Chavez Derangement Syndrome! (a blast from the past)

Two years ago, doctors discovered a new ailment: Chavez Derangement Syndrome (CDS)!

But Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez (pictured here) isn't the one who's deranged. The deranged are those who assailed Chavez because he dared to criticize Bush.

Chavez is a democratically elected leader who has implemented populist reforms that have helped ease poverty and improve the lives of Venezuelans. Strikingly, Chavez has done more for the U.S. than Bush has - by offering inexpensive heating oil to U.S. communities.

But it was Chavez's criticism of Bush that led to the CDS epidemic of 2006. Shockingly, while this epidemic was contained among Republicans, it ran rampant among Democrats.

Manhattan-based congressman Charlie Rangel, for instance. Up until CDS was discovered, I always thought Rangel was a decent congressman. But then came his reaction to Chavez's United Nations visit.

In late 2006, Hugo Chavez addressed the UN General Assembly and provided harsh words against Bush and the corrupt Bush regime. His speech was met with roaring applause.

But Rangel immediately lashed out against Chavez. He cried, "I want President Chavez to please understand that even though many people in the United States are critical of our President [sic] that we resent the fact that he would come to the United States and criticize President [sic] Bush. ... You don't come into my country, you don't come into my congressional district, and you don't condemn my President [sic]."

Uh, you know something, congressman? The UN isn't in your congressional district or even officially in the United States. Although surrounded by New York, the grounds of the United Nations are legally considered UN territory and are in no single country.

It wasn't just Rangel that suffered from Chavez Derangement Syndrome. This ailment was also experienced by none less than Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

Pelosi called Chavez "an everyday thug." Since when is a democratically elected President who abides by the law and tries to respect human rights an "everyday thug"?

To this day, Reid continues to imply that Chavez is some sort of maniacal dictator every chance he gets.

The Democrats have spent more time and effort bashing Hugo Chavez for that one speech than criticizing Bush for all his travails combined. Sure, it might be fair to critique Chavez for some things - but you can't expect one to have much credibility after attacking him for his UN speech in which he blasted Bush.

CDS is just one of several reasons I can no longer consider myself a Democrat. A crying shame too. It's tempting to vote Democratic again this year. I want to do it. (And I certainly won't vote Republican.) But why reward the party that's championed CDS while not even living up to its pledge to impeach Bush? They'll try to impeach Chavez even though he's in another country, but they won't impeach Bush.

Please. Someone knock me out of this dilemma. Come on, Kentucky: We need instant runoff voting. I don't want my third party candidates to be spoilers.