Hugo Chavez blows it, big time.

Apparently, word has gotten around in the World Dictator's Club that playing nice with American liberals is a great asset for keeping one's dictatorial power intact. The goal is obviously to end up like Castro or Gorbachev, not like Saddam Hussein or Noriega. But some dictators are better at impressing the liberals than others, and recently Hugo Chavez really blew it with liberals by comparing President Bush to the devil. Even Nancy Pelosi was pissed off by Chavez's remarks:

"Hugo Chavez fancies himself a modern day Simon Bolivar but all he is an everyday thug," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said at a news conference, referring to Chavez' comments in a U.N. General Assembly speech on Wednesday.

"Hugo Chavez abused the privilege that he had, speaking at the United Nations," said Pelosi, a frequent Bush critic. "He demeaned himself and he demeaned Venezuela."

It's as easy as pie to see why Chavez pissed liberals off. It's because if President Bush is the devil, then by implication there must be a God. No liberal politician is going to stand for that kind of mean-spirited insinuation.