THIS CLARIFIES EVERYTHING - AT 10:53 P.M. ET:  In case you've wanted to know where President Obama really has been, we finally have the answer, and are rushing it to you:

CARACAS (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is "lost in the Andromeda" galaxy on Latin American policy, his chief critic in the region, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, said on Sunday, while demanding the closure of U.S. military bases.

And because of cutbacks at NASA, we just can't reach him.

Last week Obama said critics of U.S. involvement in Latin America who are now asking Washington to do more to restore the ousted president of Honduras "can't have it both ways."

"We are not asking you to intervene in Honduras, Obama. On the contrary, we are asking that "the empire" get its hands off Honduras and get its claws out of Latin America," Chavez said in a rambling weekly television and radio show.

COMMENT:  I was wondering what the American left will say now.  On the one hand, Danny Glover and a bunch of nitrogen-filled Hollywood types have been running down to Caracas to kiss Chavez's ring.  On the other hand, Chavez is now attacking The One, the Most High, The Health Giver. 

I suspect that every therapy center in Los Angeles will be jammed for days with patients trying to "work this out."  There will unquestionably be seminars on college campuses.  The New York Times editorial page will come to some kind of conclusion, probably calling for Chavez and Obama to meet at a White House picnic table.  Hey, Professor Gates came away happy, didn't he?

And yet, it's good to know that the president has been located in the Andromeda galaxy.  Now you know where to write.

August 16, 2009