The regime change shuffle

While Secretary of State Condi Rice circles the globe trying to project an image of dignified diplomacy, her targets of persuasion are making the job kinda difficult. For example:

"Go right to hell, Mr. Blair," Chavez added, using local slang that is more vulgar, according to Reuters. Chavez said he will have to search for a nickname for the British leader just as he now calls President Bush "Mr. Danger," although during his speech Chavez said Blair was an ally of "Hitler Danger Bush Hitler."

Why would anyone listen to such childish rhetoric? Think Citgo. Meanwhile, around the other side of the world:

The leader of Hezbollah, heading a march by hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite Muslims on Thursday, said U.S. President George W. Bush and his secretary of state should "shut up"

Crazy talk, but are these leaders really crazy?

The loudest trash talkers, Iran and Venezuela, are acting because they can. The west is somewhat compromised--we've got our hands and budgets tied up handling Iraq and Afghanistan and we depend on foriegn oil. Both Chavez and Ahmadinejad (and his predecessor) were relatively quiet while we battled Saddam and the Taliban and pushed for democratic reforms across the world.

However, the recent ramp-up in ridiculous rhetoric should not be surprising. With our less than stellar results in Iraq and Afghanistan, the democracy train on a side track, and the world press daily helping to blur the distinction between good and evil, the time was right.

What's their end game? Considering that both Venezuela and Iran would dry up and blow away without their oil customers, it's hard to believe they want a real confrontation with the west. More likely they are reacting to the tea leaves. Presidential lifestyles are pretty cushy.

Their plan might work if the west, fearful of domestic political fallout or a disruption of the oil supply, blinks and backs off. So far both Bush and Blair have stood firm, but these axis of evildoers know we don't have the political capital to mount another pre-emptive attack at the moment. Regime change featuring a west run by Carter-esqe leftists would work well for these guys.