Isn't Pat Robertson a Christian darling?

Like, I know Hugo Chavez is no prize, but really, Pat. You're a freakin' wingnut, and you have a scary amount of power to wield moral authority over the brainwashed cattle you call constituents.

Televangelist Robertson calls for assassination of Venezuelan president
01:09 PM EDT Aug 23

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson has called on-air for American operatives to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, saying it would be "cheaper than starting a war . . . and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said Monday on the Christian Broadcast Network's The 700 Club.

"We don't need another $200-billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," he said of the democratically elected Chavez, who is a frequent critic of U.S. foreign policy.

"It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

Chavez has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President George W. Bush, accusing the United States of conspiring to topple his government and possibly backing plots to assassinate him. U.S. officials have called the accusations ridiculous.

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war . . . and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

Among other things, Robertson accused Chavez, a personal friend of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, of wanting Venezuela to become "a launching pad for communist infiltration" and "Muslim extremism."

Robertson, 75, founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a former presidential candidate, accused the United States of failing to act when Chavez was briefly overthrown in a failed right-wing coup in 2002.

A message to a Robertson spokeswoman seeking further comment was not immediately returned.

Venezuela is the one of the world's largest oil exporters and a major supplier to the United States. The CIA estimates that U.S. markets absorb almost 59 per cent of Venezuela's total exports.

Venezuela's government has demanded in the past that the United States crack down on Cuban and Venezuelan "terrorists" in Florida who they say are conspiring against Chavez.

Robertson has made controversial statements in the past. In October 2003, he suggested that the U.S. State Department be blown up with a nuclear device. He has also said that feminism encourages women to "kill their children, practise witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."