Bernie blows his big chance to explain socialism in Venezuela

. . . "Sanders argues that the real danger in Venezuela is U.S. intervention, not starving people .  If someone has to starve so the U.S. doesn't intervene, he's obviously all in, because Trump's brandished weapon, aid, can't be allowed in if a socialist government says "no.' "

Monica Showalter  "Bernie Sanders, 77, who's been defending socialist Venezuela for years, and who'd now like to be our president, has some explaining to do.

"An MSNBC interviewer, captured on video by The Right Scoop, gave him just that opportunity, as you can see from this screen shot here:

. . . "Blowing out the private sector through price controls and currency controls, all in the name of "fairness," is a pretty good way to leave just oil as the only money game in town as an unintended (or, given that these are socialists at war with the "greedy" private sector, intended) consequence of socialism writ large.

"Socialist central planning from the state, in that government-knows-best way of Bernie Sanders and all his socialist allies, is another way to Venezuelify a nation through socialism.  In 2003, Venezuela's strongman Hugo Chávez, following his Cowen-described creation of conditions for the destruction of the private sector through the expansion of government, nevertheless still had the state oil industry as his money source to ensure his permanent power, which he justified as "la revolución."  Instead of guarding the oil like Gollum's ring, which would have required free-market business practices, he fired all the oil experts and replaced them with politically connected cronies chosen for their socialism and then spent the oil company's earnings on welfare instead of operational investment, as a normal company would do.

"That's a really good way to run out of other people's money.

"Is Bernie Sanders saying he'd never dream of doing any such things in the name of "fairness" or "ending greed" or "the people"?

"Of course not.  That's why he can't answer the question.

"What's more, Sanders's last statements are a mishmash of true and false premises, which make the rest of his response inchoate." . . .