The right’s obsession with Venezuelan socialism completely disregards history

The White House’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) on Tuesday released a sprawling, wacky report titled “The Opportunity Costs of Socialism,” a 72-page manifesto that cites Venezuela 52 times, using it as evidence of the perils of socialism.

This shouldn’t be surprising. For the past couple of years, right-wing outlets and politicians have been fixated on the Latin American country. In the last month, Breitbart has occasionally published multiple articles per day about the countr...