Venezuela Reaches the Final Stage of Socialism: No Toilet Paper

Rich Terrell

CATO Institute  "In 1990 I went to a Cato Institute conference in what was then still the Soviet Union. We were told to bring our own toilet paper, which was in fact useful advice. Now, after only 16 years of Chavista rule, Venezuela has demonstrated that "Socialism of the 21st Century" is pretty much like socialism in the 20th century. Fusion reports:" . . .

Crime and Scams in Venezuela: What You Need To Know  "IMPORTANT: Venezuela is currently considered a "Do Not Travel" destination by several government travel advisories. For more information, check out our Venezuela travel alerts page.
"How dangerous is Venezuela for travelers? Find out about kidnappings, carjacking, hotel and airport safety." . . .

Lawmaker Dares Bernie Sanders to Visit Socialist Venezuela With No Bodyguards
"A Venezuelan assemblyman, currently in exile from socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro’s regime, has issued a challenge to presidential candidate and democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — daring the senator to take a week strolling through the streets of Venezuela without bodyguards and report back what he sees."
. . . 
"Ballasy went on to tell Guerra that activist Jesse Jackson has actually come to the defense of Maduro, and added that both Jackson and Sanders appear reluctant to speak publicly about what is going on in the socialist country." . . .

"If only the right people had tried it".  Does anybody really think our Democrats are the "right people", considering their "social justice" and political correctness requirements? TD

UPDATE: Case in point, Elizabeth Warren...

WSJ Columnist: This Is When The Deep State Felt They Got The Green Light To Defy Trump

Matt Vespa at Townhall  "The moment acting Attorney General Sally Yates decided to defy President Trump concerning his executive order on immigration that the media erroneously dubbed the Muslim ban, you saw the vestiges of what we now call the Deep State. It’s the cadre of government workers who are working against the Trump administration in the shadows. They hate the president and will do anything to push back at all costs. It also doesn’t help that there were oodles of Obama holdovers when Trump was inaugurated in 2017."
"Anyway, the point is that there is ample evidence that there is a deep state working against the Trump White House. Its members are not really known to the public, and The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel details how this anti-democratic club is a cancer to the country in her new book “Resistance at All Costs: How Trump Haters are Breaking America.”

"Strassel notes that former CIA Director John Brennan and fired FBI Director James Comey are some of the folks used as examples of deep state antics. Their conduct was less than honorable; Comey’s was worthy of termination, which Trump promptly did in May 2017. The Department of Justice’s inspector general report makes that quite clear. Yet, she notes these are political appointments that are subject to scrutiny and can be removed." . . . 

"Anyway, the point is that there is ample evidence that there is a deep state working against the Trump White House. Its members are not really known to the public, and The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel details how this anti-democratic club is a cancer to the country in her new book “Resistance at All Costs: How Trump Haters are Breaking America.”

"Strassel notes that former CIA Director John Brennan and fired FBI Director James Comey are some of the folks used as examples of deep state antics. Their conduct was less than honorable; Comey’s was worthy of termination, which Trump promptly did in May 2017. The Department of Justice’s inspector general report makes that quite clear. Yet, she notes these are political appointments that are subject to scrutiny and can be removed. 

Who Is, and Is Not, On the [Democrat] Demand Justice #SCOTUS (Not-So) Shortlist?

Volokh Conspiracy

Omitting all "partners at corporate law firms" excludes most judges from Hillary Clinton's hypothetical shortlist

"Demand Justice has released a "shortlist of possible [Supreme Court[] nominees in the next Democratic administration." The group selected 32 "brilliant lawyers who have spent their careers fighting for progressive values and represent the diversity of our nation."

"Who was selected? The nominees generally fall into 5 broad categories:"

• Academics: Michelle Alexander (Union Theological Seminary),  James Forman, Jr. (Yale), Pamela Karlan (Stanford), M. Elizabeth Magill (Virginia), Melissa Murray (NYU), Bryan Stevenson (NYU), Zephyr Teachout (Fordham), Timothy Wu (Columbia),
• Progressive Litigators: Brigitte Amiri (ACLU), Nicole Berner (GC SEIU), Deepak Gupta (Gupta Wessler), Dale Ho (ACLU), Sherrilyn Ifill (NAACP LDF), Shannon Minter (National Center for Lesbian Rights), Nina Perales (MALDEF), Thomas A. Saenz (MALDEF), Cecillia Wang (ACLU),
• Current/Former Government Officers: Xavier Becerra (California AG), Sharon Block (one of the three NLRB appointments at issue in Noel Canning), Vanita Gupta (Former Obama DOJ), Lawrence Krasner (Philadelphia DA), Catharine Lhamon* (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights), Katie Porter (House of Representatives), Jenny Yang (Former EEOC Chair)
• Federal Judges: Richard F. Boulware (D. Nev.), Jane Kelly (8th Circuit), Cornelia Pillard (D.C. Circuit), Carlton Reeves (S.D. Miss.)
• State Judges: Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar (California Supreme Court), Anita Earls (North Carolina Supreme Court), Leondra Kruger (California Supreme Court), Goodwin Liu (California Supreme Court),

"Who didn't make the cut? We can speculate." . . .

*Catherine Lhamon Chair, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Legal Affairs Secretary, Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom

JOSH BLACKMAN is a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and the President of the Harlan Institute. Follow him @JoshMBlackman.

Trump Brings Witnesses, Calls On Them To Prove Pelosi LIED About WH Meeting

Donald Trump had Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kellyanne Conway, Larry Kudlow and Mercedes Schlapp — all present at yesterday’s meeting — give their accounts of the event.

Conservative Flash  "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed that President Donald Trump lost his mind and slammed his fist on the table during an infrastructure meeting at the White House on Wednesday.
"However, Trump not only set the record straight himself, he brought several witnesses with him to tell the media what really happened in the closed-door meeting.
"During an event on Thursday morning from the Oval Office, the president was announcing a $16 billion aid package for farmers.
"But when the topic changed to the meeting, Trump called on several of his top aides who were present at the meeting — White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway, Communications Director Mercedes Schlapp, Chief Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow, and Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
"Trump called upon his aides to back him up by sharing their own recollections of what occurred and whether Pelosi was spreading fake news.
"“Very calm. No tamper tantrum,” Conway said of Trump’s demeanor during the meeting.
"Conway then mocked the “facts-first” media for the blatant “lie” they helped perpetuate that the president had raged at the Democrat leaders.
"Trump then turned to Schlapp and asked for her take on the meeting.
" 'You were very calm and you were very direct,” Schlapp said, noting that it was “discouraging” to see Pelosi make incendiary comments right before the meeting.
"Trump then turned to Kudlow and asked a similar question." . . .

Stilton's Place  (parody, or maybe plain sarcasm) "Just to make sure no one forgets their enthusiasm for fascism, House democrats like John Garamendi and Rashida Tlaib are now actively planning the logistics of grabbing "uncooperative" members of the Trump administration and throwing them into the House jail if they don't help with the ongoing coup attempt.

No More Pretense: Journalists, Dems Use Identical Talking Points on Impeachment

Newsbusters  "Television journalists these days sound so similar to Democrats on impeachment that it's nearly impossible to tell them apart. Weeks before the impeachment inquiry was even announced, talking heads were passing off Democratic talking points as objective information about the President's alleged wrongdoing.

"What follows is a compilation video of some of the liberal media's greatest minds spouting DNC talking points. These journalists have not had their words taken out of context while attempting to summarize the Democrats’ position. Whether or not they they were intentionally regurgitating the words of Democrats, they did so without attributing their words to anyone. Watch below:

. . . 

" 'Journalists' also dutifully repeated Democrats’ allegations of a “coverup” by the Trump administration. For example, on October 4, CNN’s gray eminence Carl Bernstein assured the viewers of New Day: “Let’s be clear here; we are watching a cover-up. We are watching a cover-up by the President of the United States.”

"Later that evening, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow sounded alarmingly similar to Adam Schiff when she theorized that “the investigation into the cover-up” might “end up being a whole, separate article of impeachment in terms of obstruction of justice.” That latter charge — obstruction of justice — also received considerable mileage on CNN and MSNBC.

"On the October 6 edition of New Day, CNN analyst April Ryan rattled off all of the above charges with the confidence of a Democratic operative: “[This] is obstruction of justice; it’s bribery; demeaning the oath of office; demeaning the office.' ”

'suggests"?

CNN Production Supervisor Wishing For Trump’s Death, ‘Hopefully He Dies Soon’

CNN boss Zucker should be beaming with pride. Watch CNN for coverage on this...any minute now.

Rich Terrell

A New Insight Into Media Bias  . . . "See how this works? It's the same with "climate change," abortion and many other issues. Anyone who goes against the faith of the secular-progressive culture is simply ignored, or ridiculed. In totalitarian societies it's called propaganda." . . .

Project Veritas  Scott Garber, Senior Field Engineer at CNN: “We used to cover news. We used to go out and do stories…But Trump is more important.”
"Adia Jacobs, CNN Technical Operations Supervisor: “When Zucker took over it wasn’t until Trump that we ended up being all Trump all the time.' "

O’Keefe Strikes Again! Undercover Video Shows CNN Production Supervisor Wishing For Trump’s Death, ‘Hopefully He Dies Soon’ 

Project Veritas
 . . . "Project Veritas unveiled Part 3 of its #ExposeCNN series on Thursday.

"CNN conceded on video they are “left leaning” but don’t want to openly admit it.

"O’Keefe also caught CNN Field Production Supervisor Gerald Sisnette wishing for President Trump’s death.

“ 'This is a story that’s not gonna go away,” Mr. Sisnette said.

“ 'Oh the Ukraine thing? Or just Trump in general?” the CNN whistleblower asked.

“ 'Trump in general. The only way this will go away is when he [Trump] dies. Hopefully soon,” Gerald Sisnette said. . . "

Project Veritas Scoop: Of Course We’re Leftists, CNN Manager Says  . . . "Will Zucker suffer any consequences for this? I’d doubt it, unless it starts impacting the ratings. Credibility’s great, but advertisers pay for eyeballs on TV and websites."

James O'Keefe‏ 

BREAKING: “When I got this job thirteen years ago, @CNN was nothing like this...They sold themselves to the devil. It’s, it’s sad.” - Floor Manager at CNN Mike Brevna #ExposeCNN

Project Veritas Scoop: Of Course We’re Leftists, CNN Manager Says  . . . "Will Zucker suffer any consequences for this? I’d doubt it, unless it starts impacting the ratings. Credibility’s great, but advertisers pay for eyeballs on TV and websites."

Pelosi and Schumer bolt from Syria meeting with Trump after ‘meltdown’

NY Post  "Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer stormed out of a White House sitdown on Syria with President Trump after he called Pelosi “ a third-rate politician” and a Communist sympathizer in what the House speaker termed “a meltdown.”
“ 'He was insulting, particularly to the speaker. She kept her cool completely. But he called her a third rate politician. He said that there are communists involved and you guys might like that,” Schumer said.
“ 'This was not a dialogue. It was sort of a diatribe, a nasty diatribe not focused on the facts, particularly the fact of how to curtail ISIS, a terrorist organization that aims to hurt the United States,” he said.
"Pelosi said Trump was shaken by an earlier House vote condemning his decision to pull troops from northern Syria."
. . . 
"House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy blamed Pelosi, as did the White House.
“ 'To storm out of a meeting, which I’ve watched time before, during other crisis, is really not — the ability of a speaker, or the style of how a Speaker should carry herself,” McCarthy told reporters.
“ 'The president was measured, factual and decisive, while Speaker Pelosi’s decision to walk out was baffling, but not surprising. While Democratic leadership chose to storm out … everyone else in the meeting chose to stay in the room,” spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham told PBS.
"Along with Trump and Esper, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin attended the meeting.
"Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Jack Reed, (D-RI), were also there, among other senators. A bi-partisan group of House members also attended."

Elijah Cummings, esteemed longtime Baltimore congressman, has died at 68

Cummings in 1973

CBS News  "Representative Elijah Cummings, of Baltimore, died early Thursday at the age of 68, his office said. Cummings passed away at Johns Hopkins Hospital at 2:45 a.m. from "complications concerning longstanding health challenges," his office said.

"He hadn't returned to work after having a medical procedure that he said would only keep him away for about a week, The Baltimore Sun noted.

"Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, the chairwoman of the Maryland Democratic Party and Cummings' wife, said in a statement that Cummings was "an honorable man who proudly served his district and the nation with dignity, integrity, compassion and humility." . . .

Elijah Cummings through the years

Photo: Elijah Cummings attacked in the Selma, Alabama civil rights march.

Who is U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings?  "Cummings was born in 1951 and raised in Baltimore, where he still resides today, according to his congressional biography.
"He is one of seven children to parents Robert Cummings Sr. and Ruth Elma Cummings, née Cochran, both of whom worked as sharecroppers in South Carolina on land where their family’s ancestors were enslaved. The couple moved to Baltimore in the late 1940s. 
"As a child, Cummings struggled in elementary school and was assigned to special education courses. However, after showing promise in high school at City College, he won Phi Beta Kappa honors at Howard University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. He graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law and passed the state bar in 1976.
"According to his congressional biography, the congressman is an active member of New Psalmist Baptist Church and is married to Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, who was elected chair of the Maryland Democratic Party in December." . . .

Cummings at his older brother's graduation

UK Daily Mail: A sharecropper's son, Cummings was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1982 and rose through the ranks before winning a US congressional seat in 1996.

From 2015: Congressman John Lewis was one of the many civil rights leaders who marched in Selma, Alabama 50 years ago today, and throughout the day, he has tweeted a dramatic recounting of the March and the horror of Bloody Sunday.
Not America's finest moment.

Elijah Cummings marching with the group.

Somehow our institutions are so much better than we have been; America had the image of Abraham Lincoln superseded by that of these angry police and the images of Dr. Martin Luther King and Elijah Cummings by Al Sharpton and Maxine Waters.  TD

Please, Please More Democratic Debates!

Vice President Joe Biden bragged that he was “the only one on this stage who has taken on the NRA and beat them, and beat them twice. We were able to get assault weapons off the streets ...” Yes, and in direct response to that assault weapons ban opposed by the NRA, Republicans swept Congress in the very next election, winning control of the House for the first time in nearly half a century. 

Ann Coulter  "With all the rancor in politics these days, the CNN/New York Times Democratic debate on Tuesday night delivered a rare moment of comity: Twelve Democrats agreed, apparently without compensation, to appear in a Donald Trump ad. Other points on which the Democrats came together in peace and harmony:

-- Trump should be impeached.
-- Abortion is great.
 -- Obamacare sucks.

" At least we’re all finally agreed on Obamacare!

"Obamacare has given us a system -- to quote Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont -- “which is dysfunctional, which is cruel, 87 million uninsured, 30,000 people dying every single year, 500,000 people going bankrupt for one reason, they came down with cancer.”

"None of the Democrats disagreed with Sanders’ description of health care in American today, although they have slightly different solutions.

"I don’t mean to be rude, but I thought Obamacare was supposed to fix health care.

"Millions of us were thrown off our health insurance plans by Obamacare, and now I find out that it didn’t even make things better for anyone else. The government intervenes, everything goes to hell, then Democrats cite the hell they created to demand another massive government intervention.

"The motto of all socialist schemes should be: “This time, it will be different.”  . . .

Why would anyone choose to watch CNN?

CNN Pretty Much Just Confirmed Project Veritas's Whistleblower Is Telling The Truth
. . . "One of Poarch's clips show that Zucker wants CNN to focus on impeachment all the time. He has a personal vendetta against Trump, and wants impeachment to take over the

Zucker

news cycle. He would never say this in public, but on weekly morning phone calls he makes sure that this is what his network is focusing on: . . ."

Oh, So That's Why CNN Doesn't Cover Shootings In Places Like Chicago  . . . And on top of that, cities are run by Democrats, this makes Democrats look bad, and therefore CNN would probably deep-six it. And yet, even with the spikes in violence in cities like Chicago, which has improved in their crime statistics for this year, violent crime across the country remains low, we’re safer than we’ve ever been, and schools are safer than they were during Columbine. We’re not a shooting gallery, but the insane amount of coverage CNN and other networks dole out for mass shooters makes you think we’re like the Bakara Market in Mogadishu. We’re not. But damn the facts if it means putting Trump, the GOP, and the NRA on their heels, or so that goes the logic."

Tulsi Gabbard Calls Out CNN For ‘Completely Despicable’ Lies During CNN-Hosted Debate  "Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard was not given much time to speak during the fourth Democratic presidential debate on Tuesday night but in her limited limelight she was able to expose South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s naivety on the ongoing military engagements the United States has in the Middle East . . .She also took time in her answer to call out CNN, the host of the debate, for “completely despicable” news and conspiracies they have peddled about her regarding her belief the U.S. should not be endlessly fighting. . . .
. . . 
"Gabbard pointed to specific examples—one of which occurred the Tuesday morning before the debate—of CNN referring to her as an “asset” or “puppet” helping Russia.
"BizPac Review reports Gabbard claimed CNN “smeared veterans like myself for calling for an end to this regime-change war,” as she has called for pulling the United States out of Syria and other countries in the Middle East.”This morning, a CNN commentator said on national television that I’m an asset of Russia,” Gabbard said. “Completely despicable.” . . .

This just in from Project Veritas:
CNN Media Coordinator states ‘Jeff Zucker goes into the control room while Jake Tapper is interviewing Kellyanne Conway’; tells Executive Producer to skip commercials, extend 7 minute interview to 25 minutes to “just f**king nail her”  . . . 
"Zucker personally ordered CNN host Jake Tapper to press Kellyanne Conway in a live TV interview.  Jake Tapper corroborated this information HERE."
"Is Zucker scripting TV interviews instead of allowing CNN hosts to  use their own judgement?
"This is the problem with today’s media. They are not interested in the facts.  Instead, it’s all about an agenda.
"Another video exposing CNN’s bias is coming out soon."

You Can't Spell 'Lieu' Without 'Lie'

Frontpage

A look at the disreputable political career of Congressman Ted Lieu.

"Rep. Ted Lieu contends that the recent “whistleblower” allegations against Donald Trump give evidence of impeachable “misconduct” by the President in his now-famous July 25th telephone conversation with the President of Ukraine: “Soliciting Ukraine to get dirt on Trump's political opponent [Joe Biden]: HIGH CRIME,” Lieu tweeted in promoting an allegation which has been utterly discredited by the now-public transcript of the phone conversation in question." . . .

. . . "Another conservative whom Lieu recently smeared was Candace Owens, a conservative black activist who has worked diligently to persuade African Americans to walk away from the Democratic Party. At an April 2019 House Judiciary Committee hearing on hate crimes and white nationalism, Lieu played a 30-second audio clip of comments that Owens had made about Adolf Hitler and nationalism four months earlier. In a truly obscene and deliberate misrepresentation of Owens's words, Lieu falsely characterized her remarks as an attempt “to legitimize Adolf Hitler” and then gave Owens no opportunity to respond to his charges. When a Republican congressman subsequently offered Owens a chance to reply to Lieu, she delivered one of the most devastating public humiliations ever inflicted on an American politician." . . . 

"Ted Lieu's current allegations regarding the “whistleblower” claims against Donald Trump are no more legitimate – and no more honest – than was his pathetic attempt to portray Candace Owens as a Nazi sympathizer. Lieu is an embarrassment to the United States Congress."

Democrat Ted Lieu Trashes Mike Pence’s Christian Faith; ‘It’s Just Hate’

. . . "Then the Daily Caller reported on it, stating:
“ 'In response to Lieu’s original tweet, a Twitter user referenced three of the apostle Paul’s epistles that reinforced the disapproval of homosexual behavior. Lieu dismissed these New Testament teachings as “not by Christ.”
"Immanuel Christian School’s parent agreement states that families must “acknowledge the importance of a family culture based on biblical principles and embrace biblical family values such as a healthy marriage between one man and one woman.”
"When it comes to leftists forcing their agenda upon everyone, they call anyone who disagrees an intolerant bigot. When it comes to Christians believing in their religion, without pushing it upon others, they are attacked by leftists who don’t see they’re living in a wicked double standard. In this case, the leftists are the intolerant bigots who refuse to accept the religion of others, just like many people refuse to accept that a six foot man in a dress is a woman." . . .

"The Democratic Debates: A Televised Waste of Time"

A PBS host was interviewing the Chairwoman of the American Communist Party about why the Communists weren’t fielding a candidate in 2016. Shocking, only to the unenlightened, the Chairwoman replied candidly: “Because the Communist Party believes our goals are well represented in the Democrat Party platform this year.”  

People's Pundit  "There are many reasons why not to waste your time watching the Democratic debates, only a few of which I’ll enumerate here. Paramount among the reasons is that debates are irrelevant anachronisms.

"As a winning political campaign consultant, I’ve even advised my candidates to skip attending debates altogether, knowing there would be no consequence as long as the campaign was attending to the work that really matters.

"Those candidates all won, by the way.

"Alarmingly-precise voter data-targeting, the ability to instantaneously place political “info-bytes” into people’s hands digitally, and countless modern voter-contact techniques have rendered televised debates “a thing of the past” for impacting election outcomes.     

"In truth, debates haven’t been pivotal to campaign outcomes for decades.  Today, debates “ratify” existing viewpoints, they don’t change them.  Fact:  If a particular candidate is deemed to have “won” a debate, it results in a very small polling “bump.” which dissipates a few days later.

"In short, they have no impact.

"So, why do TV networks still host them? And why do candidates still attend them?

"Answer: The TV cable channels want sound-bites for their news shows, and hoped-for ratings to help sell advertising. The candidates believe they can increase their name identification, with the hope it translates into better fundraising opportunities, or a Cabinet appointment. 

"But edifying voters is not a real goal of the debate process or of the candidates." . . .

Cartoons from The Week added by TD