As Venezuelans take to the streets protesting Maduro's socialist government and its excessive control over the media, and Ukrainians protest Viktor Yanukovych's decision to officially align with Putin's USSR-2.0 rather than the EU, Americans must begin to ponder their own fate under Barack Obama.

We don't need economic freedom and free press indices to tell us we are losing the fight for free markets and liberty in our own country. A mere perusal of the onerous taxes and regulations to which we are subject, and gross government intrusion into our daily lives, makes undeniable the precipitous decline of our union.

A free press is usually the hallmark of a free society and, while any conservative knows the press is controlled by Obama sycophants and socialist quislings, at least we still have the freedom to set up alternative media through the free market. This is why we have Fox News, talk radio, and a whole slew of conservative leaning blogs and online news magazines.

Not for long.

We not only have a snooping government that is in bed with the media, education and the pop culture -- much like the USSR and her satellites used to be; and we not only have a government that is reaching into more and more aspects of our personal and professional lives, taking more of our money and controlling more of the economy. We now have a government that intends to embed itself into newsrooms across the country to "monitor" the news -- making sure media outlets disseminate stories the FCC qua government qua Obama deems important, like those about the environment, women, and minorities. No longer will it be all the news that's fit to print but all the news Uncle Sam wants to print.

The MSM doesn't seem to be at all fazed by this announcement. Sadly, that's not a surprise. Having an FCC monitor really won't change its content much at all. If anything, it will provide the MSM with a government stamp of approval justifying its concentration of regime-supporting stories about stranded polar bears, melting arctic ice, extreme weather, CO2 emissions, the war on women, contraception deniers, income inequality, LGBT rights, etc. Already, as it is, they don't report the truth about the economy or the government, so not much will change there.

Why is the FCC doing this? Doesn't it already control most of the press? Yes, but it isn't enough to own the MSM. Too much unpleasant and damaging information still gets out to the public -- we saw that admission by Obama in his Super Bowl interview with Bill O'Reilly. To be truly effective, the government has to monopolize the media -- so that the media becomes an extension of the government under penalty of law. For those of us who lived during the Cold War, it's a realization that the war didn't end -- that after a brief experiment with freedom under Yeltsin and an ongoing interlude with capitalism in China, communism still lives and has come to the US. Any Cold War that will be fought between left and right, west and east, freedom and oppression, will be fought within our own borders.

Putin didn't have to do anything. It was ushered in by decades of silent but deadly Alinskyite maneuvers into our churches, businesses, schools, media, pop culture and all levels of government; and was solidified by a true blue fellow traveler in the Oval Office -- all tied up with a pretty red bow and presented to the American people as hope and change.

Many of the news outlets rely on the FCC to renew their broadcasting licenses. It doesn't take a rocket scientist -- or even a political one -- to see the writing on the wall. One can only imagine the pressure that might be exerted on them to have their licenses renewed -- let's say, focusing on certain content while ignoring the kind of information that might be damaging to the administration. It won't take long for these content mandates to become regulations that impose fines on media outlets that violate content requirements.

Is anyone really surprised by this? After all, if the Obama Junta will target, spy on and threaten to bring criminal charges against members of the press corps, and will spy on their family members, as well --which is quintessential Soviet -- and will target political opponents through the IRS, is it that far-fetched for the government to monitor (cough, censor) media content?

In time -- shorter than one can imagine -- all of those stories coming from Fox, talk radio and the few objective news outlets, covering the IRS, NSA, Benghazi, Fast and Furious, ObamaCare, the economy and our employment numbers... will disappear.

One wonders what will happen to reporters and media outlets that defy the Obama regime's attempts to control the news? Will they disappear in the dead of night as happened in the USSR, as has happened under Putin and is currently happening under the iron fist of Maduro in Venezuela?

We Americans are slow to rile. It takes us a long time to go to war, to get off of our couches and tell the government we have had enough with its excessive taxing, spending and takeover of the private sector. With the exception of far lefties, anarchists and occupiers, we generally don't like to step out of our comfort zone and protest and rally. We certainly don't advocate for violence against our own government. We tend to go the usual route-seeking change through the peaceful transformation of power that comes from elections. But if our speech is curtailed, our second amendment rights thwarted, our access to information controlled and our wealth confiscated, it might be too late. The fundamental changes will have already been implemented while America slept.

We didn't fight the Cold War only to have it go underground and seep into the fabric of our society.

But it has and we need to keep our eyes wide open and be willing to take to the streets again and again, like the good people of Venezuela and Ukraine have. It's time to take bullies like Obama and Putin and poke them right in the eye. So Obama is making good on his promise to his buddy, Vlad, that he can be flexible (and just as tyrannical as Putin). We the People have to be equally flexible so we can step out of our comfort zones and fight for our freedom -- our incredibly shrinking freedom -- like our fellow freedom fighters in Venezuela and Ukraine. If we don't, we remain part of the problem, not the solution.