Am I an apologist for thinking there must be some reason he seems to enjoy substantial support at home?
Yes, because merely having a support base doesn't mean you're not a dictator. Hitler, Mussolini, Nasser (or Egypt), and the Ayatollah Khomeini (to name a few obvious examples) had mass public support -- at least for a while.
H'm -- you can add Bush to the list, can't you? We all know BUSH IS AN EVIL DICTATOR despite winning two elections and having many BRAINWASHED AND STUPID supporters. At least Chavez supporters like to claim this.
Funny how it's the man-of-the-people Chavez who puts reporters he doesn't like in jail and closes all opposition papers, not Bush. But that's just me. I'm sure if I were only a little smarter, like progressives are, it would all make perfect sense to me.
