Stop Me Before I Vote Again

After Hugo's "stinging" rebuke on Sunday, now comes the vaudeville of Monday morning quarterbacks. Example:

http://counterpunch.com/kozloff12042007.html

According to leading lefticle pundit Nick the K, it seems, despite a lot of savory prog-pop measures in his referendum,

"Unfortunately, Chávez sabotaged any hope of success by simultaneously seeking to enhance his own personal power."

Check out the analytic depth of this line:

"the fundamental contradiction of the Bolivarian Revolution has been the constant tension between grassroots empowerment, on the one hand, and the cult of personality surrounding Chávez, on the other..."

... and given that "tension", no wonder these "provisions" spelled "watch out, tyrant pending!"

"Chávez could declare a state of emergency and the government would have the right to detain individuals without charge and to close down media outlets. Chávez's own term limit would be extended from six to seven years, and he would be allowed the right to run indefinitely for president."

Advice from this comforter of Job:

"Perhaps, if Chávez had merely backed the progressive provisions within the referendum and not tried to increase his own power, the vote would have tipped the other way... While the cult of personality around Chávez helped to solidify his movement in the early years, his demagogic populism and centralizing tendencies have now become a serious liability and must be jettisoned as soon as possible."

Demogogic populism? Is there any other kind? Let's hope not. Father Smiff would probably point out the etymology of "demagogic" at this point.

"If he follows through on promises of fostering greater 'participatory democracy' through the more progressive measures called for under the referendum for example, then he may be able to prevent the opposition from turning the clock back on the Chávez experiment."

"More participatory democracy"? This is about as empty as the infamous "take two aspirin and call me in the morning."