Silver-Tongued Devils?
Reading the reports of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez' comments on President Bush brought a couple thoughts to mind. First was that Chavez reminded me a lot of his hero and friend, Fidel, when he came to the UN back in the early 60s. There was a "road show" environment then. That's the way it seems today. He is looking for the PR and using Mr. Bush as a foil

Second, was his showmanship which looked nothing like statesmanship. His mock style of crossing himself and looking up to heaven as a source of protection from The Devil only made him look silly.

But third, was the lyrics to an old Kris Kristofferson classic, The Sliver Tongued Devil. Here are the words that came to mind:

Don't you know he's the devil
He's everything that I ain't
Hiding intentions of evil under the smile of a saint
All he's good for is getting in trouble
And shifting his share of the blame
And some people swear he's my double
And some even say were the same

Now I'm no fan of Mr. Bush. I think he has as much showmanship approach in him as Chavez. He's often over the top in how he portrays himself. But I wonder sometimes about the "silver-tongued devil" in all of us, including Messrs. Chavez and Bush and Ahmadenijad and Castro et al. I don't think any one of them is The Devil Incarnate. It would be hard to beat Hitler or Idi Amin or even Stalin for that honor.

But in all of us- and maybe in those with such power it may even be more so- there is probably hiding that silver-tongued devil who has nothing to lose as he tries to win the power, the prestige, the control of far more than he has the right to.