Samuel McNew

[Mike Netter @nettermike]

Before the weekend ends and America moves on to the next headline, we need to pause and look at a story that matters more than almost any other—the collapse of Venezuela, and what it warns us about if the last democratic superpower ever falls the same way.

This didn’t happen overnight. It happened step by step, over one generation.

VENEZUELA: HOW A PROSPEROUS NATION COLLAPSED

1992
Venezuela is the 3rd richest country in the Western Hemisphere, powered by oil and a growing middle class.

1997
Venezuelans become the 2nd largest buyers of Ford F-150s—a sign of widespread prosperity.

1998
Hugo Chávez is elected, promising to “redistribute wealth” and fix inequality.

2001
The country votes again for socialism, framed as compassion and fairness.

2003
The government imposes price controls and currency controls.
Black markets appear. Shortages begin.

2004
Private healthcare is fully socialized.

2006
Inflation rises sharply as massive welfare programs expand without real economic backing.

2007
All higher education becomes “free.”

2008
Key industries—oil services, steel, cement, telecom—are nationalized.
Production drops almost immediately.

2009
Private gun ownership is banned.

2010
The currency is devalued by 50%, crushing savings and accelerating inflation.

2011
Oil production begins a steady decline due to mismanagement and lack of investment.

2012
American politicians, like Bernie Sanders, publicly praise Venezuela’s model.

2013
Chávez dies. Nicolás Maduro takes power and tightens state control.

2014
Opposition leaders are arrested or silenced.

2015
GDP collapses. Hyperinflation begins.

2016
Severe food and medical shortages spread nationwide.

2017
The constitution is suspended. Elections are no longer meaningful.

2018
Inflation exceeds 1,000,000%. Maduro “wins” a widely fraudulent election.

2019
Unarmed civilians are killed by their own government.

2020
More than 8 million people flee the country to escape hunger and repression.

2023
Minor economic improvements fail to relieve mass poverty.

2024
Disputed elections trigger protests and global isolation.

2026
Maduro is removed by force. Venezuela is liberated after decades of ruin.

THE HARD TRUTH

It took one generation of “progressive” leadership to turn one of the richest countries on Earth into a nation defined by hunger, fear, mass graves, and mass migration.

This is the lesson history keeps teaching:

You can vote your way into socialism.
But history shows people only escape it through collapse, violence, or foreign intervention.

And here is the part Americans must understand clearly:

If this happens in the United States, there will be nobody coming to save us.

No outside superpower.
No rescue force.
No second chance.

Freedom is fragile. Prosperity is not guaranteed.
And once lost, they are brutally hard to recover.

Venezuela’s people paid the price.
America cannot afford to learn this lesson the same way.

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@TRobinsonNewEra The elections aren't legitimate American Citizens are not voting for this. Just look at L.A. it's all fraud.

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@nicksortor Of course these Democrats are trying to ruin the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. He is their antithesis and they are the ones who assassinated him after all.

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@YourFavWV

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@atensnut If this was actually Waste Management HQ it would be awesome!

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@elonmusk Time to start arresting these Council Members

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@SteveHiltonx Please

[Ollie Mathews @OllieMathews14]

@RepLuna @Keir_Starmer Weak men create hard times. The current times of the UK:

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@mcucolo57 Yes

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@RightScopee Women can lay wreaths of flowers, but It's the men who have to do the fighting.

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@SebGorka Hopefully he'll stop lending them legitimacy by appearing on their shows. None of his supporters watch these networks. Just leftists and sad old brainwashed people.

[Toni @ToniLL22]

Counting ballots?! Does that sounds familiar to you? 🔥👇🔥

This political cartoon nails the absurdity of California’s extended ballot counting process.

Elections are supposed to produce confidence. California’s system too often produces confusion.

The joke works because it captures what millions of voters already think when they watch California results trickle out long after Election Day. At some point, the public stops seeing a careful process and starts seeing a political guessing game.

That is the problem.

California officials will tell you the long count is about processing mail ballots, verifying signatures, curing problems, auditing totals, and making sure every legal vote is counted.

Fine. Every legal vote should be counted.

But trust is not built by stretching results out for days and weeks while leads change, margins move, and voters are told to sit down, be quiet, and accept that this is normal.

Most Americans understand that close races take time. They understand that accuracy matters.

What they do not understand is why one of the biggest and richest states in the country so often looks like it is counting ballots with a calendar instead of a clock.

That is where the cartoon lands.

The image is not just about one politician. It is about a system that has made itself easy to mock.

When people are left watching new vote drops appear long after the polls close, the natural question is not partisan. It is basic common sense.

Why does this take so long?

Why does it always seem to move in one direction?

Why should voters trust a process that feels hidden from the people it is supposed to serve?

California’s leaders can complain about election skepticism all they want, but they should start by looking in the mirror.

A transparent, fast, understandable count builds confidence. A slow, confusing, extended count destroys it.

The bottom line is simple.

If a state wants voters to trust the results, it should not run elections in a way that makes distrust feel rational.

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@TheLeoTerrell 20 yrs seem more appropriate. Maybe these judges are making so much money that 5.6million doesn't seem like alot to them.

[Carl DeMaio @carldemaio]

WE NOW HAVE PROOF!  CA Democrats don't want lower gas prices for you. They know if we start importing gasoline from other states, it will be $1.50 CHEAPER!
But AB 2672 requires a massive tax to be added, so you don't get the savings at the pump - the politicians do!  Watch me expose the scam:

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@SteveHiltonx Chevron is about to get a boost in sales.

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@IranIntl_En I suppose everyone who is voting yes will be placed on a kill list.

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@CarlHigbie Says the man wearing the dress with a bonnet.

[Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh]

🚨 THIS IS 100% THE TRUTH

Florida CFO: "The easiest way to get rid of sanctuary policies?! Maybe we should start charging the POLITICIANS with crimes that vote for the sanctuary policies, and make THEM ACCESSORIES to whatever crimes are committed by illegal immigrants in those jurisdictions!"

"Because to me, they are absolutely COMPLICIT in the crime, because it never should have happened in the first place, but FOR those sanctuary policies, but FOR some politician voting, thinking that that's OK!" — @GovGoneWild

Americans are done with sanctuary traitors! 🇺🇸

Make it happen!

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@MOSSADil Hopefully they can drive them into Syria.

[Samuel McNew @TheRealSamuelDM]

@Smirkley This is another example of why everyone who is not a Democrat believes Democrats are completely insane.