Robertson: "I didn't say 'assassination.'"

Is it April First? Is this a joke?

CNN is reporting that Pat Robertson is denying having said that the United States should kill Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Conservative religious broadcaster Pat Robertson said Wednesday that his remarks about the removal of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were taken out of context and that he never called for the killing of the Latin American leader.

"I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out.' And 'take him out' can be a number of things, including kidnapping; there are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted by the AP [Associated Press], but that happens all the time," Robertson said on "The 700 Club" program.

Is the man insane? Does he not know that there is video? VIDEO!!

I mean, either he is crazy or every other human being who watched the VIDEO is crazy. What are the odds of one possibility over the other?

CNN dutifully quotes at length from the video (!!) of Robertson saying,

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a terrific danger and the United ... This is in our sphere of influence, so we can't let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have other doctrines that we have announced. And without question, this is a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us very badly. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

Clearly, this disease, I-didn't-say-what-I-said-itis, is spreading rapidly through the conservative community. Rush Limbaugh suffers from it also, as demonstrated by his denial of having said that Cindy Sheehan's "story isn't real." This after millions of people saw and heard him on video (!!!) saying it.

We cannot afford to let disease spread to the general population. The only responsible course of action is quarantine. Or, perhaps, exile.