We’re just a few days past Venezuela’s historic vote to keep Hugo Chavez from becoming the country’s president for life, with sweeping powers to take on autocratic rule on his whim. How is Chavez taking the first democratic defeat of his career? Not so well. The Reuters story begins with a justified language advisory, to which I’ll add a patented Hot Air content advisory.

(Note language in paragraphs 1-3, 11)

And then proceeds from there.

President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday called the Venezuelan opposition’s unprecedented victory in the weekend’s referendum “shit,” signaling the firebrand former soldier was back on the offensive after initially humbly accepting his loss.

The self-styled socialist revolutionary was angry at a local newspaper report saying he had conceded victory in the narrow vote on expanding his powers only after the military pressured him. He called the report “shit,” too.

“It’s calm, so keep it calm,” Chavez said at a news conference in a message to the opposition. “I wish you knew how to manage your victory. But you are already covering it with shit. It’s a shit victory and it’s yours.”

And there’s more where that came from.

The president lost despite activating an oil-financed, state-backed get-out-the-vote machine.

Chavez is popular for a folksy style and often uses spicy language, particularly against the opposition and Washington.

He labels his rivals “lackeys of the empire” and U.S. President George W. Bush the “devil” and a “donkey.” He once called Bush an “asshole.”

You stay classy, Hugo.

Here’s video of his speech. Caracas Chronicles wonders whether Hugo was drunk.

This afternoon, Chávez turned up unannounced at the Military High Command’s press conference and totally freaked out. Less than 72 hours after his “graceful” election night concession speech, the all too predictable Narcissistic Rage response began. He called the opposition’s referendum win “a triumph made of shit,” using the word “mierda” four times in two sentences on national TV. I mean, you know things have come to a head when Reuter’s has to put the journalistic equivalent of a parental advisory at the start of its write up.

And I know everybody says Chávez doesn’t drink but…well, you be the judge:

Dark cloud behind all this silver:

He said winning without a clear margin would have been a “Pyrrhic victory” because he would have relied on too little support to implement the reform. He pledged to try again.