THANK-YOU NOTE REMINDER – AT 7:57 A.M. ET:  Urgent Agenda readers tend to be civilized and well-mannered people, so you'll certainly want to take out the traditional stationery today and write a thank-you noteto Hugo Chavez, proprietor of Venezuela, for making our selection of an ambassador to his country so easy.  Rarely do we get this kind of help at no charge.  From The Politico:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, drawing more attention to his standoff with the White House over President Obama’s pick to be an ambassador to Caracas, is suggesting alternate candidates, including Sean Penn and Bill Clinton.

"I hope they name Oliver Stone. I'll suggest a candidate ... Sean Penn, or [Noam] Chomsky. We have a lot of friends there. Bill Clinton!" Chavez said in a televised speech on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

He also mentioned that when he met Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s inauguration ceremony over the weekend, he asked about her husband.

Chavez rejected Obama’s nomination of Larry Palmer to be the American envoy in Caracas after the nominee raised concerns about the low morale of the Venezuelan government.

COMMENT:  I don't know how Bill Clinton made the list, but I'm curious.  As for the others, it's a very solid list of qualified applicants.  Sean Penn, Oliver Stone and Noam Chomsky are crazed American leftists who would make America a better place just by leaving, or being sent abroad.

I'm surprised Chomsky didn't mention Danny Glover, one of his most enthusiastic Hollywood supporters.  And then there's Harry Belafonte, who sang those Caribbean songs and doesn't think much of the country that made him successful.  At least he'd know a bit of the culture.

We thank Chairman Hugo for his assistance. 

January 6, 2011