Michael Kellner

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

Before the weekend ends and America moves on to the next headline, we need to pause and reflect on a story that matters more than almost any other: the collapse of Venezuela and the warning it holds if the last democratic superpower ever follows the same path.
This did not happen overnight. It unfolded step by step over one generation.
Venezuela: How a Prosperous Nation Collapsed
1992
Venezuela ranked among the richest countries in Latin America, powered by oil and a growing middle class.
1997
Venezuelans ranked among the top buyers of Ford F-150 trucks, a sign of widespread prosperity.
1998
Hugo Chávez was elected, promising to redistribute wealth and fix inequality.
2001
The country voted again in support of his socialist vision, framed as compassion and fairness.
2003
The government imposed price controls and currency controls. Black markets emerged and shortages began.
2004-2007
The government greatly expanded public healthcare programs and made higher education free. Massive welfare initiatives grew even as inflation began to rise sharply.
2008
Key industries, including oil services, steel, cement, and telecom, were nationalized. Production dropped almost immediately.
2012
A major law banned the commercial sale of firearms and ammunition to civilians.
2010-2011
The currency was devalued multiple times, crushing savings and accelerating inflation. Oil production entered a steady decline due to mismanagement and lack of investment.
2012
American politicians, including Bernie Sanders, publicly praised aspects of Venezuela’s model.
2013
Chávez died. Nicolás Maduro took power and tightened state control.
2014-2015
Opposition leaders faced arrests or silencing. GDP collapsed and hyperinflation took hold.
2016
Severe food and medical shortages spread nationwide.
2017
A constitutional crisis effectively suspended normal democratic processes. Elections lost meaning.
2018
Inflation exceeded one million percent. Maduro won a widely disputed election.
2019
Unarmed civilians were killed by government forces during protests.
2020
More than five million people had already fled the country, with the total eventually reaching nearly eight million, to escape hunger and repression.
2023
Minor economic improvements offered limited relief from mass poverty.
2024
Disputed elections triggered protests and deepened global isolation.
2026
Maduro was removed by force. Venezuela began a new chapter after decades of ruin.
The Hard Truth
It took roughly one generation of increasingly centralized socialist policies to turn one of the richest countries in Latin America into a nation defined by hunger, fear, mass emigration, and authoritarian rule.
History shows a clear lesson: nations can vote their way into this kind of system. But escaping it has often required collapse, violence, or outside intervention.
Americans should understand this clearly. If something similar ever happens in the United States, there will be no outside superpower to rescue us. No second chance will come easily.
Freedom is fragile. Prosperity is not guaranteed. And once lost, both are brutally hard to recover.
Venezuela’s people paid a terrible price. America cannot afford to learn this lesson the same way.

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

@catturd2 The goat?!? Interesting word choice. Symbolic use for this evil human. Demon symbolism. Accurate sonny boy. Like father like son I guess.

[End Wokeness @EndWokeness]

Years of drugs vs 1 year of college:

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

@cutiieepie6 Stay in your lane. Leave enforcement of the law, to law enforcement, period. Not your place.

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

@AVGirl4Life Transition from a lovely human to a nut job.

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

@Freedom2Fart Leftism, especially for the far left variety, has negative impacts on physical appearance and scrambles one’s brains too. It’s a terrible disease.

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

@catturd2 Ahh you can only see half of the story.

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

@otokyo Over an over

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

@LangmanVince It looks like the holder for a toilet plunger

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

@Brookltnwilliw Okay. Garage Sale Obama.

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

@IfindRetards You can’t. But talented folks that produce things can.

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

@MAGAVoice Go Spencer!!!

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

Hakeem Jeffries’ spin: Trump’s “reckless Republican war” drove gas from under $3 to $4.45.
Reality:
• Pre-conflict (early 2026): ~$2.80–$2.98/gal.
• Now: $4.10–$4.45+ (50%+ spike).
The U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran disrupted ~20% of global oil through the Strait of Hormuz, spiking crude over $100/barrel. That’s the main driver.
Context he skips:
Gas prices hit $5.00+/gal in 2022 under Biden after Russia’s Ukraine invasion, no new U.S. war. Presidents don’t control global oil shocks. This isn’t new; it’s partisan blame-shifting.
The rise is real and tied to the conflict, but framing it as one-sided “Trump’s choice” while ignoring history is classic spin. Prices should ease if the disruption ends.

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

Tarlov’s take is the usual defeatist cable spin. Trump’s threats and actions have already degraded Iran’s military and nuclear sites significantly since Feb 2026. Iran isn’t ‘undeterred’, they’re bleeding from sanctions, lost proxies, damaged infrastructure, and a naval showdown they can’t win long-term. Closing/blocking the Strait of Hormuz was their big card; it’s backfiring as the U.S. Navy escorts ships, downs their boats/drones, and pressures their economy. https://t.co/wvJQSUhgzF
Iran’s regime has always played chicken until it hurts. Maximum pressure (pre-2021) had them negotiating; weakness invited attacks. Shifting goals? That’s called adapting to reality, priority is reopening the Strait for global energy and preventing a nuclear breakout, not endless nation-building. Public support dips in every conflict when gas hits $4+ (Vietnam comparisons are hyperbolic media nonsense, polls show partisan splits, with strong GOP backing and overall recognition we’re winning the military side). https://t.co/WWHDzyuX8G
Trump’s approach: credible force + leverage, not endless talk. Iran’s behavior “unchanged”? They went from sponsoring chaos with impunity to desperate blockade attempts that are failing. Results over rhetoric.

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

Spirit was already circling the drain long before any recent fuel spike. https://t.co/K9geyyaiSa
They filed for bankruptcy twice since 2024, lost billions post-pandemic, shed planes and staff, and had razor-thin margins that couldn’t handle normal business cycles. The Biden DOJ (with Buttigieg’s DOT cheering it on) blocked their JetBlue merger in 2024 — a deal that could’ve combined routes, cut costs, and kept the ULCC model alive. Warren and others called it a “win for flyers.” Now those flyers have fewer cheap options and ~17k people are out of work. https://t.co/vL4D4MVckU
Fuel prices rose recently due to the Iran conflict (which isn’t “Trump’s war” — it’s a messy escalation with real supply impacts), and yeah, Spirit’s statement leaned on that as the immediate trigger after their latest restructuring plan assumed much lower costs. But healthy airlines aren’t dying from a short-term spike. Weak ones with chronic problems do. Other carriers are managing. https://t.co/AEPibD1rNd
Blaming one exogenous event while ignoring years of mismanagement, regulatory rejection of a lifeline merger, repeated bankruptcies, and failed bailouts is classic partisan cope. The company was failing under Biden-era policies that prioritized “protecting competition” over letting a distressed airline consolidate to survive. The Trump admin even tried a $500M bailout with equity strings attached — it didn’t close. https://t.co/plWRRn2GzI
Pointing at the headline while cherry-picking Spirit’s PR spin doesn���t rewrite the timeline. Low-cost flying just got harder for the exact customers these “consumer advocates” claimed to protect.

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

@lady_valor_07 Are you stupid?

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

@MS2PZ That’s a joke right?

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

@EYakoby Did she cut her hair with nail clippers? Wtf?!?

[Michael Kellner @Michael_Kellner]

@iluminatibot Trying to play god again. Okay. Let me know how that works out for you.