Demagogue

Yesterday, on his TV program "The 700 Club," televangelist Pat Robertson reminded us of the little-known petroleum disclaimer that originally accompanied the commandment "Thou shalt not kill." That is, if you are the despised leader of an oil-rich nation, murder is permissible.

During Monday's broadcast, according to MediaMatters.org, Robertson stated:

There was a popular coup that overthrew him [Chavez]. 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 ... 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 [Chavez] thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a terrific danger ...

... We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have other doctrines that we have announced. And 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 war 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.

Okay, Pat. Since you're a man of God, I guess it's okay for us to set aside that commandment in this case.

But your suggestion that we should murder Chavez has piqued my curiosity and makes me wonder if there's a market for a brand new religious-themed bumper sticker: Who would Jesus assassinate?