it depends what your definition of 'assassinate' is

I've said before this won't be a political blog, but this has more to do with pure stupidity than politics. As I'm sure you're aware, Pat Robertson has been in the news since Monday regarding statements he made on his TV show, The 700 Club. Just as a refresher, here is the full text of Robertson's original statement:

There was a popular coup that overthrew him [Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez]. And what did the United States State Department do about it? Virtually nothing. And as a result, within about 48 hours that coup was broken; Chávez was back in power, but we had a chance to move in. He has destroyed the Venezuelan economy, and he's going to make that a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent.

You know, I don't know about this "Doctrine of Assassination," but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think we really oughtta go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And, uh, I don't think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a terrific danger, and the United--this is in our sphere of influence, and we can't let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have other doctrines that we have announced, and, uh, without question, this is a dangerous enemy, to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil that could hurt us very badly. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another 200 billion dollar war, uh, to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.

(I've uploaded an mp3 of it here [220K file].)

For the record, these do not strike me as words that would be appropriate for a man who portrays himself as a follower of the teachings of Christ, i.e. a Christian. And even that aside, why he thought it was a great idea to go on TV and call for a foreign president's death is beyond me. Surely his statement will help us in the War on Terror. ::rolleyes::

The next day, on his show, he flatly denied using the word "assassination" (technically, the word was "assassinate"). Later that day he issued a written statement "apologizing" for his remarks, and then proceeded to compare Chávez to Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein. One could debate whether Chávez has been beneficial or detrimental to Venezuela in his time as president, but the Hitler comparison brings a lot of baggage with it (hint: Godwin's Law, "objections and counter-arguments").

This is the same Pat Robertson who agreed with Jerry Falwell that pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays, lesbians, the ACLU and the People for the American Way helped remove God's protection from the United States on 9/11/2001. (Falwell later apologized not for his comments per se, but rather "if I left that impression" -- i.e. it's your fault for misinterpreting me, not my fault for appointing myself as God's spokesperson.)

As usual, Jon Stewart of Comedy Central's The Daily Show hit the nail right on the head with last night's episode.