Fear and rage in South America

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez shows what a pathetic loser he is.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice issued some substantive charges against Chavez's regime:

She called Mr. Chavez a "negative force" in Latin America and accused him of meddling in the affairs of his neighboring states. Colombia, for example, has complained that Mr. Chavez is sheltering Colombian Marxist rebels.

"We are very concerned about a democratically elected leader who governs in an illiberal way," Miss Rice said of Mr. Chavez.

I could understand anger, outrage, condemnations against the "Cowboy in Chief" Bush and his meddling secretary of state (whether justified or unjustified), but Chavez dips into his adolescence for a reservoir of spleen that reveals more about him than about Rice:

In his Jan. 23 speech, Mr. Chavez said Miss Rice "keeps demonstrating complete illiteracy."

"It seems that she dreams about me. I can invite her on a date with me to see what happens to her with me. She said that she was sad and depressed because of Chavez. Oh, daddy! She should forget me. What bad luck this lady has. I don't want to make that sacrifice for my nation," he said, according to Venezuelan reports.

For what it's worth, the women of Venezuela are angry, too. Unlike American feminists, for whom the Democratic Party alone confers victim status.