Isn't it about time that journalists — not to mention politicians — stop calling Hugo Chavez names?

In the days leading up to the recent vote on sweeping constitutional amendments the Venezuelan president asked his country to approve, many U.S. news reports referred to Chavez as a dictator and an authoritarian leader.

Such language seems more a reflection of this nation's foreign policy than a rational analysis of Chavez's political temperament. Think about it. When was the last time a dictator lost an election he called?

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