RUSH: When Hugo Chavez assumed power in Venezuela, American liberals could not wait to visit him and pay their respects.

Chavez seized private businesses, putting them under government control, and the left applauded. He stacked the High Court with loyalists, changed the constitution to maintain power indefinitely, and they applauded. When Chavez and Fidel Castro plotted to spread socialism throughout South America, they applauded.

When Chavez died, Oliver Stone, Michael Moore, and Danny Glover issued public statements hailing the dictator as a social justice champion. Sean Penn attended Chavez’s funeral, claiming America had lost “a friend it never knew it had.” Penn predicted that Chavez’s successor, Nicolas Maduro, would continue the revolution under his proven leadership.

And he was right. Maduro did continue what Chavez started. Today Venezuela is in shambles. People are literally starving. The oil-rich nation cannot afford to keep the lights on. Mass protests break out routinely and are routinely met with violence from the socialist government. Even though the people elected an opposition congress to usher in reforms the Chavez-stacked courts block them at every turn.

Well, things got worse this week. A pro-government mob broke into Venezuela’s congress armed with clubs. They beat opposition members bloody while government security stood by and watched. Real violence, not a media-hyped threat on Twitter.

The only question I have is, are American liberals still applauding?  Is that what they want to happen here? And I think it might be.