Firehose #165: Nobel Prizefight

Also: Second Sunday 8 p.m. ET

One of the perks of being a paying subscriber to The Fifth Column is that on the Second Sunday of every month you can hop on a Zoom call w/ the three principals (and maybe a ringer or three) to talk about the state of the podcast and the news of the day. (On occasion we do limit these availabilities to the Never Fly Coach subscription tier, though usually not.) This Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, all payers are welcome again to join the fracas. We’ll send a link out way ahead of time, I am confident.

On Friday morning, Venezuela opposition leader and internal exilee María Corina Machado, who would almost certainly win any free and fair election against socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize. Machado, a 58-year-old industrial engineer/philanthropist and self-described “classical liberal,” was barred by Maduro from running in the 2024 election (or any other until 2038), then threw her support behind Edmundo González, who promptly won but had the election stolen from him by the incumbent commie.

“Machado is one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee wrote in its announcement. “Despite serious threats against her life she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions of people.”

We talked last month on Episode #524 about Machado’s courage to stay and fight with her friend, Human Rights Foundation founder Thor Halvorssen:

Tweeted Thor today:

Maria Corina Machado receiving the Nobel Peace Prize is a seismic event for Venezuela’s pro-democracy movement. It confers global legitimacy and attention to the Venezuelan cause, creates a unique opportunity to advance the struggle for a free Venezuela, inspires the Venezuelan people and diaspora, pressures the Maduro regime, and safeguards Machado.

This prize is a diplomatic tsunami for Maduro. This choice by the Nobel committee marks the moment when Venezuela’s democratic cause becomes truly international, raising the costs for those who oppose it. Congratulations to Maria Corina Machado. Viva Venezuela Libre! Bravo!

Normally, this would be cause for celebration in the White House, which has been increasingly focused on encouraging or even precipitating regime change in Caracas. But President Donald Trump has also been openly campaigning for the Nobel Peace Prize since returning to office, and now that the aspirational peacemaker has helped forge an agreement to end the Israel-Gaza war & hostage crisis, some of his supporters are seething at the snub.

“Apparently the Nobel Peace Prize isn’t about delivering peace anymore,” sniffed Sen. Based Mike Lee (R – Flagellatia). “Imagine thinking a woman who cries nonstop about @NicolasMaduro has done more for the world than President Trump,” tweeted Trump-whisperer Laura Loomer. “More affirmative action nonsense.” Also miffed were past Fifth Column guests and daily Chat topics Megyn Kelly (“Trump deserves the Peace Prize, but the loser here is the Nobel Committee which has further sullied its once-stellar brand”) and Batya Ungar-Sargon (“These irrelevant losers. Of course they didn’t give Trump the Nobel. What an absolute disgrace”).

Machado’s reaction, in light of these realities, showed some geopolitical finesse:

This recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is a boost to conclude our task: to conquer Freedom.

We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy.

I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!

* We talked a bit about Trump’s potential Nobel, plus perennial hate/love figure Bari Weiss (veteran of Episodes #89, #115, #159, #180 & #187), in #527. Moynihan on his Report also tried to squeeze some gossip (euphemism) out of known Bari collaborator Olivia Reingold (#453) :

* Moynihan additionally observed the two-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre over at Noam Dworman’s Live From the Table podcast, along with New York Times columnist Bret Stephens and our pal Coleman Hughes (#121, #144, #181, #188, #201, #379, #412 & #442):

* Threading around that latter conversation, and many others recently (including tomorrow morning!), was the haunting presence of Tucker Carlson. Writing at length on that this week was Jonah Goldberg (#182), in a piece headlined “The Tucker I Knew: Populism and the glorification of childishness.” Stay tuned to this channel for more discussion of related right-of-center controversies!

* On Thursday, the apparently unshuttupable Moynihan talked about the big Mideast peace deal w/ the great international journalist Dexter Filkins:

* Are you still not sure about diving into a whole Members Only episode in which Kmele interviews a young filmmaker about his new documentary on Kanye West? Well, how ‘bout a nice lil’ 10-minute clip for subscribers at all levels to get a taste:

* Subscribe to our YouTube channel already! And speaking of the musical arts, our discussion of Kmele’s Blue Angels lament + Van Hagar’s (appropriated!) “Dreams” prompted this killer email from Tim:

Dear Dimestore Degenerates,

Your recent commentary on the Blue Angels couldn’t not prompt this email. I work in a multinational office with Aussies and Kiwis. The GO/FOs briefing with Secretary Hegseth had just concluded when we found ourselves in conversation about military PR campaigns our countries had recently conducted.

I firmly believe our morning sobriety and the safe distance of six years since its release are the only reasons my colleagues could show me this recruitment video without crying:

That’s it for now, I’m off to join the Australian Defence Force.

Up the Wahs!

* Staying on music, Comment of the Week comes from Xaq Fixx:

Listening to the intro, the first band I thought of when the mentioned offensive song titles was A.C. … I was not disappointed.

Fun fact: I saw them in concert on 9/11/2001.

Walkoff crossed my stream by semi-accident this week & just flat stuck, so: