Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez isn't particularly fond with the idea of freedom of expression. Well, big surprise there. Most despots aren't. The more someone wants to control the people, the more they want the free flow of information slowed down or stopped. When tyrants seize control the first place their henchmen go is to the newspapers and broadcast stations.

It's no secret that the left in this country wants to shut down the free flow of information ... and that goes triple for the free flow of information from the hated conservative talk radio hosts. The left's hatred of talk radio is intense .. so intense it almost has a physical presence. The left's hatred of talk radio is rooted in (a) their utter and miserable failure to succeed in the genre; (b) the fact that talk radio is the most popular format in radio; and (c) their dismay over the fact that virtually all of the truly successful talk radio hosts are and have been conservatives.

Now if you read the newspapers over the weekend you will have noted that Hugo the Horrible is in the process of shutting down radio stations in Venezuela. He's going to close 34 to begin the process. Certainly there will be more. These radio stations have been a principal voice of opposition to his socialist policies. Chavez, of course, doesn't want to simply state that he's turning off these stations because they oppose his policies. That would be just a bit too obvious. So he's come up with an excuse; a word that will fly with his supporters. He calls it "democratization." He says that these stations now "belong to the people and not the bourgeoisie." Chavez' attorney general, Luisa Ortega, probably said it better: "Freedom of expression," she said, "must be limited."

Liberals in the United States must be green with envy. They've worked for so many years to promote this asinine concept of "the public's airwaves" as an excuse for control over the free flow of information over radio and TV. Now Hugo their Hero is shutting down the opposition media in Venezuela. Why can he do that there, they wonder, when we can't here?

Well .. take heart my statist friends. Don't think for a moment that your champions in Washington aren't working as hard as they can to rein in these evil conservative talk shows in the U.S. The so-called Fairness Doctrine is, for now, a dead issue. It's just a bit too transparent, and there's the courts to worry about. So the left has come up with a nifty new idea: Community advisory boards. The left can't be quite as bold as Chavez was, but there are still ways to shut down conservative talk. The idea here is to institute some new FCC regulations requiring radio stations to appoint community advisory boards in the markets they serve. You can rest assured that the left will create regulations that will guarantee that these advisory boards will be left-leaning. I can envision requirements to make sure that each board is represented by labor leaders, members of government employee unions, civil rights activists and assorted advocates for various grievance-based community factions. The Democrats will also pass some new regulations shortening the term of a radio station license to three years, and requiring an affirmative response from that particular station's community advisory board before the license is renewed. A bad report card from the advisory board would, at worst, result in the denial of a license renewal; and, at best, the imposition of a fine against the radio station ... the proceeds of which would go to National Public Radio. This, of course, will cause the radio stations to pander to the advisory boards instead of worrying about programming that will attract the greatest number of listeners with money to spend.

As you watch the spectacle in Venezuela, know this: If the left in this country thought for one minute that they could get away with a similar program here, they wouldn't hesitate to move. Liberals are failures at the talk radio venue because they are unable to present and promote their ideas in the face of an onslaught of fact and rational thought. The only weapon they have left is the government's unique access to force. Look for them to use it when they get a chance.