> Has there ever been a left regime anywhere that you find admirable, even in
> part?
Yeah, but I ain't telling which. I've got a reputation to maintain here. I can't be praising left regimes. It'd be like Dennis R. writing a post that didn't extol the revolutionary potential of the EU or the BRICs.
But really, it's not about declaring something admirable or detestable. I'm not really interested in cheerleading, or maybe I am but that's part of the reason I watch sports. It's more about figuring out how the parts work, and I don't see how rooting for Chavez, or Putin or Morales or whoever, the way many on the left do acts as anything but impediment to doing that. So in that way, my posts are a provocation, which I admit is annoying, but hopefully not any more so than, for instance, your frequent and helpful reminders of Obama's badness.
It's true what you say, that it's impossible for any country to bypass the world market, but that doesn't mean that because Chavez sux less than Bush that chavismo shouldn't be criticized. And I don't mean just for the insufficiency of its redistributions or because Chavez embrace Ahmedinijad. It's also not to say the problem is Chavez's personal or moral failings.