Ovbiously, there has been a ton of press coverage about
Hugo Chavez and
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It really bugs me that the press is boiling their statements down to the rantings of silly, crazy people. These are intelligent, powerfull, and serious people whose countries' actions will play large roles in future global politics. Their countries will be major players in the areas of global security, terroism, and energy. They have strong anti-American feelings and are not at all afraid to make their position known. If you don't believe me that they are intelligent and capable people, check their wikipedia entries.
The press coverage of them is atrocious. Professional news companies will play clips of them with silly sound effects or smarmy comments about how they are looney. I'm concerned that due to the sheepish nature of the general public, this attitude about them will lead people to believe that they are nothing more than crazy people that shouldn't be taken seriously. The public needs to take them seriously because many people accross the world WILL. There are plenty of people that are on the fence about us and a strong leaders like them will be able to convert them to their line of thinking.
I'm not complaining about Bush here either. I do think Bush takes them seriously. This isn't really a thread about what Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have been saying or their politics in general, it's about the
coverage of them, please keep that in mind.