The Dictators at the UN

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez were at the UN recently. Both were full of great gusto and rhetoric. Black is white, up is down, free markets are bad, socialism is the answer, the Holocaust never happened, Bush is the devil, blah, blah, blah. Yet both got a friendly response from many of the delegates in attendance. And why wouldn't they? Their message appeals to many in the world, including many in the West.

Mark Steyn summed up the event quite well in this recent piece.

I couldn't stop thinking that we're seeing a repeat of history from 70 years ago. Since so few seem interested in learning about history, I fear we're doomed to repeat it. Different actors, different countries, but exactly the same result. Actually, it'll be worse because they didn't have nuclear weapons in 1936.