Who's hot? Who's not?

HOT: Hugo Chávez (Venezuela)

He's shut down a television station for opposing him, and Western leftists love it. Ruling by decree? No problemo with the Western left, either. Te amamos, Hugo!

Chávez is so hot right now, he's leaving scorch marks on the Chomsky worshiping, white, middle class, American ZNet fanboys that insist on riding his jock raw. Will 2007 be the year he slips and falls? Will the death of Fidel Castro slow him down? Will he finally stop putting berets on helpless parrots? Hard to say, but for now, the man is on a definite roll.


NOT HOT: General Pervez Musharraf (Pakistan)

Remember when Pakistan was the darling of the West in the heady
days of the start on the war on terror?

It's OK, because Pervez Musharraf is having a hard time remembering, too.

Increasingly embattled at home and distrusted abroad, 2002 must feel like a million years ago to Washington's favorite dictator. Though he has earned praise for making headway in the enervating Kashmir conflict, he appears to be on the losing end of a dangerous domestic power struggle with his own state security services. Derided as "Bush's poodle", he continues to live with the threat of assassination attempts, a persistent problem with poverty, and even natural disasters.

Will he be able to hold on in 2007, or will the ISI depose him? It's probably too soon to tell for sure, but right now, his stock has definitely taken a nosedive.