Goodbye, Venezuela

I guess we really shouldn't be surprised, as the United States rushes headlong to embrace the fetid corpse of statist socialism: Venezuelan voters have given Chavez approval to run for re-election. For ever. So as our own economy shrinks, at least we'll always be able to say "well, we're not Venezuela." At least until oil prices rebound. At least Venezuelan socialist allow their country to exploit their oil.

Che

An interesting video on the popular appeal of Che and other commies... at least among Norte Americanos....

41 Years Ago Today

The Bolivians "Did the Work American weren't willing to do".

Che was executed, then this picture was taken:

The Rosenbergs, A follow-up

I posted about the Rosenbergs and their co-conspirator earlier. Via Power Line, a recommendation for a piece by Ronald Radosh called Case closed: The Rosenbergs were Soviet spies.

As a learned history professor, Radosh did a far better job then my wretched piece. A sample:

With these latest events, the end has arrived for the legions of the American left wing that have argued relentlessly for more than half a century that the Rosenbergs were victims, framed by a hostile, fear-mongering U.S. government. Since the couple's trial, the left has portrayed them as martyrs for civil liberties, righteous dissenters whose chief crime was to express their constitutionally protected political beliefs.

As they say, RTWT.

Confession of a co-conspirator

The Rosenbergs' rear their head... from beyond the grave. From the New York Times

Figure in Rosenberg Case Admits to Soviet Spying

In 1951, Morton Sobell was tried and convicted with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg on espionage charges. He served more than 18 years in Alcatraz and other federal prisons, traveled to Cuba and Vietnam after his release in 1969 and became an advocate for progressive causes.

Through it all, he maintained his innocence.

But on Thursday, Mr. Sobell, 91, dramatically reversed himself, shedding new light on a case that still fans smoldering political passions. In an interview, he admitted for the first time that he had been a Soviet spy.

And he implicated his fellow defendant Julius Rosenberg, in a conspiracy that delivered to the Soviets classified military and industrial information and what the American government described as the secret to the atomic bomb.

Of course, The Rosenberg's son get quoted:

The Rosenbergs’ younger son, Robert Meeropol, described Mr. Sobell’s confession Thursday as “powerful,” but said he wanted to hear it firsthand. “I’ve always said that was a possibility,” Mr. Meeropol said, referring to the question of his father’s guilt. “This is certainly evidence that would corroborate that possibility as a reality.”

And to this day this commie tool says what he did wasn't so bad. Surprisingly, the NYT puts the lie to his statement:

In the interview, Mr. Sobell drew a distinction between atomic espionage and the details of radar and artillery devices that he said he stole for the Russians. “What I did was simply defensive, an aircraft gun,” he said. “This was defensive. You cannot plead that what you did was only defensive stuff, but there’s a big difference between giving that and stuff that could be used to attack our country.”

(One device mentioned specifically by Mr. Sobell, however, the SCR 584 radar, is believed by military experts to have been used against American aircraft in Korea and Vietnam.)

(Emphasis mine)

We've known for sure about the Rosenbergs since the VENONA intercepts were made public. Little known fact: Julius Rosenberg's cover name was changed from ANTENNA to LIBERAL. I kid thee not.

As we learn more about the Rosenbergs, the "controversy" takes on a new narrative: Julius was the spy, but only a low level spy... And the atomic bomb secrets he communicated to the Soviet Union were nearly useless. But Ethel was railroaded by aggressive prosecutors. VENONA makes clear that Ethel was an active partner, helping with recruiting other American Communists to spy for the Soviet Union. It does not matter how or even IF the secrets passed by the Rosenbergs helped the Soviets... it's the fact that they passed secrets of any kind.


The Rosenberg's son gets the last word... and he uses it to say its not the last word:

Robert Meeropol, the Rosenbergs’ son, said that even if he were to accept Mr. Sobell’s verdict, “It’s not the end of what happened to my mother and it’s not the end of understanding what happened to due process.”

I'm going to type this slowly so he can understand this: Your daddy was a commie spy, your momma was a commie spy; they were executed for their crimes. It is sad to me that you grew up without your biological parents, but that was due to their decisions.

But there's probably no point in asking Mr. Meeropol to move on... He is firmly ensconced in the far left. I stumbled upon this reference to him ... on a poetry website:

In August 1995, Mumia came within ten days of being executed by lethal injection. He is seeking a new trial. Robert Meeropol, the younger son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, says: "Mumia is the first political prisoner in the U.S. to face execution since my parents."

And, surprise, both Robert and his older brother Michael are part of a 501(c)(3) organization - the Rosenberg Fund for Children, Inc. So if you are a political prisoner, your kids can get a Wii, or something.

The coming gas crisis... In Venezuela?

The ass-clown commie is striking again - Huggie Bear Chavez is nationalizing fuel distribution... So in Caracas you'll spend a mere twelve cents a gallon for gas, if you can find it:

The law gives distributors 60 days to negotiate the sale of their businesses to the government or face expropriation. It also forces distributors to sell storage tanks and gasoline pumps to Petróleos de Venezuela and to relinquish their brand names.

Congressman Luis Tascón, a former Chávez ally, said the pending legislation could cause shortages at gas stations because the government is not prepared to take full control over distribution.

The Chávez government has never raised gasoline prices and Chávez has ruled out any increase in the fixed pump price of around 12 U.S. cents per gallon, the cheapest in the world. Wholesale fuel distribution in Venezuela generally offers limited profitability because of the combination of fixed prices and high inflation.

"I'm warning the population that if this law is approved, we are going to see shortages in the short term," said Tascón, one of a handful of lawmakers who voted against the bill.

RTWT

Because you can't build Commie stuff...

without cement...:

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Mexico urged Venezuela to negotiate with its cement producer Cemex SAB on Tuesday after the Venezuelan government seized control of its cement plants saying no deal could be reached on the terms of a nationalization ordered by President Hugo Chavez.

Mexico's Foreign Ministry said its ambassador to Caracas delivered the message to Chavez's government after Venezuelan officials backed by National Guard troops took control of Cemex plants across the country late Monday.

Ambassador Mario Chacon urged the Venezuelan government to continue negotiations with Cemex under "the principles of dialogue, nondiscriminatory treatment ... and in agreement with the applicable legal standards," the Mexican Foreign Ministry said.

Hugo says: "We've nationalized the cement industries," Chavez said. "It was time."

I guess that means former Soviet Union architects are on their way.


As the proprietor at Little Green Footballs says, "Imagine my surprise".

Chi-Coms stop interview with Governor.. of Guam??

F'ing Commies:

An Australian reporter with ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp.) attempted to interview the Governor of Guam. And the commies stop her.

Not the Governor of Cheng-whatever, or some other polluted Chinese city. The Governor of GUAM - you know, "Where America's Day Begins".

Hear the Aussie reporter here relay the story. (Windows Media Player)

Hat Tip: Theo Spark