Of course, I get into these debates all the time and the socialist/communist crowed pathologically denies the simple fact that what they support is actually communism or socialism because they are "bad words"
Well I don't know any socialists or communists that think they are bad words. I myself think of them among the best. But that is why I hold them to such a standard.
Many people don't understand what either of those socio-economic political systems are. There are people on both the left and the right that do, YET they purposfully ignore it and modify the term to fit their own agenda.
Chavez himself being what he considers to be a socialist does not mean the country is socialist or the government is socialist. No matter how much he or you say it. Wishing does not make it real.
The U.S. senate has a socialist member. Is the senate socialist?
China has a government that is controled by a political party that calls itself communist. Yet, China is about as far from being communist as the U.S.
Of course you're going to use the logic that Chavez was actually elected so hence he really cant be a dictator by default.
Term limits do not make a dictator.
Is Alvaro Uribe a dictator? What about Michael Bloomberg?
"In a referendum that directly determines to possibility of the continued governance of President Chávez, the "Yes" campaign won with 54.4% of the vote in a turnout of around 70%. Were Chávez truly a demagogue, and were there truly a strident personality cult, we would expect the results and turnout of such a referendum to differ dramatically to elections not directly concerned with Chávez the man. Yet November's regional elections saw a turnout of 65%, and as with the referendum, the popular vote was won by around 10%. The dramatic similarity of the two results, and their significantly different subjects suggests a common denominator, loyalty or opposition to the government's project as a whole, rather than to the man in particular. "
[=quote] Chavez calls Venezuela vote mandate for socialism
[=/quote]
You need to pick up a book and turn off the univision.