© Creatista/Shutterstock
First, however, I want y'all to ponder this: have y'all noticed how very quiet the leftists in America - okay, the Democrat Party - have been about what is happening in Venezuela? You have a government gunning down and wantonly imprisoning, and torturing, its own citizens. You have a dictator storing up riches while the people of that country go hungry, are without running water, and have spotty electricity. To think, this was once one of the most prosperous nations in Latin America.
You have really bad actors like Turkey, Iran, and Cuba aligning themselves with the former bus driver, Nicolas Maduro. And even the progressive socialist left's proclaimed specter, Russia, and Vladmir Putin, sided with Maduro, and the left says nothing.
Comment: West paints with a broad MSM-infused brush here, completely missing the fact that Venezuela was doing very well, thank you, until it began to chart its own course away from the US hegemony. Then it became a target of the neocons just as Iraq, Libya and Syria were targeted. The countries he decries as 'supporting a 'dictator' are upholding the idea of national sovereignty and the right of a country to determine its own policies and social organization.
Oh, I am sorry. There is a freshman Democrat Congresswoman from Minnesota, Ilhan Omar, who has sad something. She stated, "A US backed coup in Venezuela is not a solution to the dire issues they face."
Really, sooo, we should just sit back and allow Maduro to murder and imprison his own people? Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat presidential candidate said, "The United States should stay out of Venezuela. Let the Venezuelan people determine their own future. We don't want other countries to choose our leaders - so we have to stop trying to choose theirs."
Comment: The pernicious "Responsibility to Protect" (RTP) doctrine rears its ugly head. Remember when NATO "protected" Yugoslavia right out of existence? Congresswoman Gabbard is absolutely correct.
Funny, I remember Barack Obama sending his cronies over to undermine Israeli PM Netanyahu's reelection...I guess lil' Tulsi doesn't recall that?
Comment: Perhaps it was her service in Iraq that opened her eyes.
See, the bottom line to all of this chicanery - okay foolishness - is that, as I said in a recent meme, "Tyrants of a feather, flock together."
Think about it: the socialist darling who never misses an opportunity to speak her mind on social media, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, ain't said a peep about the situation in Venezuela. So, what gives, you may ask? Well, you know the answer to that question: the party of the jackass, the one referring to itself as the Democrat Party, meaning the Mobocrat party, fully embrace the ideals of socialism. To the point that they will not condemn the brutality of a socialist dictator with ties to other dictators, and the number one state sponsor of Islamic terrorism.
The progressive, socialists who now control the Democrat party care little about individual freedom and liberty. Their actions in this case evidence such. What they want is ideological domination. Think about it, twenty years ago when Hugo Chavez rose to power and began yet another socialist experiment, the left in America celebrated him. Barack Obama chummed it up with him. Now, what do you hear from the left in America about the debacle that was once that beautiful country on the Caribbean Sea? Yes, chirping, and their silence, and the disturbing allegiance is quite telling.
Comment: Hugo Chavez was so beloved by his citizens they sent an attempted US-backed coup packing. The 'debacle' that is currently Venezuela is due to US strangling its economy through sanctions in tandem with the shady economic tactics of its right-wing oligarchs.
For the left, there is nothing more important than power, control, their agenda. And their recent actions here in America says so . . . it is all about instilling fear, coercion and intimidation tactics, threats, and if necessary, violence.
Comment: Confine that remark to the US Left, and it's a fair assessment.
As reported by Fox News:
"Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told CBS News' "60 Minutes" Sunday that he is "seriously thinking" of making a run for the White House in 2020 as a "centrist independent," decrying what he called "revenge politics" by both mainstream political parties.So much for liberal tolerance. It's their way and no other way. I think the Constitution of the United States clearly states the qualifications to run for President. The greatness of our America is that anyone who meets the criteria can do so. But, not for the left. They will see no one come before their quest for power, control.
"We're living at a most fragile time, not only the fact that this president is not qualified to be the president, but the fact that both parties are consistently not doing what's necessary on behalf of the American people," said Schultz, who specifically cited the spiraling national debt as "a reckless example, not only of Republicans, but of Democrats, as well, as a reckless failure of their constitutional responsibility."
"It feels good to be here," he wrote.
"My hope is to share my truth, listen to yours, build trust, and focus on things that can make us better." Schultz tweeted again after the interview aired, writing: "This moment is like no other. Our two parties are more divided than ever. Let's discuss how we can come together to create opportunities for more people."
The prospect of an independent run by Schultz, who described himself as a "lifelong Democrat" and has given approximately $150,000 to Democratic campaigns over the years, has caused consternation among the party's establishment who fear he might siphon votes from whoever the Democrats nominate to challenge President Trump.
"Howard Schultz running as an independent isn't about bringing people together," said Tina Podlodowski, the Democratic Party chair in Schultz's adopted home state of Washington, in a statement late Sunday. "It's about one person: Howard Schultz."
Neera Tanden, the president of the liberal Center for American Progress, tweeted Saturday that she would boycott Starbucks if Schultz threw his hat into the presidential ring.
"Vanity projects that help destroy democracy are disgusting," she wrote. " ... I'm not giving a penny that will end up in the election coffers of a guy who will help Trump win."
On "60 Minutes," Schultz deflected a question from interviewer Scott Pelley about the possibility of playing spoiler for a Democratic nominee.
"I wanna see the American people win," he said. "I wanna see America win. I don't care if you're a Democrat, Independent, Libertarian, Republican. Bring me your ideas. And I will be an independent person, who will embrace those ideas. Because I am not, in any way, in bed with a party."
And to think, progressive, socialists would use the threat, intimidation, of boycotting a private sector business to advance their ideological agenda.
Just as the left in America will turn their backs on the people of Venezuela in order to not undermine their own failed philosophy of governance.
It was a very interesting weekend to listen to the speech of California Senator Kamala Harris as she announced her intention to run for President. Blah, Blah, Blah, more far left socialist rhetoric. Folks, we have been there before with an empty suit freshman identity politics Democrat candidate for president. Yes, Kamala Harris is just Barack Obama with a skirt and lipstick. The failed message, talking points of collectivism are all the same. "For the People" is her campaign slogan, and like "Yes We Can," it is a farce.
Then, the next day, Howard Schultz spoke of mulling a presidential bid as an Independent. He is against the leftist "medicare for all" healthcare nightmare . . . and what happens? Here is the deal, the leftists in America know that what they embrace is a failure. They do not want any sort of challenge whatsoever. They think that if they can just focus on defeating Trump, they have a shot. They do not want the debate of ideas against two people, no way, they will not tolerate such. So, what has to happen to Howard Schultz? Yes, the politics of personal destruction.
No, I do not agree with President Trump's mindless tweet about Howard Schultz running for President. President Trump, sir, you have more than enough to concern yourself with there in the Oval Office. Stop punching down. As I stated, anyone meeting the constitutional criteria for the office of president has a right to run for president. Yes, I know, I am inviting the anger and angst of the Trump loyalists, but, I would ask, have y'all become so very intolerant as well? Only insecure, intolerant people respond as we have seen the leftists, and, to an extent, in this case, President Trump, in relation to an American considering running for the highest office in the land.
Regardless, my concern for America is that this rabid socialist movement is ripping our country apart. The fact that there are those in America who will not stand with the people of Venezuela is very disconcerting. Imagine if the French had not come to the aid of America in our struggle for independence. What if France had sided with another monarchy, that of King George III? Socialism, tyranny, sucks. No freedom-loving person should tolerate it. And therein lies the real truth: the progressive socialist left does not believe in individual freedom and liberty. They only tolerate collectivism and the subjugation of the individual to their ideological definition of equality.
Wake the heck up, America! This thing called socialism sucks, I will not tolerate it, and I stand with the people of Venezuela who wish to be free.
During his 22 year career in the United States Army, Lieutenant Colonel West served in several combat zones and received many honors including a Bronze Star, three Meritorious Service Medals, three Army Commendation Medals, one with Valor device, and a Valorous Unit Award.
In November of 2010, Allen was elected to the United States Congress, representing Florida's 22nd District.
He is a Fox News Contributor, Director of the Booker T. Washington Initiative at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Senior Fellow at the Media Research Center, contributing columnist for Townhall.com, and author of Guardian of the Republic: An American Ronin's Journey to Family, Faith and Freedom, and, Hold Texas, Hold the Nation: Victory or Death, published October 16, 2018, from Brown Books Publishing Group.
This is a zero-sum article.