Has Ken Livingstone been reading this blog, and will his heavies be coming after Aleksander Boyd?

The phrase 'to the right of Genghis Khan' pops up occasionally in political discourse in this part of the world - Bob Hawke, who was not exactly a raving commie himself, first brought it to the attention of headline writers when he used it on Robert 'Piggy' Muldoon back in the early '80s. Since then, the phrase has been regarded as a useful insult to hurl at politicians of the right.

I was unaware of anyone actually admitting to aspiring to the politics of Genghis Khan, though, until I stumbled upon the website of Aleksander Boyd, the very loud voice of the Venezuelan opposition-in-exile. As I pointed out to Guillermo Parra earlier this week, Boyd wants to eat his half-brother and lead a horde of nomads through Caracas on a mission of vengeance against commies and Chavistas. Boyd's cannibalistic impulses didn't stop him getting space in The Times and time on TV to condemn Hugo Chavez's recent visit to London. Now London mayor Ken Livingstone, who hosted a meeting and posh dinner for Chavez, has replied by quoting some of Boyd's writings and calling him 'a supporter of terrorism'. Boyd, who has a record of waging campaigns of harrassment against many of the Bolivarian revolution's prominent supporters in Britain and the US, has wasted no time in hitting the roof, claiming 'Red Ken' wants to deport him to fascist Venezuela. That'd be a difficult task, since Boyd's isn't wanted for any offence by the Venezuelan authorities. Isn't it terrible when you want a government to establish a police state and repress you and they just won't play along?

I expect the voice of Venezuelan democracy will be busy denouncing Livingstone for the next six months. A lot of people have questioned the value of blogging, but I think it's good for something if it keeps people like Boyd off the streets.