By Staff
We call Muslim extremists terrorists, so what about Christian extremist Pat Robertson, the TV evangelist who called Aug. 22 for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, the democratically elected president of Venezuela?
Venezuela, a petroleum-rich country that provides the United States with about 8 percent of its crude oil, was once a close ally, but the relationship soured after America seemed to support a bloody 2002 coup.
The socialist has since accused U.S. officials of plotting to kill him and opposes initiatives in the region.
Chavez has close ties to Cuban President Fidel Castro.
He opposes a hemisphere free trade accord the United States wants and has been buying weapons.
We would like to isolate him diplomatically and charge Chavez with trying to destabilize Bolivia and other Latin American countries.
But "our department doesn't do that kind of thing," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. "It's against the law. (Robertson's) a private citizen. Private citizens say all kinds of things all the time."
Robertson, 75, reacted predictably to a barrage of criticism by blaming the media for misinterpreting his remarks - until they were replayed. Aug. 24 he apologized. It was kind of reminiscent of his appearance after Sept. 11, 2001, where he seemed to agree with the Rev. Jerry Falwell that terrorist attacks were God's punishment for gays, lesbians, feminists and liberals.
When that blew up, Robertson maintained he did not fully grasp what Falwell said because the interview was conducted over a studio monitor.
As John Lennon observed in August 1966, "Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it ruins it for me."
Hunter S. Thompson: The gonzo journalist's ashes were blasted into the Colorado sky Aug. 20, six months after he killed himself at 67 at his home near Aspen.
His ashes, mixed with fireworks, were fired from a 153-foot tower for a star-studded crowd at his Owl Farm compound.
The 15-story tower was intentionally built just taller than the Statue of Liberty and erected in a field between Thompson's home and a tree-covered canyon wall. It was modeled after his logo, a clenched fist made symmetrical with two thumbs rising from the hilt of a dagger.
About 250 people were invited, including illustrator Ralph Steadman, actors Sean Penn and Johnny Depp, who portrayed him a 1990 movie and reportedly financed the $2 million memorial, and presidential candidates John Kerry and George McGovern.
Studs Terkel: The Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago writer, radio host and oral historian who visited Dowagiac Feb. 20, 2002, walked out of Rush University Medical Center Aug. 17.
Terkel, 93, underwent six hours of surgery Aug. 9 to replace a narrowed aortic valve and redo one of five coronary bypasses done nine years ago. Dr. Marshall Goldin, who operated on Terkel, said he is believed to be the oldest patient to undergo the complex procedure.
Quips, quotes and qulunkers: "The Bush administration is significantly lowering expectations of what can be achieved in Iraq, recognizing that the United States will have to settle for far less progress than originally envisioned … The United States no longer expects to see a model new democracy, a self-supporting oil industry or a society in which the majority of people are free from serious security or economic challenges."
Aug. 14
880: Number of violent deaths last month in Baghdad, a city of more than 5 million. The figure excludes those killed by car bombings and suicide attacks, which would add almost 100 to the total.
571: Number of homicides for all of 2004 in New York City, a city of more than 8 million.
Obit: Rock journalist Al Aronowitz, who introduced Bob Dylan to the Beatles in 1964 at New York's Hotel Delmonico, died of cancer Aug. 1 in New Jersey. He was 77. The Beatles first tried marijuana at the meeting.
20: Percent of his presidency George W. Bush has spent vacationing at his ranch.
21: Percent of Americans who consider themselves liberal, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.
Did you know?: Not only was Jack White of the White Stripes an altar boy (his parents worked for the Catholic Church in Detroit), but when he was 10 he was in a scene in the movie "The Rosary Murders" with Donald Sutherland and Charles Durning, which filmed at his church.