Blackouts are the people's fault

Hugo Chavez, that bastion of perplexing annoyance to the U.S., has laid another whopper on his populace. Despite being energy-rich, Venezuela has been suffering from frequent blackouts.

Given Chavez's ludicrous and bombastic style, it is no surprise that instead of being accountable for these problems as the head of a government which has been completely incompetent managing the country's infrastructure, Mr. Chavez is blaming the power failures on his population's over-consumption.

Indeed, he is mocking them and challenging them to take shorter showers, calling them obese and telling them to buy generators if they don't like the situation as it stands. Please.