George Bush has a way of surprising dictators. He gets in their faces when they least expect it. He’s bold. He says what he means and means what he says. Nice to see a real man.

Today he symbolically snapped a great wet towel in the face of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.

Bush openly met with Venezuelan dissidents, like Babe Of Politics, Maria Corina Machado, giving the NGO leaders from Sumate the full White House tour and VIP treatment, making sure there were lots of cameras around to see the intention. Bush doesn’t do nuance. He likes people who like him back. Like Venezuela’s brave democrats.

This comes as Hugo Chavez is retreating from his bluff about cutting off relations with his U.S. over the Posada Carriles extradition demand and now declaring that he wants good relations with the U.S.

Bush has an answer for him. By meeting Marina Corina Machado, the Venezuelan dissident accused of treason for legally organizing the recall referendum on Chavez last year, Bush warned Chavez that DEEDS, NOT WORDS are the criteria for better relations with the U.S. If he wants good relations with Bush and the states, if his ministers want their Miami shopping trip visas, they damn well better not be abusing dissidents. That’s the word. That’s the laid down law. And Bush means it.

Chavez can put that in his Cuban cigar and smoke it.

See the front page photos of Bush and the Babe here and here. Check out the comments from the Venezuelan ‘street’ while you’re at it on that latter item. And Daniel’s got a deliciously rousing analysis of the whole thing here.

It’s called revolution.