> The "news" in the run-up to this election that was available in the U.S.
> through mainstream sources was absolutely awful.
The awfulness has been exceeded only by the corporate media's smearing of Russia's elections. Russian democracy is far from perfect, but light-years beyond the rotting, undead 18th century zombie of a political system we have here in the US.
I've looked over the referendums, and in all honesty, they didn't look all that interesting, mostly cosmetic changes. The important thing is that the people of Venezuela had a chance to think about, debate, and vote on their constitution. It would take a revolution before the American ruling class permitted something like that to happen in the US.
-- DRR