Who knew Pat Robertson held a key administration post?

Or, that he had significant foreign policy influence?

In what way is Robertson more than an opinionated, somewhat influential television host? He hasn’t claimed to speak on the government’s behalf.

So when he calls for a oppressive tyrant’s head, what in the world is the fuss about?

Could be a tempest in a teapot, rather than Hurricane Pat’s Great Caribbean Uprising.

Why would the Bush Administration feel the need to condemn the remarks? Ignoring them would have been a lot smarter.

The same, normally silent leftists on human rights abuses in Venezuela, Zimbabwe, North Korea and elsewhere, suddenly love Thug-In-Chief Hugo Chavez, simply because Robertson doesn’t.

That’s now the full extent of lefty discourse. Don’t believe me? Take a stroll down Technorati Road. He’s currently the most-searched topic, with hundreds of liberal bloggers worked up into a hysterical frenzy.

I’d love to see this level of concern for the well-documented abuses that occur in these countries on a daily basis. If it doesn’t provide a way to attack the right, “progressives” don’t care.

Would some of Robertson’s critics care to see what Human Rights Watch (hardly a conservative outfit) has to say about Chavez’s recent abuses?

By the way, did anyone notice just who Chavez was standing next to, when trashing Robertson and the Bush Administration? Fidel Castro, on Cuban soil!

While we’re at it, what about Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe? He’s been mowing down shanties in recent months, displacing the country’s poorest during wintertime. Where are the liberal bloggers on this one?

I may not see a case for killing Hugo Chavez, but conservatives ought to use this opportunity to highlight some of the world’s worst tyrants and press for action.

In doing so, we expose one of the left’s biggest shortcomings: they only care when they believe they can be used to make Republicans look bad.

Example: a Seattle talk radio host, a former coworker of mine, posted this on his website before last night’s show:

9pm – Should Pat Robertson go to jail or a rubber room? It’s time these nutcases from the religious right are held legally accountable for their actions. It doesn’t stop with this thief from the 700 Club. Michael Moore’s life was thretened by radio host Glen Beck, Bill O’Reilly said there would be no peace unitll L.A Times editor Michael Kinsley was murdered. The list goes on.

(tip: Orbusmax)

This from a left wing talk host who last year called for President Bush’s own execution on “war crimes violations”.

So that we have this straight:

— President Bush = bad bad bad, must be executed

— Hugo Chavez = never heard of him until criticized by conservative, now my hero.

There’s today’s lefty lesson.