Hugo Chavez has nationalized American oil rigs, shut down 34 radio stations, is busy confiscating private property and annointed himself President for life.

America has its own Chavez.

Doug Ross reminds us that Mark Levin observed that we are as close to a dictatorship as we have ever been.

Last May, Mark Levin — the President of Landmark Legal Foundation — stated that President Barack Obama was the “closest thing to a dictator” this country had ever seen.

The list of horribles included his naked attempts to silence critics, his encouragement of voter intimidation, his support of rampant vote fraud, the implicit campaign to encourage illegal immigration, and his blatant abrogation of contract law (e.g., the GM and Chrysler bailouts).

Now, in a bold attempt to shut down the opposition media, Obama has declared Fox News the enemy of the state.

Now Obama is at it again, demonizing the most popular and trusted cable news outlet in the United States. In an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Obama made the extraordinarily un-presidential claim that Fox is “destructive to [America's] long-term growth.”

That’s mind-boggling. Then again, Chavez also attacked Fox News.

But the list of Chavezesque plans is not complete.

Obama seeks control of the internet for “emergencies.”

The new version would allow the president to “declare a cybersecurity emergency” relating to “non-governmental” computer networks and do what’s necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for “cybersecurity professionals,” and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license.

And now that also includes the ability to shut down industries:

“Industries, companies or portions of companies could be temporarily shut down, or be required to take other steps to address threats,” states the report, citing concerns about an “imminent threat to the U.S. electrical grid or other critical infrastructure such as the water supply or financial network.”

Or support Republicans.

Obama has installed a shadow government of 35 czars who are unaccountable to Congress or to the American people. They include several Marxists.

Obama plans on using EPA rules to bypass Congress.

The timing of the EPA’s moves also hint at political motives. Congressman Welch believes the new policies are intended to tell Congress, “that if we don’t pass legislation, the President will not wait and will just go ahead and regulate.”

Columbia’s Heal agrees: “The EPA announcements are designed to put pressure on the Senate and on industry representatives who are pushing senators, that if they don’t act, [the EPA] will, in ways industry won’t like.”

(By the way, if you’d like to se what increasing CO2 levels do for green plants, go here)

And Obama can’t be bothered with Constitutional details.

Obama is hiring 17,000 health care mandate Schutzstaffel enforcement officers.

Barack Obama has never met a union he did not want to bailout. The head of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka, has called for the left wing government to take over private corporations.

And now he wants to wiretap your email.

And like Chavez, Obama has his own propaganda machine “Organizing for America.” with the self-indulgent adoration name mybarackobama.com.

We’re close. We’re very close.

More here.