Taking a cue from [1] Houston city leaders, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is [2] going Commie:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday embraced socialism as his ideology of choice in a political statement that sharpened his antagonism against the United States.

Chavez, a firebrand nationalist who has governed the world’s No. 5 oil exporter for six years, has persistently declined to define the precise ideology of his self-styled “revolution.”

Chavez, who won a referendum in August ratifying his rule until early 2007, said previous experiences of socialism in the world — an apparent reference to the former Soviet Union — might not be the example to follow.

“We have to invent the socialism of the 21st century,” he added.

Ah, the socialism of the future. I can see it now. Gulags with wireless Internet. Government-issued (and monitored) cell phones. Flying cars and gasoline rationing. Let’s just call it Hammer & Sickle 2.0!