Congratulations! You too may be a citizen of the Great American Empire. I'm so excited I'm going to get myself a golden Trump condo in Caracas.
Here is what a couple of old-fashioned conservatives say about Don & Marco's adventures in Venezuela. They make a lot of sense, and their fairly nuanced views are helpful in understanding how Trump is diminishing the U.S. ~~~
~~~ What Frum & Applebaum have to say is not inconsistent with Heather Cox Richardson's analysis (which is here), but her explanation is, well, a bit simpler. And while Richardson speaks in more apocalyptic terms than do Frum & Applebaum, they better convey, IMO, how alarming the Trump shrink-wrap policy is.
Regina Cano, et al., of the AP: “The United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and flew him out of the country in an extraordinary military operation early Saturday that plucked a sitting leader from office.... Donald Trump insisted the U.S. government would run the country at least temporarily and would tap Venezuelan’s vast oil reserves to sell 'large amounts' to other countries.... He claimed the American presence was already in place, though there were no immediate signs the U.S. was running the country. Venezuelan state TV continued to air pro-Maduro propaganda, broadcasting live images of supporters taking to the streets in Caracas in protest....
“Behind the scenes, U.S. officials tracked Maduro’s behavioral habits, including what he ate and where he slept, in preparing to execute an operation that resulted in one of the more stunning regime changes in modern history. Maduro and his wife, seized overnight from their home on a military base, were aboard a U.S. warship on their way to New York, where they were to face criminal charges in connection with a Justice Department indictment accusing them of a role in narco-terrorism conspiracy.” ~~~
~~~ Here's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Dan Caine, discussing the operation: ~~~
Steven Erlanger of the New York Times: “Despite the long American military buildup around Venezuela, the American raid on Caracas to capture President Nicolás Maduro and his wife produced initial reactions of shock, outrage and skepticism from international leaders, many of them troubled by an exercise of American gunboat diplomacy. The reactions were particularly angry from Latin America and from leaders who are more on the left and who have struggled with ... [Donald] Trump and his trade, tariff and other policies in the region.... President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil was particularly scathing. He condemned the U.S. action and said it “recalls the worst moments of interference in the politics” of the region.... The reaction of Russia, another ally of Mr. Maduro, was strongly worded and apparently without irony. Russia, having invaded Ukraine four years ago and continuing to fight there, condemned the U.S. military action as 'an act of armed aggression against Venezuela.'”
 |
| Not sure why Maduro is blindfolded. |
~~~ Marie: If we're going to try a South American president for drug trafficking, how come Trump just pardoned a Central American president who was convicted of trafficking billions of dollars worth of drugs? As Rachel Maddow said early today, none of the purported rationales for kidnapping Maduro make sense. (Thanks to RAS for the link.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I wonder if the "real" purpose of this extraordinary action is to bury the release of the Epstein files or to cloak Jack Smith's testimony or to obscure the lousy economy or to hide the effects of the Big Ugly Bill or or or. Meanwhile, I can't help but think Trump is about to become an oil baron.
~~~~~~~~~~
⭐Regina Cano & Konstantin Toropin of the AP: “At least seven explosions rang out and low-flying aircraft swept through the capital of Venezuela early Saturday, with the government of leader Nicolás Maduro accusing the United States of attacking civilian and military installations following a monthslong pressure campaign. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ban on U.S. commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace because of 'ongoing military activity' ahead of the explosions in Caracas. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. about its role, the targets or the purpose of the strikes.... Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas, while another military installation in the capital was without power.... [A government statement read that Venezuela's President Nicolás] Maduro had 'ordered all national defense plans to be implemented' and declared 'a state of external disturbance.' That state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people’s rights and expand the role of the armed forces.” ~~~
~~~ The AP's live updates are here. ~~~
~~~ ⭐⭐UPDATE. A New York Times liveblog is here: [link fixed] Donald “Trump said on Saturday that the United States had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and was flying him out of Venezuela, in what would be a stunning culmination to a monthslong campaign by Mr. Trump’s administration to oust the authoritarian leader. Mr. Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, his social media platform, and said that the United States had carried out 'a large scale strike against Venezuela' in an operation that was conducted 'in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement.' The government of Venezuela earlier accused the United States of carrying out military attacks on Saturday in the capital, Caracas, and other parts of the country, after large explosions were reported at a military base in the city.”
Eric Schmitt: “A U.S. official said there were no American casualties in the operation but would not comment on Venezuelan casualties.”
Anatoly Kurmanaev: “The U.S. attack has left an unspecified number of Venezuelans dead and injured, Venezuelan officials said in statements. The number of casualties is still being assessed, they said.”
Tyler Pager spoke to Trump for 50 seconds just after 4:30 am ET. Trump said he would address the nation at 11:00 am ET.
Maggie Haberman: “Trump says that Rubio has spoken to the newly sworn-in Venezuelan president and she has said she would support what they are doing.”
Anatoly Kurmanaev: “Delcy Rodríguez has been sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president in a secret ceremony in Caracas on Saturday, according to two people close to the government, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fears for their safety. Rodríguez is President Nicolás Maduro’s vice president.”
Jack Nicas: “Trump’s suggestion that Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, would help the United States run the country was stunning because it came just as Venezuelan state television was playing a clip of her denouncing the U.S. military operation..”
Tyler Pager: “The biggest takeaway ... [from Trump's news conference] is Trump’s announcement that the United States would 'run' Venezuela, and the lack of details about how that will work. But it’s also striking how much the president focused on oil and how central that will be to how the United States runs the country.”
Megan Mineiro: “Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the capture of Maduro was 'entirely inconsistent' with what top officials told top lawmakers in closed-door briefings in recent weeks.”
Maggie Haberman: “Rubio said this was not the kind of mission for which you could give Congress notice in advance. He said it was 'largely a law-enforcement' operation. But Trump quickly stepped in. 'Congress has a tendency to leak,' Trump said, before adding that 'they knew we were coming.'” [MB: As far as I know, the Armed Services & Intel Committees do not have “a tendency to leak.”]
Glenn Thrush: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the extraction of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from Venezuela was a 'law enforcement' operation, yet the attorney general, Pam Bondi, who has not shied away from the spotlight, was a notable no-show at the news conference announcing what is, arguably, the most significant prosecution of her tenure.”
Maria Abi-Habib: “Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, put on a display of force and unity in a live address to the nation, sitting with powerful military officials and other key government leaders as she denounced the United States. As she introduced each figure on live television, they nodded toward her in a show of deference as she demanded that Maduro was the rightful president of Venezuela. The display of force and unity undermined ... [Donald] Trump’s earlier comments that Washington would work with Rodríguez to run Venezuela.”
~~~ The Washington Post's liveblog is here: “The United States has carried out a 'large scale strike' on Venezuela, capturing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and flying them out of the country..., Donald Trump said in a social media post early Saturday morning.”
& of NBC News: "... Donald Trump vowed Friday to intervene if Iran shoots or violently kills peaceful demonstrators, as economic protests spread and evolved into deadly unrest. If Iran 'kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go,' Trump said in an overnight post on Truth Social. Senior Iranian officials fired back, warning that U.S. intervention would spark regional chaos and make American forces in the Middle East 'legitimate targets.'" ~~~
~~~ Here's a screenshot of Trump's 3 am social media post. This is how the "Peace President*" conducts "diplomacy." (Never mind that Trump was willing to "shot" U.S. protesters against his government, at least if they are likely to be people of color.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Is all this belligerence a big F-U to the Norwegian Nobel Committee?? "No Peace Prize? Fine. I'm gonna invade some countries. Grab a president or two. Blow up people. Bomb some shit. It's your fault." ~~~
~~~ At any rate, here's Trump's F-U to all of us ordinary people who have made him sing for our votes and whatever other indignities he imagines we have forced upon him: ~~~
~~~ Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: “On ... Donald Trump’s 14th consecutive day at Mar-a-Lago..., his motorcade ... pulled into an industrial shopping center on the side of the highway.... As helicopters flew overhead, Secret Service sealed off the parking lot of Arc Stone & Tile so that the president could review samples of marble and onyx for a proposed White House ballroom project.... The stop ... reflected a pattern in which Trump has pursued private interests alongside the work of governing while operating remotely from Florida.... Since arriving in Palm Beach..., Trump has shifted much of his governing to what supporters call the 'winter White House.'... He has visited his nearby golf club 12 times in two weeks and hosted a New Year’s Eve party where guests bid $2.75 million on a live-painted portrait of Jesus....” ~~~
Trump is kicking poor kids off food aid and is throwing millions off their health care this month, but he and his billionaires get caviar and ice sculptures. https://t.co/RCp3LTQkJy
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 2, 2026
~~~ So how does Trump counter the "bad optics"? He lies. He tell Americans they're lucky duckies, too. ~~~
Trump Lies Bigly about Jobs Creation. Lauren Gurley of the Washington Post: “Since the summer, Trump officials have been trumpeting the idea that job creation is booming for U.S.-born workers. Trump said so, too, during a prime-time address last month.... 'In the year before my election, all net creation of jobs was going to foreign migrants. Since I took office, 100 percent of all net job creation has gone to American-born citizens,' Trump declared.... Trump administration officials also said recently that more than 2.5 million U.S.-born workers gained jobs in 2025 as 1 million immigrants left the workforce.... But the data doesn’t [don't!] back that up.... Economists on both sides of the political aisle say they have seen no evidence that American-born workers are getting jobs by the millions or moving en masse into positions abandoned by deported immigrants. In fact, data shows that U.S.-born workers are doing moderately worse under Trump than they were under President Joe Biden because the labor market has weakened — partly due to a sharp slowdown in immigration.”
Jeet Heer of the Nation: “Mar-a-Lago was key to Epstein’s criminal enterprise.... The nature of Epstein’s relationship with Donald Trump has been clarified by a damning report published by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. The report makes clear that Mar-a-Lago was crucial to Epstein’s sexual predation, a fact that was well-known by Trump’s inner circle long before Epstein was charged with any crime. One reasonable inference from the report is that Epstein was protected by a system of plausible deniability at Mar-a-Lago that allowed him to use the resort to harvest victims. Trump initiated a break with Epstein only once a formal complaint by a Mar-a-Lago employee made it impossible to maintain plausible deniability.... Trump had every reason to know before 2003 that Epstein was sexually mistreating Mar-a-Lago employees, some of whom were under the age of consent.... His break with Epstein was entirely opportunistic.” MB: The Nation is subscriber-firewalled. this is one of my four freebies.
Matt Stevens & Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: “Stephen Schwartz, the composer of 'Wicked,' said on Friday that he would no longer host a gala at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, becoming one of the most high-profile artists to criticize changes at the arts center under the Trump administration. In a statement to The New York Times, Mr. Schwartz cited his long history collaborating with the Kennedy Center, saying that it 'was founded to be an apolitical home for free artistic expression for artists of all nationalities and ideologies.... It is no longer apolitical and appearing there has now become an ideological statement.... As long as that remains the case, I will not appear there.'” A Mediaite report is here. MB: Nothing to worry about, folks. Donald Trump is ready with an experienced Kennedy Center host; his name is Donald Trump.
Jeremy Roebuck of the Washington Post: “Federal authorities said Friday they disrupted a plan by an 18-year-old, inspired by the Islamic State, to attack patrons at a grocery store and fast-food restaurants outside Charlotte. Christian Sturdivant had drawn up detailed plans for what he described as a New Year’s Eve “martyrdom op” to target patrons with hammers and knives, officials said. He was charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terror organization after he discussed his intentions last month with two undercover law enforcement officers posing as Islamic extremists.”
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: “From the first days of his second term, the president has given Congress short shrift.... With midterm elections that will decide control of Congress less than a year off and with lawmakers hearing from anxious constituents about high prices and economic distress, Congress must decide whether to try to assert itself more and reclaim some of the power it has ceded to the president, or to continue to accept a shrinking role and diminished status.... With both chambers controlled by Republicans loyal to the president, pushback from Capitol Hill has been scattershot and largely ineffective, and oversight virtually nonexistent. Even when some Republicans have been stirred to join Democrats in raising objections to the administration’s legally questionable actions, lawmakers have struggled to get the White House to back off or reverse course. The president has the ability to move expeditiously; Congress, not so much.”
Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: “Developers of five offshore wind farms that were ordered last week by the Trump administration to halt construction are suing to restart work on at least three of the projects.... On Thursday, Orsted, the Danish energy giant that is building Revolution Wind, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. On Friday Equinor, the developer of Empire Wind, did the same. Both companies said they are seeking preliminary injunctions that would allow construction to continue as the litigation proceeds. Orsted is also building Sunrise Wind and said it was considering a similar legal challenge to restart work on that project, too. The action this week comes after Dominion Energy, the developer of Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, filed the first legal challenge, on Dec. 23.... At stake overall is about $25 billion of investment in the five wind farms. The projects were expected to create 10,000 jobs and to power more than 2.5 million homes and businesses.” The Hill has a story here.
Laurel Rosenhall of the New York Times: “A federal appellate court ruled Friday that California cannot ban people from openly carrying firearms because the prohibition was an unconstitutional violation of the Second Amendment. The split decision by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said the state’s ban ran afoul of a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that required courts to evaluate gun laws based on the country’s 'historical tradition of firearm regulation.' Because openly carrying weapons was “a historical practice” in the 18th century, it cannot be outlawed by today’s lawmakers, Judge Lawrence VanDyke wrote in the court’s 2-to-1 majority opinion.... The two Ninth Circuit judges who ruled against the state, Judge VanDyke and Judge Kenneth K. Lee, were appointed by ... [Donald] Trump during his first term.... Judge N. Randy Smith, who [dissented,] was appointed by President George W. Bush.” Politico has an item here.
Nick Robins-Early of the Guardian & Agencies: “Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok posted on Friday that lapses in safeguards had led it to generate 'images depicting minors in minimal clothing' on social media platform X. The chatbot, a product of Musk’s company xAI, has been generating a wave of sexualized images throughout the week in response to user prompts. Screenshots shared by users on X showed Grok’s public media tab filled with such images. xAI said it was working to improve its systems to prevent future incidents.... Many users on X have prompted Grok to generate sexualized, nonconsensual AI-altered versions of images in recent days, in some cases removing people’s clothing without their consent.... Grok’s generation of sexualized images appeared to lack safety guardrails, allowing for minors to be featured in its posts of people, usually women, wearing little clothing, according to posts from the chatbot.... When contacted for comment by email, xAI replied with the message: 'Legacy Media Lies'.” ~~~
~~~ Samantha Subin & Laura Kolodny of CNBC: “Elon Musk’s xAI saw user backlash after its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok generated sexualized pictures of children in response to user prompts. A Grok reply to one user on X on Friday stated that it was 'urgently fixing' the issue and called child sexual abuse material 'illegal and prohibited.' In replies to users, the bot also posted that a company could face criminal or civil penalties if it knowingly facilitates or fails to prevent this type of content after being alerted. Grok posts are AI-generated messages and do not stand in for official company statements.”
Karina Elwood of the Washington Post: “In the early 2000s, as technology picked up, cursive [handwriting] was declared all but dead. By 2006, only 15 percent of SAT essays were written in cursive. The Common Core standards released in 2010 did not include cursive as a required curriculum, leading to states around the country to drop the requirement.... But in the years since, there has been a steady effort to preserve the art by historians and educators.... Clubs, camps and optional classes ... have popped up around the country. In recent years, states from California to Pennsylvania have passed legislation to mandate the teaching of cursive in school and further cement handwriting skills.... Research suggests handwriting is a key tool for learning and memory. It activates brain activity like motor, sensory and cognitive processing better than typing does.”
Annals of “Journalism,” Ctd. Justin Baragona of the Independent disses on CBS News: “As part of a promotional rollout ahead of taking up the legendary CBS Evening News anchor chair, Tony Dokoupil posted a video message this week where he claimed that legacy media has ignored the views of the 'average American.'... The network is sending Dokoupil out on a 10-city 'Live From America' cross-country kickoff tour.... Meanwhile, CBS News’ editor-in-chief Bari Weiss is scoping out a private jet and a troop of [five] armed guards to facilitate her participation in [the] multi-million dollar tour.... That potential additional expense comes after the news network laid off roughly 100 employees and is preparing for more crippling cost cuts from owner David Ellison and Paramount. It also seems to fly in the face of Dokoupil’s anti-elite mission statement for the show.... 'Nothing says “meeting Americans where they are” by flying around the country on a private jet costing millions of dollars,' one network staffer said.” See RAS's commentary in yesterday's thread. ~~~
~~~ Gary Legum of Wonkette is a tad harsher: "We are calling it now: Tony Dokoupil is going to fall so flat on his face as anchor of the CBS Evening News, he’ll make Chevy Chase’s talk show look successful.... Dokoupil takes over the anchor chair once occupied by Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid on Monday." Rather a tour-de-force. Or perhaps tour-de-farce. In any event, a fine takedown of the new CBS News "team."
~~~ Marie: Legum forced me to watch the Coates interview. While the premises of Dokoupil's questions were generally legit, he asked them in a manner that was so loaded & intentionally offensive that they would have put most guests at a great disadvantage. Coates, however, is an agile debater, and I thought he knocked back Dokoupil with grace & certainty. (Besides, Dokoupil isn't aware of his own biases, and that makes him easier to best.) Tony came off looking like what Legum would call "a jar of mayonnaise." Also, I didn't know Chevy Chase had a talk show.
of the Washington Post: “William J. 'Bill' Martin, director of the Valentine museum in Richmond, [Virginia,] died after being struck by a car Dec. 27.” An obituary of sorts, worth reading. The link is a gift link.
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Minnesota. Rebekah Riess & Ray Sanchez of CNN: “Minnesota child care centers at the heart of widespread fraud allegations fueled by a viral video were operating as expected when visited by investigators, the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families said in a news release Friday. 'Children were present at all sites except for one – that site, was not yet open for families for the day when inspectors arrived,' the agency said. The agency gathered evidence and initiated further review, noting the investigation into four centers was ongoing, the report stated.”
Akhilleus asked in yesterday's Comments, "Has the MAGAsphere, Fox, Islamaphobes, white supremacists, democracy hating bloggers, or Fat (fickle) Hitler called for his resignation, arrest, imprisonment, deportation, or bludgeoning yet?" Well, there's this: ~~~
~~~ New York City. Liam Stack & Jeffery Mays of the New York Times: “The government of Israel accused Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York of antisemitism on Friday, following his decision the day before to cancel two executive orders issued by his predecessor that had barred city agencies from boycotting Israel and defined some criticism of Israel as antisemitic. New York City is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, and the statement, made on social media by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was an extraordinary accusation of anti-Jewish animosity leveled at the new mayor of that city by the leadership of the Jewish state.
“'On his very first day as @NYCMayor, Mamdani shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel,' the Foreign Ministry wrote on X. 'This isn’t leadership. It’s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire.' Israel’s consul general in New York, Ofir Akunis, amplified that attack, saying Mr. Mamdani’s decision posed 'an immediate threat to the safety of Jewish communities in New York City and could lead to an increase in violent antisemitic attacks throughout the city.'... On Friday, a coalition of major Jewish organizations ... issued a joint statement opposing the cancellation of the executive orders.” ~~~
~~~ Joe Anuta of Politico: “New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, after nixing a pair of executive orders that dealt with antisemitism and boycotting Israel, defended his actions amid fallout that has included sharp criticism from the Israeli government and concerns from local Jewish groups.... As for the definition of antisemitism adopted by [former Mayor Eric] Adams, which was promulgated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Mamdani noted that many Jewish organizations in the city do not abide by the interpretation, which, for example, equates some criticisms of Israel’s actions as antisemitic. 'I also know that a number, as you said, of leading Jewish organizations have immense concerns around this definition,' Mamdani said, addressing a reporter who had asked about the orders. Mamdani himself has supported the boycott, divest and sanctions movement against Israel, making his move to toss an executive order banning it in city government unsurprising.” ~~~
~~~ Heather Cox Richardson discusses Mamdani's inaugural speech. “Mamdani’s speech was a declaration of a new kind of modern politics that focuses on 'freedom to' rather than 'freedom from.'” She does not mention Isaiah Berlin's famous lecture on "two concepts of liberty," but Mamdani seems to be wholly plugged into that distinction. (For the short form, see Wikipedia.)
18 comments:
Tom Nichols, in The Atlantic, written a few hours before the latest invasion, wonders just how many foreign wars does the “America First” president intend to start?
"Alone in the dead of night, a man can fall into bleak thoughts. In the wee, small hours of the morning, he might think about lost loves, mull over great regrets, or wrestle with the inevitability of his own mortality. But Donald Trump, awake and restless in the Florida darkness, apparently consoles himself by imagining a war of liberation in a Middle Eastern nation of 92 million people."
In an article featured today in The New York Times but written last August, Daniel Currell describes the decline of the middle class as reflected at Disney parks
"For most of the park’s history, Disney was priced to welcome people across the income spectrum, embracing the motto “Everyone is a V.I.P.” In doing so, it created a shared American culture by providing the same experience to every guest. The family that pulled up in a new Cadillac stood in the same lines, ate the same food and rode the same rides as the family that arrived in a used Chevy. Back then, America’s large and thriving middle class was the focus of most companies’ efforts and firmly in the driver’s seat.
That middle class has so eroded in size and in purchasing power — and the wealth of our top earners has so exploded — that America’s most important market today is its affluent. As more companies tailor their offerings to the top, the experiences we once shared are increasingly differentiated by how much we have."
How many symptoms of Fat Hitler would have gotten him committed a century ago?
Fat Hitler really is stuck in the 80s. "Trump’s Attack Echoes US Invasion Of Panama"
I'm pretty sure the Trump judges get all their historical facts from watching westerns on TV and not real life or history books.
From the Smithsonian Mag
"Dodge City, Kansas, formed a municipal government in 1878. According to Stephen Aron, a professor of history at UCLA, the first law passed was one prohibiting the carry of guns in town,[...]
The practice was started in Southern states, which were among the first to enact laws against concealed carry of guns and knives, in the early 1800s."
"Venezuela vice president Rodriguez in Russia, four sources say"
Mehdi Hasan
"Trump's Venezuela Attack: It’s All About the Oil, Stupid!
Here are five times Donald Trump himself admitted that illegally attacking Venezuela and toppling Nicolás Maduro was aimed at seizing the country’s massive oil reserves."
I imagine Putin will be next. After all, isn't there some question about the legitimacy of Russian elections? And isn't Russian oil our oil, too?
MS NOW
"Rachel Maddow reacts to President Donald Trump's strike on Venezuela and capture of Venezuelan President Maduro."
And there is always a tweet for the occasion.
More Wag the Dog.
And now Fatty declares himself King of Venezuela. "I will run the country. ME, the Great Donald". Because running things into the ground is his specialty.
So what happens now? Anyone have a clue? Fat Hitler, like a giddy nine year old said "I watched it on TEE-VEE! It was GREAT!"
So now he’s king of Venezuela? Can he even find it on a map? And when he says he’ll “run” it, he means he’ll be grabbing everything he can get his tiny fingers on. From what I’ve read over the last few months, American oil companies have no interest in getting involved in this kind of unstable, unpredictable invasion and takeover. Maduro still has a lot of supporters and I’m sure guys at Exxon or Chevron are thrilled about sending their people into a war zone where nothing is safe. Oh, but wait…they have Fat Donald’s word that everything is jake….HE, King Donald is in charge now. Everything he does is for show. There’s no thought behind anything other than looking grandiose, and lining his pockets. So what happens now? Anyone have any idea? NO. Of course not. But he loves sending out a picture of a blindfolded and manacled Maduro, parading his greatness for all the world to see....
And now? Is he gonna run Venezuela like a TV show? Like "The Apprentice" , where he sits like a fat buddha deciding stuff for everyone and firing people he doesn't like?
This is a combination of distraction from the never ending Epstein, Epstein, Epstein parade, his tanking poll numbers, his inability to control grocery prices, his shoving millions of Americans off health insurance, and his gross mishandling of everything he gets involved with. Just blow something up. That'll hold 'em for a few news cycles.
Have we learned nothing? How many CIA-DoD plots to overthrow foreign leaders have been wildly successful? Iran in the 50s? Iraq in the 00s? What about all our involvements in South America back when war criminal Kissinger was training assassination squads to rape and murder nuns? That was a big win for the US, right? And now we're talking about a CIA and DoD run by unqualified, astonishingly unqualified lackeys.
So what happens next? The newly created Trump Oil Company takes over the entire national supply? The Kushner Development Group gets control of waterfront properties so they can build a snazzy retreat for billionaires? There's gotta be some booty for Uday and Qusay to grab. I'm guessing Uday (Eightball Junior) is thrilled at the mountains of cocaine he can now control. And Stoopid Eric? He'll have to learn how to spell VENEZUELA, but I'm sure there'll be some cushy sinecure he can use to funnel more millions into his gigantic bank account.
And what about the Traitors in Congress. Any word from them? I read somewhere that some of them were, ahem, Concerned © (Susan Collins). Go back to sleep, losers.
This fat fuck is really getting desperate. And he sez running Venezuela won't cost taxpayers a penny. That's Trump Speak for "We're gonna bleed you dry".
Happy days.
The other day Marie included an image of Fat Hitler dressed as a Napoleon type character with his Arc de Trump in the background. I meant to comment on it then, but got sidetracked. Anyway, how about a tiny bit of perspective?
Fatty wants his Triumphal Arch to mirror the one in Paris, the Arc de Triomphe. That monument was commissioned just after Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz. Austerlitz, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Three Emperors, was an enormous success for Napoleon, who was on the battlefield himself. He maneuvered the Russian and Austrian forces in such a way that chaos reigned supreme. The French Grande Armée remained largely disciplined and stuck to an aggressive battle plan. Napoleon himself had been a fixture on battlefields since his military career began. He was no Cadet Bonespurs.
And now Fatty compares himself to Napoleon? Of course he does. But what has he actually done to merit his very own triumphal arch? Well, he's building a gigantic dance hall where part of the historic White House used to be. He's blown up motor boats and murdered a lot of people. He bombed civilians in Nigeria, he threatens destruction in Iran, and now he's kidnapped the Venezuelan president for some show trials. But sitting in an air conditioned control room and pushing buttons or giving orders, like Drunk Pete did, to kill all survivors doesn't exactly count as great military triumphs on the scale of say an Austerlitz, but no matter. Little boys must have their toys and get pats on the head.
Such a fucking embarrassment.
And while we're thinking of Drunk Pete and the Battle of Austerlitz, I recommend the chapters in Tolstoy's "War and Peace" that cover this battle. Tolstoy was no fan of Napoleon. He's depicted as a childlike narcissist and a bit deranged, but Tolstoy was no Cadet Bonespurs either. He knew what it was like to be in battle, at Sevastopol, and he wrote about the blood, carnage and chaos in real battles.
Drunk Pete tried to fob off his orders to murder survivors as blah, blah, blah, something, something, Fog of War. Tolstoy's depiction of the Battle of Austerlitz offers a textbook example of what the true fog of war is all about. Soldiers and officers running this way and that, nonstop cannon fire, horses dying, soldiers bleeding, shot, wounded, contravening orders, no one really knowing wtf is going on, and the memorable image of Prince Andrei lying wounded on the ground, looking up at the clouds, recognizing the futility of it all. Not a very Hegsethy guy, was he. He wasn't screaming for lethality as makeup artists worked on his foundation and touched up his wrinkles.
But I guess we can forget all about guys like Napoleon and Tolstoy. We have Fatty and Frat Boy.
....wow. Lucky us.
I'm sure the oil companies will be eager to flood their market with cheap oil.
From Tom Cotton, pro- war crimes "Senator"
“And that’s really what you can make the analogy to. Congress doesn’t need to be notified every time the executive branch is making an arrest. And that’s exactly what happened this morning in Venezuela.
“It’s an operation that only the United States military can conduct. We have a military and a president who are strong and resolute in defense of our interests.” – GOP Sen. Tom Collins, today on Fox News.
Akhilleus, most of the Republicans are going to be singing the praises of Fat Hitler and their continued irrelevancy. Lindsey Graham was calling on Cuba to be the next target for the US's illegal wars.
Tom Nichols, in The Atlantic, names it Don-roe Doctrine
"...the president declared the “Don-roe Doctrine,” another moment that will stand for ages as an embarrassment to the United States and raises the question yet again whether the commander in chief is cognitively stable enough to be ordering the invasion of other nations.
Trump and his team didn’t even try creating a coalition either at home or abroad. By simply landing troops in another nation and decapitating their leadership, Trump has done Russia and China a great service by trashing, yet again, guardrails that limit other nations from running amok. International law? Pointless. The United Nations? Never heard of them. The Congress of the United States? Well, they’re good folks, but according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, they couldn’t be told ahead of time for security reasons. (He said this while standing next to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, a fountain of security violations.) Putin and Xi must have watched Trump’s presser while nodding and taking notes."
Cotton said, above, "...Congress doesn’t need to be notified every time the executive branch is making an arrest. And that’s exactly what happened this morning in Venezuela.
“It’s an operation that only the United States military can conduct. ..."
Senators really SHOULD know the difference between law enforcement arrests and military operations in foreign countries. Cotton doesn't.
This is real totalitarian stuff ... uniformed military executing arrests of non-citizens abroad. But, in fact, so far the abduction is no different than the CIA renditions done as part of the GWOT, often with muscle and logs provided by SOCOM. So that's probably how Cotton rationalized his "move along nothing to see here" statement.
Under the current administration, if you declare someone a terrorist you can do anything. No laws apply. And DOJ is working on ways to declare US citizens "terrorists" if they so much as speak out.
Wendy,
The Don-Roe Doctrine...sounds about right. I could also be the Dumbo Doctrine except it isn't very funny. But it certainly demonstrates why Fatty has been so reluctant to whack Russia for its illegal invasion of Ukraine and why he's perfectly fine with buying Putin's lies while attacking Zelensky for not wearing a tie. When your plan is to invade another sovereign nation and start wholesale stealing their resources, it's not a good look to criticize another totalitarian state for doing the very same thing, never mind going out of your way to make sure the invaded nation has to jump through multiple hoops before you'll lift a finger to help them out. But at least Putin has a better fake reason for invading Ukraine, that country having once been under the control of a previous Russian dictator. What's Fat Hitler's fake reason for invading Venezuela? That drug thing is a total bullshit canard. His own kid does as much coke in a year as all those boats he blew up were carrying.
Looking for the Grim Reaper....where oh where can he be?
I read somewhere that it would require a minimum of 100,000 troops on the ground to take control of Venezuela which has a landmass of about 354,000 sq. miles. In comparison, the last jungle country we found ourselves hobbled in was Vietnam, about 128,000 sq. miles. Few things solidify a nation's disparate groups like an invading force. Who is going to go in and take charge of this country? Oil company execs? Little Marco? Drunk Pete? If Fatty wants the oil, it's not like it's all kept in a magic box somewhere that can be spirited out of the country. It's in the fucking ground. I don't know jack about the capacity of Venezuelans for mounting a resistance, but I know human nature. The Nazis (led by the first Hitler) thought they could waltz into invaded nations and they'd all bow down. They were wrong. Railroad lines were blown up, ammo dumps attacked, telephone and telegraph lines cut, even at the expense of many in the resistance movements murdered. And this is the Nazis were talking about, not some jamokes who have never been in a rain forest. Look for body bags coming back.
Jesus fucking Christ....fucking assholes never learn. Greed does wonders when added to malignant narcissism and apoplectic ignorance.
Once again, we are the bad guys. Right up there with the other totalitarian fuckheads.
Just heard the Seahawks-Forty-Niner pregame rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner"with its "rockets red glare and bombs bursting in air."
Many feelings, but not one of them was pride.
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