Sad to see what this once great country has become.

Today has been a day of sober reckoning in Caracas, as Venezuelans process the death of the recall process and its implications. It’s easy to overdramatize these things, I realize, but it’s also important not to lose the forest for the trees: a relatively large, relatively sophisticated major oil producer just three hours’ flying time from the United States has just become the second all-out, no-more-elections dictatorship in the Western Hemisphere.

It is a heady lesson for Americans as we choose between two of the most autocratic, unscrupulous people ever to run for president. Our liberties are granted by God, but they are preserved by people. The decline to totalitarianism can happen quickly, and often comes n the guise of a helping hand.