Yeah, Right, Whatever

Yesterday, a friend mentioned that buying gas a Citgo should be a big no-no. They are owned by the Venezuelan state-owned oil company, and... well... we all know how Venezuela feels about the US. Hugo Chavez, its president has said such wonderful things as "Down the the US empire," "I hereby accuse the North American empire of being the biggest menace to our planet,” and he has vowed to destroy America. Lovely, eh? Needless to say, Citgo is now on my do-not-buy-from list.

But, you can't just look for a Citgo sign... if you go here, put in your zip code and you'll get a list of Citgo businesses in your area.

I did find something... funny, for lack of a better word... when I was looking for information on Citgo. Evidently, some progressives are staging a "buycott." How cute. Let's deconstruct their announcement, shall we?

Looking for an easy way to protest Bush foreign policy week after week? And an easy way to help alleviate global poverty? Buy your gasoline at Citgo stations. (How in the world will giving money to Hugo alleviate global poverty? Or protest W's foreign policy, for that matter? Unless you boldly state every time you fill up the tank "Screw you, W!" Oh, wait... you dingbats probably already do that as a daily ritual... my bad)

And tell your friends. (aw... they have friends... really?)

Of the top oil producing countries in the world, only one is a democracy with a president who was elected on a platform of using his nation's oil revenue to benefit the poor. The country is Venezuela. The President is Hugo Chavez. Call him "the Anti-Bush." (Well, they got that right... he is the anti-Bush... he associates with maniacal dictators and generic lunatics... in spite of his"democratic election" and his benevolent-sounding platform, he's still a socialist loonie opposed to capitalism and truly lifting people out of poverty.)

Citgo is a U.S. refining and marketing firm that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company. (Because Hugo, in his infinite "wisdom" took control of the company.) Money you pay to Citgo goes primarily to Venezuela -- not Saudi Arabia or the Middle East. (How about buying from an American company? Oh, wait... n'er mind...) There are 14,000 Citgo gas stations in the US. By buying your gasoline at Citgo, you are contributing to the billions of dollars that Venezuela's democratic government is using to provide health care, literacy and education, and subsidized food for the majority of Venezuelans. (Wow... I had NO idea that all of those socialist programs were supposed to be part of a democratic government... now I know why all the libs in the US think it's the federal government's responsibility to do all of that... they're all insane!)

Instead of using government to help the rich and the corporate, as Bush does (uh... how?), Chavez is using the resources and oil revenue of his government to help the poor in Venezuela (and padding his own pockets, no doubt). A country with so much oil wealth shouldn't have 60 percent of its people living in poverty, earning less than $2 per day. (And Saint Hugo is fixing that... how? He's holding his people in bondage, reveling in the power he has over them.) With a mass movement behind him, Chavez is confronting poverty in Venezuela. That's why large majorities have consistently backed him in democratic elections. (Is that the 99% majority that used to vote for Saddam Hussein?) And why the Bush administration supported an attempted military coup in 2002 that sought to overthrow Chavez (too bad it didn't work).

So this is the opposite of a boycott. Call it a BUYcott. (like I said... how cute! How creative! How... insipid... how fatuous)Spread the word.

Of course, if you can take mass transit or bike or walk to your job, you should do so. (Because you'll lose your environmental wienie card otherwise.) And we should all work for political changes that move our country toward a cleaner environment based on renewable energy. The BUYcott is for those of us who don't have a practical alternative to filling up our cars.

So get your gas at Citgo. And help fuel a democratic revolution in Venezuela. (uh... they're already a democracy, dingbats).

Geez... just... ignore these maroons and get your gas from a company that isn't owned by a country that wants to destroy the US (Chevron and Exxon-Mobile come to mind)...