Try as he did, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez still hasn’t made America’s coveted ‘Axis Of Evil’ list of nations. But it’s not all a vale of tears for him, he did get Venezuela promoted to ‘Rogue State,’ right up there alongside Syria, quietly raising the likelihood of military conflict with the U.S. No fireworks, no glory, no presidential speeches denouncing him as ‘evil.’ But it is certainly an accomplishment, a badge of honor, a gang tattoo, in Chavez’s circle of friends.

Chavez will have quite a bit to talk about at the next UN cocktail party before this new status plays out to its ultimate end, when he is fished out from his spider hole and taken to his upper bunk above General Noriega in the not too distant future. After all, there are contingency plans in place now, and don’t think that bunk provisions aren’t part of it. But understand, this is what Hugo Chavez wants. The story is here.