Hugo Chavez was a despotic communist who seized private property and nationalized all mass communication in silencing his opposition. If you want a true picture of this friend of America's enemies, talk to the Venezuelans who fled their country after he took power. ( I consider Obama to be a Chavez and Castro wannabe.)  Chavez once said of President Bush, when speaking at the United Nations, "El diablo he estado aqui en este mismo podio. Todavia huele de azufre."  ( The devil has been at this very same podium. It still smells of sulfur.).  Former President Carter's uninformed, senile and asinine comments in eulogizing this tyrant should be an embarrassment to the American people. It is the progressives ( code for socialists ), who have no regard for the United States constitution or our free enterprise system, that laud Chavez.