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It's No Joke:Venezuela Cracks Down On Comedians (A funny thing happened on the way to Utopia.)
NPR ^ | 05/05/2015 | JOHN OTIS

Posted on 05/05/2015 3:25:18 PM PDT by Kid Shelleen

Laureano Márquez was performing a benefit at his old high school in the Venezuelan city of Maracay. The comedian dwelled on the absurdities of life in this oil-rich nation, where gas is cheaper than water but it's hard to find milk, toilet paper and many other everyday goods.

In the supermarket, Màrquez said, desperate customers will steal scarce items right out of your shopping cart.

"In Venezuela, you get robbed of stuff that isn't even yours yet," he said to a round of laughs.

Turning serious, Marquez tells the crowd that the socialist revolution, launched 16 years ago by the late Hugo Chavez, is collapsing under the weight of bad policies and corrupt public officials

(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: venezuela
Another failed socialist experiment but the US continues down the road to serfdom.
1 posted on 05/05/2015 3:25:18 PM PDT by Kid Shelleen
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To: Kid Shelleen

Hey. Joke about Obama in America and you get savaged by the media and pubic officials alike. What’s the difference?


2 posted on 05/05/2015 3:28:59 PM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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To: Kid Shelleen

Now jokes are in short supply in venezuela like everything else there.

Why did the chicken cross the road?
To get on the line for toilet paper.


3 posted on 05/05/2015 3:30:24 PM PDT by lowbridge
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To: Kid Shelleen

Yakov Smirnov did much damage to the Soviets’ facade. Looks like the current Venezuelan regime learned at least one lesson from history.


4 posted on 05/05/2015 3:33:19 PM PDT by lurk
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To: Kid Shelleen

Monty Python knew all along.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ9myHhpS9s


5 posted on 05/05/2015 3:34:34 PM PDT by demshateGod (The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.)
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To: Kid Shelleen
"They say: 'No! If you have jokes about the revolution, you can't present,' " said Goncalves. "They think that because we did jokes about Chavez or Maduro we are going to bring down the government."

Mockery could just do that. It's one reason why radical "organizer" Saul Alinsky put it in his "Rules for Radicals":

" RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.

6 posted on 05/05/2015 3:35:12 PM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come for you.)
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To: Kid Shelleen

What would Bill Maher or Kathy Griffin do down there?


7 posted on 05/05/2015 3:39:40 PM PDT by OttawaFreeper ("Keeping your stick down used to be a commandment, but not anymore" Harry Sinden, 1988)
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To: Kid Shelleen
the socialist revolution...is collapsing under the weight of bad policies and corrupt public officials."

An all too familiar meme.

8 posted on 05/05/2015 3:39:48 PM PDT by Canedawg (In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.- George Orwell)
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To: Kid Shelleen

To celebrate the crack-down on those wishing to alleviate suffering through independent humor, Venezuelans will enjoy another year of starvation, unemployment, and appropriate government-approved patriotic comedy.


9 posted on 05/05/2015 3:40:42 PM PDT by golux
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To: Kid Shelleen

Well, that explains the lack of funny comedians in this country...


10 posted on 05/05/2015 3:42:56 PM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus-)
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To: Kid Shelleen

Only 16 years to societal ruin?


11 posted on 05/05/2015 3:43:23 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: golux

Soon a “Man on a White Horse” will seize power and get things going again. It will not be democracy but it will get things done—some are not ready for democracy. I sometimes wonder if the uSA is ready for it.


12 posted on 05/05/2015 3:57:07 PM PDT by Forward the Light Brigade (Into the Jaws of H*ll Onward! Ride to the sound of the guns!)
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To: Kid Shelleen
Sh*t Ain't Funny! ...that's why.


13 posted on 05/05/2015 3:57:13 PM PDT by TexasCajun
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To: Kid Shelleen

“...is collapsing under the weight of bad policies and corrupt public officials...”

No, it’s collapsing because it’s a system that can’t possibly work.


14 posted on 05/05/2015 4:17:24 PM PDT by Twotone (Truth is hate to those who hate truth.)
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To: Kid Shelleen

There aint much to laugh about.


15 posted on 05/05/2015 4:32:40 PM PDT by Blogatron (Allah = Satan)
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To: OttawaFreeper

Theyd both leave as fast as they possibly coild.


16 posted on 05/05/2015 5:55:31 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Kid Shelleen
Can't tell jokes, can't get toilet paper, can't complain about or else...

Have they resorted to forcing Venezuelans at gun point, and under threat of jail, to attend mandatory parades and speeches of "Dear Leader" to show the world how happy they are living in their Socialist paradise ?

17 posted on 05/05/2015 6:07:15 PM PDT by Pajamajan ( Pray for our nation. Thank the Lord for everything you have. Don't wait. Do it today.)
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To: Kid Shelleen

Obama has already complained that the media has reported facts on Baltimore. He has already complained about Fox News publicly - lamenting the fact that he has to deal with real news reporting and not just propaganda.


18 posted on 05/05/2015 7:13:40 PM PDT by Bon mots
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To: Blogatron

No but it’s certainly understood among comedians that your career will be in jeopardy if you dare make fun of “The One”.


19 posted on 05/05/2015 7:17:33 PM PDT by dfwgator
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