Going Tit-For-Tat With Hugo

We will be expelling Jeny Figueredo Frias, chief of staff to Venezuela's ambassador to the US, as soon as she can pack her bags. Says State spokesman Sean McCormack:

"We don't like to get into tit-for-tat games like this with the Venezuelan government, but they initiated this and the US chose to respond."

Jeny's "tat" (I carefully selected that word option) is in response to Chavez's "tit:" the expulsion of US Naval Attache in Venezuela John Correa.

It's ridiculous to call Correa a spy. My dad was the Assistant Naval Attache in Tokyo, and everyone knew that was the Naval Intelligence position, not the Naval Attache.

On a more interesting note, Correa was accused of passing along information he received from Venezuelan military officers, indicative of Chavez's unpopularity in his country. That's a good sign, for sure, given the deteriorating state of Venezuela. I'm all for Democracy and I hope the Venezuelan people are given the chance to solve this democratically.

We cannot, and under Bush will not, get back into the military coup buiness in South America, so this entire episode is probably foundation-laying by Chavez. He is well aware of the risk of a military coup, and it's just like him to establish some fake link between the US and his military, so he can blame it on us, should it occur.

Smart like a fox. A rabid werefox. (source)