Why Don’t You Shut Up ?

King Juan Carlos of Spain said it to Hugo Chavez earlier this week.

And the people of Venezuela are saying it themselves:

The expression ‘why don’t you shut up?’ has become a popular slogan. On Monday, Caracas was full of posters. Student protesters have adopted it as their chant, and you can find various cartoons, songs and ringtones alluding to the subject on the web.

I would love to be able to defend Chavez and feel offended by the king’s remarks, but I can’t! The king said what most of us have wanted to say for a long time. We have been listening to his diatribes every Sunday, which go for hours and hours… When he insults anyone who is not with him, when he humiliates our student protesters… We all want to say ‘why don’t you shut up?’

Unfortunately, President Chavez will never listen to the diversity of voices from students, business people and the people in general who are opposing his constitutional reform. It’s about time that someone told him what many of us think of him.

Heh.

There comes a point at when dictatorship starts to fall apart. And it usually happens when the people realize that the dictator is a ridiculous fool. It happened most notably to Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania. Could it be happening to Hugo Chavez, with a little help from the Spanish Royal Family ? One can only hope.