Chavez may be like all politicians a political genius, but in all other things the despot has proven himself unbelievably ignorant. He has billions in oil revenue and yet his price controlled supermarket shelves are empty. And while they are empty it appears that he is sending $500 M to Nicaragua in support of a growing latin American marxist-socialist movement that short changes Venezuela's own citizens. A socialist movement that is substantively different in character than its homologs in Europe. I'll leave out the details that make the case that he is a despot.

In short Chavez needs an education and a better understanding of history as do a lot of the world leaders Obama has bowed to. An education that is incumbent on Obama to give. They are so ignorant these leaders that they have misinterpreted Obama's motivation. Obama is so naive he doesn't know it. It isn't that what Obama is trying to do isn't right, it's just that he is doing it so terribly poorly. He honestly believes that he can let bygones be bygones when all the leaders he's dealt with want to start with a reference point where America is the whipping boy. Bargaining does not seem to be Obama's strong suit with non-Western powers. Too bad.

Look at how Obama is validating Palestinian factions that should never be validated. Israel-Palestine is not Northern Ireland. You are not ever going to get a rational resolution with Hamas as part of the equation. You have to air a campaign explaining to Palestinians why they can't support Hamas and explain how you will be able to reward them if they vote these elements out of office.