What is it that some Democrats and left-wingers like about Hugo Chavez? He’s the head honcho in Venezuela, who just won his recent election handily.

Is it his menacing strongman style? The stupid names he calls our president? Is it his love of Fidel Castro? Or maybe the way he shouts, “Long live the socialist revolution”?

Is it that he wants to consolidate all the political parties supporting him into one? Or that he uses the power of the government he controls to crush any challenger to his power?

Or perhaps it is the totality of his reign, that he controls all the seats in the nation’s assembly and the judicial branch as well?

Do you like that he’s now talking about overturning the constitutional term limit on the president so he can rule longer . . . indefinitely?

Surely, it’s not the rampant corruption plaguing Venezuela? Though, that is the very hallmark of communist and socialist societies.

A new study by Gustavo Coronel for the Cato Institute, says, “Corruption now permeates all levels of Venezuelan society. Bureaucrats now rarely follow existing bidding regulations, and ordinary citizens must pay bribes to accomplish bureaucratic transactions and have to suffer rampant neglect of basic government services.”

So much for helping the poor.

Chavez is dangerous. With his hands on Venezuela’s tremendous oil wealth and prices high, he is no run-of-the-mill thug. He’s a thug with money.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.