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« on: January 24, 2019, 11:43:32 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 1-24-2019
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest
Jan. 24, 2019 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/60756-mid-day-digest
THE FOUNDATION
“Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.” —Thomas Jefferson (1801)
https://patriotpost.us/fqd/60754-founders-quote-daily
IN TODAY’S EDITION
Venezuela’s power struggle is the consequence of the horrors of socialism.1
What’s the play behind Trump’s concession on the SOTU?2
Daily Features: On the Web3, Columnists4, Headlines5, Memes6, Cartoons7, Opinion in Brief8, and Short Cuts9.
IN BRIEF
Venezuela Tries to Shed Socialist Dictator10
Thomas Gallatin
Venezuelans have finally had enough of the failed promises of socialism. Once again that siren of the Left has proven only to rob people of Liberty, replacing it with the misery of poverty, high crime, and starvation at the hands of an elitist, authoritarian despot. On Wednesday, the anniversary of the ousting of military dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez in 1958, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Juan Guaido, took the presidential oath before a massive crowd filling the streets of Caracas. Guaido now stands in direction opposition to Nicolas Maduro and his authoritarian grip on power.
This action was a long time coming, as we have long noted11 the inevitable collapse of Venezuela after Hugo Chavez aggressively implemented a socialist takeover of what was at the time South America’s wealthiest country. And since Chavez’s death it has only gotten worse. As Daniel DePetris of the Washington Examiner observes12, “Venezuela under Maduro’s leadership has fallen apart at the seams. Inflation surpassed 1 million percent at the end of last year (not a typo!), a figure that makes former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe look like an economic genius. Most of Venezuela’s population is in poverty, roaming the streets for dumpsters in the hope that food may be mixed in with the rubbish. The situation has gotten so bleak that 3 million Venezuelans have fled to Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador — better to start over in a new country than stay in Venezuela and starve to death. Medicine is in extremely short supply, the murder rate was the highest in the world in 2017, and many of the crimes that have been committed are the direct result of the Latin American country’s sorry excuse for an economy.”
President Donald Trump was quick to announce his support for Guaido, stating, “The citizens of Venezuela have suffered for too long at the hands of the illegitimate Maduro regime. Today, I have officially recognized the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela.” The U.S. joins at least 13 other nations, most of which are in South America, in recognizing Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
Obviously, dictator Maduro sees things differently, and he responded to Trump’s announcement by cutting diplomatic ties with the U.S. and ordering our diplomats to leave the country within 72 hours. This sets up an interesting showdown, since the U.S. no longer recognizes Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate president. Sen. Marco Rubio was quick to raise the issue, declaring, “U.S. diplomats in [Venezuela] should present their credentials to President [Guaido]. Maduro has no authority to expel anyone. And trust me on this one, if Maduro is stupid enough to test [Trump] by harming any U.S. diplomat, the consequences would be swift & severe.”
Trump’s action puts pressure on Maduro. However, Maduro still has the support of his military, as every dictator does. He installed loyalists to control the military while at the same time revoking citizens’ right to bear arms so that he has control of all the guns. How long will Guaido be able to stay out of Maduro’s prisons? Is Venezuela headed toward civil war? Time will soon tell, but for the sake of Venezuelans we hope for a peaceful transition of power.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/60753-venezuela-tries-to-shed-socialist-dictator
Pelosi’s SOTU Shutdown13
Nate Jackson
“Trump caves.” “Pelosi wins.” Those are the types of headlines circulating today after President Donald Trump announced Wednesday night, “As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative — I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over. I am not looking for an alternative venue for the SOTU Address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber. I look forward to giving a ‘great’ State of the Union Address in the near future!”
This back14 and forth15 has now continued for more than a week as the two continue to tussle over the 34-day-old partial government shutdown16, now the longest in history. (Meanwhile, 800,000 government workers will almost certainly miss another paycheck Friday.) Trump sent Pelosi a letter17 announcing his intent to accept her original invitation to give the SOTU on Jan. 29. She responded with a letter18 denying the president access to the House chamber.
Trump’s concession was, for him, remarkably magnanimous. He entertained suggestions to give the speech from the Oval Office, the Senate chamber, the border, or some other venue — any of which arguably would have elevated the address by setting it apart from the increasingly pompous spectacle it has become. What better way to “drain the Swamp” than to blow up an unnecessary and vacuous tradition? It would seem, however, that Trump the Showman determined that conceding this battle may help him win the war.
Yet how that victory will come is not at all evident. Democrats are reportedly ready to reopen the government and give Trump $5.7 billion for border security with one huge caveat: The money isn’t for a wall. Given that Democrats have already rejected19 Trump’s concessions on Dreamers, it’s clear they’re negotiating in bad faith. Perhaps Trump is calculating that the more disruption is caused by the shutdown — like no SOTU — the more likely Democrats are to eventually cave. But Pelosi has called the border wall “immoral” and we’re inclined to think she’d rather not sit behind Trump sucking her teeth in defeat while he exults in his triumph at the podium. So where this goes from here is anyone’s guess.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/60752-pelosis-sotu-shutdown |
