Demon alert!

They just can't help themselves, can they?

This is the opening paragraph of a May 5 AP article:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has spent much of his career praising the socialist ideas of famed atheists such as Karl Marx and Fidel Castro. Now in the thick of a prolonged battle against cancer, however, the leftist leader is drawing inspiration more than ever from a spiritual leader: Jesus Christ.

Oh, chuckle-chuckle, the hypocrisy snicker-snicker.

But a question: When has Chavez said he is an atheist?

Go with the obvious answer: Never. He's a Catholic. The AP gets around to mentioning that in the 17th paragraph of the story, having first established the basis for doubting him on the matter by spending a fair amount of time going on about the political necessity in Venezuela of being Christian. Further, the acknowledgement that Chavez "describes himself" as a Catholic (what a wonderfully indefinite way of putting it) comes immediately before referring to what AP calls his "recent expressions" of faith and his "rocky relationship" with the church hierarchy in Venezuela.

Hugo Chavez was subjected to demonization well over a decade ago and once you are given that status, anything and everything you do is to be interpreted as proof of your demonic nature until it just becomes second nature, to the point where a Catholic praying to Jesus must carry suggestions of hypocrisy.

I meant it: They really can't help themselves.