two-way street." Dodd pointed out the double standard between the US relationship with Venezuela and Brazil.  Despite Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio 'Lula' da Silva taking similar stands as Chavez, Dodd noted, the State Department has found ways to collaborate with Brazil while isolating Venezuela. These sentiments were supported by other senators, ranging the ideological spectrum from Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to Norm Coleman (R-MN).

The most pointed comments came from Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee (RI).  Chafee complained that Rice's negative stance toward Venezuela is driving a wedge between the US and an important trade partner and said that her animosity toward Chavez  "seems disrespectful to the Venezuelan people -- they have spoken."

The Venezuela Information Office put together the following quotes from several U.S. Senators concerning Rice's anti-Boliviarian rhetoric:

Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), on the Senate Floor, January 18, 2005

“. . .after having just come back from South America and meeting with President Chavez, here he has been drawn before his people… [in]… a referendum. And as one of the people from our embassy said, he cleaned their clocks and kicked their butts. And it seems to me to say derogatory things about him may be disrespectful to him, but also to the Venezuelan people.”

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), on the Senate Floor, January 18, 2005

Improved relations are “a two-way street, Dr. Rice. It requires we work on it as well. . .I can go back and show you a statement that President Lula [of Brazil] made that would compete with anything President Chavez has said. Yet we found a way to work with this new president. My strong suggestion is find ways to do this. Going back and repeating these statements over and over again only dig the hole deeper and deeper. And that's an important relationship. It's important in the hemisphere. We need to work at it. My hope is you will.”

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), on the Senate Floor, January 18, 2005

“As Senator Chafee points out, you praise Uribe[the President of Colombia] for democracy even though we were told at this conference that he's trying to pass a law which would forbid sitting governors and sitting senators from running against him, and you condemn the head of Venezuela, Chavez, after having the administration -- not you personally -- briefly praise a coup. And it wasn't until the OAS spoke up and said, well, wait a minute, that's wrong, then we backed off. So we really do need more consistency here.”

Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) from Newshour, January 18, 2005

“I was less happy with what she [Condoleeza Rice] had to say about Venezuela. There was a bipartisan effort on the committee not to embrace Hugo Chavez but to take an opportunity to say "look maybe there's a chance here to have a real relationship." But she was absolutely rigid about it; she was absolutely unbending in willing to consider the possibility that we'd do better by somehow trying to engage with Venezuela through the people in that country, in particular, Hugo Chavez. So I was disappointed in that answer and I thought it was one of the weaker moments.”

Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), on the Senate Floor, January 18, 2005

“I join with some of my colleagues believing that we need to find more common ground with Venezuela.”

So it appears the wool has not been pulled over the eyes of all the sheep.

Well, there are always exceptions. It seems the Washington Post still likes to play with its gunboat in the bathtub.

Again, from the Venezuela Information Office:

VENEZUELA & THE WASHINGTON POST

Despite the balanced perspective offered from members of the Senate, The Washington Post seems committed to promoting just one side of the Venezuelan story. This past weekend alone, the Post ran two separate opinion pieces targeting the Chavez administration (linked below).

In an editorial published last Friday, the Washington Post refers to President Chavez as "a disciple of Cuban President Fidel Castro" and criticizes US politicians who are interested in strengthening ties between the two countries.

Three days later, the Post ran an Op-Ed by columnist Jackson Diehl which went many steps further, openly pining for the days when United States was more "actively involved" in Central America and Chile. Mr. Diehl sits on the Post's editorial board.

We may have far more to fear from a yellow press than from any other source, as the truth has little to do with an agenda.

Time to mine the waters of the blogoshere, because the paper gunboats are out there, waiting to blow some more bubbles.

(The Post actually makes you register for this garbage, so the url links are included below as well, in case you're interested in taking a bath in some dirty water.)

Washington Post Editorial, "Venezuela's 'Revolution'"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A808 8-2005Jan13.html

Washington Post Op-Ed, "Trouble in Our Back Yard"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A147 29-2005Jan16.html