In case you thought Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was going to soft-pedal socialism in his presidential election or even pretend to play nice with the Democratic Party, guess again. In what can almost certainly be deemed a warning shot at the DNC and the candidate field as a whole, Sanders has hired none other than David Sirota as his senior adviser and speechwriter.

Sirota, an oft-obnoxious socialist who swings between media and failed political bids, is basically a lunatic. Sirota is no ordinary Swedophile who spews hackneyed platitudes about “universal healthcare” or open borders and open hearts. No, Sirota gushes about real socialism — Venezuelan socialism. He has lauded former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for posing “a serious threat to the global system of corporate capitalism.” He likened the late father of Venezuela’s ruin to Martin Luther King, Jr. in a Salon piece which celebrated “Chavez’s economic miracle.”