Socialism in Venezuela: No toilet paper, TV, or long distance call service

"So, here’s socialism for you–still making people’s lives miserable."

Hot Air  "In 2005, the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez moved quickly to remodel his nation by weaving “21^st Century Socialism” into its socioeconomic fabric. Chavez was known for being an unabashed leftist, who chided the Bush administration pervasively–remember when he said the podium at the United Nations smelled of sulfur? Then-President George W. Bush addressed the assembly a day prior to Chavez. Well, Chavez is now gone, succumbing to a heart attack while fighting cancer in 2013. So, how has 21^st century socialism treated Venezuela? It’s a total disaster. In January, The Washington Post reported that the country is on the verge of economic collapse. For starters, Chavez’s anti-poverty programs have sucked the nation dry, which is completely dependent on petro dollars to stay afloat:" . . .

Remember we will choose more than just a President this November;. . .

. . . We will be choosing a Commander-in-Chief.

Obama and his "legacy" snubbed by Saudi royal family.

Just bow low and apologize, then all will be well.

President Obama begins Saudi Arabia trip with snub by King Salman, as activists unearth more evidence of Saudi links to 9/11

. . . "The newly unearthed evidence, however, underscores renewed suspicions of Saudi involvement in the horrific terror attacks and growing criticism over Obama’s opposition to legislation that would give victims’ families the right to sue the Saudi government for any role it may have played in the terror attacks.

"That stance has long infuriated those families, who have also called on the commander-in-chief to declassify and release a 28-page portion of a congressional report on possible links between the Saudi government and the attack. The report was issued in 2002, but those pages were held back by the George W. Bush administration in the interest of national security."

NRO: Restore America’s Alliance with Saudi Arabia  "Foreign leaders believe President Obama is an arrogant and unreliable ally. Conversely, President Obama believes he’s on an inexorable path toward history-book glory. But one striking facet of the president’s foreign policy is the reciprocal disdain now defining America’s relationships in the Middle East. Consider Saudi Arabia. Visiting the Sunni kingdom yesterday, President Obama received the diplomatic equivalent of a one-fingered salute. Breaking with Arab custom, King Salman failed to greet the American president at Riyadh airport. It was a deliberate and significant insult. And while pathetic, the slight epitomizes the crisis in U.S.–Saudi relations.
. . . "Put simply, President Obama’s strategy toward Iran reflects an utter repudiation of realism. That infuriates the Saudis."

Obama’s Saudi Problem Stems from His Tilt toward Iran  . . . "His real Saudi problem is his unacknowledged alliance with Tehran to displace Saudi Arabia as the dominant power in the Middle East. It’s a policy he’s been pursuing since he took office, and it has led to his embarrassingly bad nuclear agreement with Iran. It’s also destabilizing the last stable regimes in the region and may force the Saudis, along with Egypt and possibly Jordan, to seek out nuclear weapons of their own now that they know the Obama administration has largely conceded the bomb to Tehran in the next decade."

For all this mess in the Middle East, let's give a shout-out to Obama's voters, many of whom many cannot find Iran on a globe if you showed them the right hemisphere. To those rock celebrities who had voter registration areas open as fans filed out of their concerts, TV shows that exalted the man as a majestic leader. In fact, to the entire media and their politically correct silliness: thank you for your contribution to this world. TD

NY Daily News had their perspective on the Saudis. I'm sure they meant it in a nice way:

GOP culture war breaks out over transgender bathrooms

"Trump escalates debate with his own shrug on an issue that has the GOP in fits."

Politico  "Donald Trump on Thursday freshly exposed the fissures dividing the Republican Party by responding to the transgender bathroom wars with a shrug – setting off a fierce response from Ted Cruz who accused the Republican front-runner of being no better than the “politically correct leftist elites.”

"The latest front in the culture wars is now a bathroom stall. The raging debate over whether transgender people should be forced to use bathrooms of their gender at birth is acutely playing out within the GOP, and it’s now become a central topic on the presidential campaign trail.

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"Social conservatives see big business — once a close ally — becoming a pawn of the left, joining forces to convince Republican governors that anti-LGBT bills will kill their economy. Some more moderate Republicans, on the other hand, once again see the party picking divisive fights that will hurt them at the ballot box." . . .

Enough with the Hillary cult: Her admirers ignore reality, dream of worshipping a queen

"Clinton voters overlook money lust, shadowy surrogates, sociopathic policy shifts, horrific overseas record. Why?"

By Camille Paglia at Salon

"As a lifelong Democrat who will be enthusiastically voting for Bernie Sanders in next week’s Pennsylvania primary, I have trouble understanding the fuzzy rosy filter through which Hillary fans see their champion. So much must be overlooked or discounted—from Hillary’s compulsive money-lust and her brazen indifference to normal rules to her conspiratorial use of shadowy surrogates and her sociopathic shape-shifting in policy positions for momentary expedience.

"Hillary’s breathtaking lack of concrete achievements or even minimal initiatives over her long public career doesn’t faze her admirers a whit. They have a religious conviction of her essential goodness and blame her blank track record on diabolical sexist obstructionists. When at last week’s debate Hillary crassly blamed President Obama for the disastrous Libyan incursion that she had pushed him into, her acolytes hardly noticed. They don’t give a damn about international affairs—all that matters is transgender bathrooms and instant access to abortion.

"I’m starting to wonder, given the increasing dysfunction of our democratic institutions, if the Hillary cult isn’t perhaps registering an atavistic longing for monarchy." . . .

Obama and racism

The Obama legacy on race  . . . "Has Obama’s presidency improved race relations, as we hoped and expected it would? Or have things actually gotten worse?" . . .

How the Obama-Sharpton Alliance Began   . . . The backdrop to the incipient Obama-Sharpton alliance was the then-senator’s 2008 presidential campaign, which still hadn’t locked away the black vote, and the political cross-currents created by two other controversial reverends, Jesse Jackson and Jeremiah Wright. That tentative relationship has now grown into a full-blown partnership that has vastly increased the once-shunned Sharpton’s influence and prestige and elevated him into a key White House ally at a time of heightened tension over policing and race." . . .

How campus speech codes silence the pro-Israel community along with all others.

Jerusalem Post  "College students today are facing the most serious threats to their civil liberties."

"The infamous Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns and “apartheid week” displays on college campuses are not the only threat to Jewish students. A much greater threat looms: the inability for students to publicly defend their beliefs. While universities claim to be havens of open debate and intellectual curiosity, they are in reality black holes of political correctness. On campus, only certain ideas are worthy of consideration and Zionism is definitely not one of them. This culture doesn’t just threaten members of the Jewish community, who are terrified to challenge those who accuse Israel of the most heinous crimes. Rather, it threatens all of us who value free speech and its ability to encourage criticism, debate, and original thought on college campuses.

"While speech codes are thought to be a thing of the 90s, the truth is that college students today are facing the most serious threats to their civil liberties. From “trigger warnings” to “free speech zones,” universities are slowly training students to become hypersensitive and incapable of deviating from ideologies that are in vogue. " . . .

This is a much-discussed topic, including here:

American colleges sweep 'Jefferson Muzzle Awards'  . . . "So the question we should be asking is, are these just islands of intolerance, or is the cancer spreading across the country?  I think we know the answer to that question.  Led by the rabid left and aided by the Democratic Party, there is a steepening price for conservatives to speak their mind anywhere.  And it's likely to get a lot worse before there's a chance for it to get better.

"When political opponents can be throttled by accusing them of using "hate speech," we approach the reality of a one-party dictatorship.  Criminalizing freedom of expression has already begun and, as Germany's descent into Nazism showed, it is not a huge leap from jailing people for expressing unpopular thoughts to jailing people for opposition to a leader. 

"The American people would barely look up from their smartphones to notice they've become slaves."

Sleeping Dogs Are Waking

Victor Davis Hanson

"The university will either change soon or simply implode; its present course is unsustainable and rests on the premise that schizophrenic deans and presidents can still manage to write and say things to student cry bullies that they hope their donors and alumni never read or hear.

"Colleges overcharge insolvent students through tuition increases far beyond the annual rate of inflation—the Ponzi scheme predicated on guaranteed federal loans that cannot be repaid by poorly educated graduates and drop-outs, many with little skills or demonstrable education. Obama has already promised relief to the disabled student debtor: expect that more amnesties will follow, probably predicated on the basis of race, class, and gender. In the meantime, the number of disabled indebted students will mysteriously soar.

"In response, the university freely imposes speech codes, allows racial segregation, and winks at censorship of texts. It has suspended due process in cases of allegations of sexual assault, and allows 1930s-like violence (reminiscent of the Brownshirts) to disrupt public lectures and assemblies—if the agendas of the protestors profess social awareness. Only the hard sciences and professional schools in engineering, mathematics, and medicine have for the moment partially escaped the ruin." . . .

New York Commemorates Patriots Day!

Amazon

Ann Coulter  "So that you won't be fooled by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow claiming Second Amendment supporters were celebrating the Oklahoma City bombing this week -- as she has on April 19 in years past -- Tuesday was the anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, a date all Americans used to know. 

"This year, New Yorkers celebrated by voting to keep the country that was christened in blood at Lexington and Concord. 

"Until Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, most Americans knew as little about Paul Revere's ride as Rachel Maddow does today. 
. . . 
"But today, most pundits would rather promote open borders and watch our country disappear than lose their TV gigs.

"Dr. Prescott's brother, Abel, was badly injured by the British at the Battle of Concord. He died from his wounds a few months later -- nearly a year before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

"But today, rich ranchers and farmers would rather see the country Abel died for overwhelmed with foreign cultures than give up their cheap foreign labor.

"So far, seven of the 13 Colonies have spoken: Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia -- and, on the anniversary of Lexington and Concord, New York. All seven held elections, not party-rigged conferences or caucuses. All of them have gone for Trump. It looks like the 13 Colonies are trying to save America, once again." 

On Sen. Ted Cruz

Sean Hannity to Ted Cruz: 'I'm getting sick of it'  "Sean Hannity sharply criticized Ted Cruz on Tuesday, when the radio and TV host tried to ask the Republican presidential hopeful about his campaign's delegate strategy and didn't like the answer he got in response."
Prediction: Ted Cruz Will Be President  

Just offering a counterpoint to the conventional wisdom you will read today.I believe Ted Cruz will be, not just the Republican nominee, but also our next President.I don’t believe Trump will get to 1237, his expected good performance last night notwithstanding. Cruz will do OK in Pennsylvania because many delegates are unbound. He’ll do OK in California. And he’ll win Indiana — a state that many observers watching the numbers believe is critical for Trump to clinch the nomination outright.Once Trump fails to clinch, it will be an ugly process, but Cruz will win out in the end. There is no white horse, with or without a horn on its head. There is just Ted Cruz, and he is the alternative the party will pick. I just don’t believe that the Sniveling Coward can win if he doesn’t take it on a first ballot.The party will unify. Yes, the Sniveling Coward’s Twitter army will stomp off in a rage. A small minority of non-Twitterers will follow suit. But most Republicans will go with the nominee.And the Cruz will beat Hillary.Cruz is a fantastic spokesman for his — for our! — ideas. Hillary is a terrible spokesman for hers. The Dems will have their own set of disappointed voters in the Bernie army, and their lack of loyalty will sap her support as surely as Trump’s will sap Cruz’s.In the end, Cruz will make a more convincing case.And he will win.So says Patterico, April 20, 2016. Write it down.

(He said this, not me,TD)
Why Cruz Is Going All-In on Indiana "Ted Cruz’s team knew that Donald Trump would run away with his native New York Tuesday. And they expect he’ll win the lion’s share of delegates at stake next week when a slate of northeastern states votes. So they’ve spent the last two weeks looking ahead, quietly laying the groundwork for a kitchen-sink campaign in a state they can’t afford to let Trump win: Indiana."

On Hillary

Relief for Clinton as she destroys Bernie Sanders with more than ten-point win after a tough battle in her adopted state of New York

. . . "A former senator from New York, Clinton was expected to win the state this evening. The margin of victory was significantly larger than anticipated though and Clinton was up 16 points on her Democratic rival when the evening concluded.

"Returns showed Clinton with 58 percent to Sanders' 42 percent when 100 percent of the vote was counted." . . .

New York primary a snoozer as conventional wisdom rules the day
. . . "As for Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders outspent her 2-1 in the state and he still got creamed 58-42%. Due to the quirky delegate allocation rules, Sanders still received 106 delegates compared to Clinton's 173. Since the Democrats have no winner take all primaries, Clinton should be able to slowly build her delegate count to the 2382 needed for secure the nomination. Currently, she stands at 1911, nearly 700 delegates better than Sanders." . . .


‘Godmother’ Hillary shows her mob boss side  "Look, she had it in the bag, guys, she had it in the bag. Before she declared her candidacy she made like Don Corleone of “The Godfather” and put all the politicians and party bigwigs in her pocket. She lined up the superdelegates. She scared Elizabeth Warren out of the race. She scared Joe Biden out of the race. The only one who dared face her was a septuagenarian leftie lunatic from Vermont."


Sheriff Clarke: Hillary’s ‘Hot Sauce’ Comment Dehumanizing, Embarrassing, Disgusting  “ 'You go to all the cities where there’s high poverty, there’s now high levels of crime and violence. They’re all run by liberal democrat mayors, liberal Democrat politicians so nothing seems to get better.” Clarke concluded."

Five Times Hillary Reminded Us of Selina Meyer on Veep

. . . "The grating laugh. The rehearsed smile. The patently forced attempts to reach “normal,” average-joe voters. HBO’s Veep, a comedy about an American vice president (and subsequently president), Selina Meyer, sometimes seems hilariously similar to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The show has remained silent on Selina’s political affiliation because her character’s guiding trait is not ideology, but naked political ambition. She bends and stretches like a yoga instructor to appeal to constituents."

On the Trumpster

Resign yourself to the depressing reality: It’s going to be Trump vs. Clinton

Tuesday: Liveblogging the New York Presidential Primary  "Trump's lead (756 delegates to Ted Cruz's 559 and John Kasich's 144) is substantial, but he still has a ways to go to reach the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination. If he falls short, Cruz may yet overtake him at a contested convention. RedState's Michael Harrington has estimated that the convention will be open, and that Cruz will dominate there. Betting markets still place Trump ahead, however."

PJ Media

Why Trump’s Abortion Statement Is Hardly the Worst Thing He’s Done  . . . "Donald J Trump has generated ample reasons — redundant ones — for rejecting him as GOP standard-bearer, not to mention POTUS. As a settled #NeverTrump voter, however, I’ll admit: when it comes to reasons I’ll never pull the lever for the reality-TV-star bloviator, his (briefly entertained) endorsement of slapping the wrist of someone who is complicit in the extermination of her unborn son or daughter would fall somewhere at the very bottom of an otherwise undisputedly fetid list." . . .
No, Republicans Don't Have to Hand the Nomination to Donald Trump  . . . "The fact of the matter is that a candidate needs 1237 delegates to win the nomination. When a candidate doesn't get 1237 delegates in the first round of voting, the delegates can go back to the drawing table, and choose another candidate if they so wish. If 1237 delegates decide to throw their support behind Ted Cruz in the second round of voting, that's not merely "legal," it's fair."

No, Mr. Trump, We Are Not 'Supposed to Be a Democracy
. . . "Now, there’s no evidence whatsoever that The Donald has ever read the Constitution or the founding principles of this country, let alone understands them, but the appeal of his argument to people like Bolling is a testament to the utter failure of the educational system to teach basic civics and history." . . .

Anti-Trump Forces Routed in New York   "Reports of Donald Trump’s demise have been overstated. After a disappointing few weeks, Trump came roaring back on Tuesday night with a huge victory in his home state of New York."