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War with Venezuela...the US is stealing oil and creating a distraction
Maduro is "captured". World reactions are not supportive, and this move is widely condemned.
Under the guise of a war against drugs, the autocrat is stealing Venezuelan oil and creating a dangerous distraction from his poor performance as POTUS and the Epstein files fiasco.
I can only hope that what comes next has been thought out. Another unilateral military operation by the USA. Sadly the last few weeks indicated that this “special military operation” has been kinda telegraphed ahead of time. Venezuelans overseas are overwhelmingly celebrating. Maduro loyalists might try to regain control, but the large USA buildup near Venezuela might be sending a message for them not to do so. Just blast Yoko Ono music outside of their homes to torture them and make them surrender!
unless one attempts broad cuts of funding via fed shutdown, nothing changes.
congress and scotus profiles-in-cowardice, via Jennifer Rubin on substack :
"...direct result of a Supreme Court MAGA majority, and Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. specifically, who granted him broad immunity never envisioned by the Framers. .." but clearly intended for the gop cult.
History has taught that long term negative events follows such interventions. Our escapades in the Middle East can be directly tied events like 9/11. Iraq told us to hit the road, after a concerted effort to control their politics. Afghanistan drove us from their land. Iran grew stronger, when we de-fanged Hussein. Libya became an unstable hellhole when we assassinated Gaddafi. Lebanon has never recovered from our intervention. The list goes on and on.
Psychologically, this was inevitable. As trump devolves, and becomes more impotent, he will need to use the military as personal henchmen to bolster his ego.
Rubio (the son of Cuban immigrants) sure makes it sound like Cuba‘s next. Perhaps Nicaragua later? My Venezuelan friends are ecstatic about today’s developments, not even the EU recognized Maduro as the legitimate leader of Venezuela. Hopefully this more resembles the 1989 invasion of Panama than Iraq, but without boots on the ground.
An assault not seen since WW2? Yeah, right. Cheeto still blames Biden for all problems, jeez ….
considered conspiracy theory a few months ago : trump's disinterest in asia summit was a tacit agreement to carve-up separate hemispheres with china.
considered conspiracy now : trump wants to abscond foreign resources while providing nothing to citizen owners except crisis and collapse. jingoism bonus, re: venezuelan invasion of america.
And this latest military coup is brought to us by the same pinheads who abandoned our Kurdish allies on the battlefield in Syria to be slaughtered by Erdogen's forces. And forced an unexpected abandonment of our hardened military bases, to be occupied immediately by Russian forces, who sought to examine all of our best practices.
At that time it was portrayed as strategic disentanglement of foreign interference and involvement. Clearly, that hokey premise has been tossed aside in favor of involvement in Palestine, Iran, Venezuela, and trade wars with each and every ally.
I'm thinking this looks more like Iraq than Panama, which it does also resemble, but with the emphasis on seizing V's oil for the Majors and "running the country." Lessons from Iraq: occupying a country is very expensive (U.S. debt could surge even further and long-term interest rates climb and stay there) and pushback can be deadly (like the Sunni creation of ISIS).
From the reports on NYT, the "interim" leader of Venezuela that our Dear Leader referred to is not okay with the assault.
Trump emphasized an "America First" approach and promised to reduce U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts during his campaign. First there was Iran, now there is Venezuela. Perhaps extralegal attacks against Cuba, Colombia, or Mexico are forthcoming? Our government has abdicated the moral high ground with its attacks against Venezuela. Can Putin use this to justify the war against Ukraine? What can we say to deter Xi from invading Taiwan?
So what is our response when observers point out that we are right there on the same operative level as Putin with Ukraine and Xi Jinping with Taiwan? Sauce for the goose and all that...
MAGA tends to simple stories, being the divine undereducated and all that. but they (and scotus) are unable to grok that grift underlies 99% of trump's actions. so here goes :
There was a time that I am old enough to remember that "follow the money" was a key component of investigations. Since we are so intent on going back to the pre-information age, perhaps we need to pick up some of the older investigatory tools. AI may not be trained on the older stuff yet.
I don't often agree with Marjorie Taylor Greene but agree with most of her comments below. I'm not sure what impact this will have regarding U.S. jobs moving south.
"Former Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Georgia) told NBC’s Meet the Press that what happened in Venezuela wasn’t aligned with the 'America First' agenda Trump promised during his campaign."
"'After this regime change in Venezuela, I fear that we’re going to see jobs just move south, because we’re already hearing about big corporations lining up their trips to Venezuela for the next big business opportunity that exists, while Americans sit here with no options that are going to provide them with good-paying jobs and affordable healthcare,' she said."
MAGA tends to simple stories, being the divine undereducated and all that. but they (and scotus) are unable to grok that grift underlies 99% of trump's actions. so here goes :
With Donald J. Trump it often is about the money. The sheer amount of corruption within the Trump regime is astounding! Whatever happened to draining the swamp?
Then taxes are the worst ROI, i.e. compounded negative return, ever, anywhere if they fund billionaire health and welfare without benefitting the people/society.
Comments
What will the next one bring to our doorstep?
unless one attempts broad cuts of funding via fed shutdown, nothing changes.
congress and scotus profiles-in-cowardice, via Jennifer Rubin on substack :
"...direct result of a Supreme Court MAGA majority, and Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. specifically, who granted him broad immunity never envisioned by the Framers. .."
but clearly intended for the gop cult.
What's next? Well, the supposed peace president has warned that "“Something’s going to have to be done with Mexico.”
Shouldn't Congress be doing something here, as they never officially approved any of this? Are they completely neutered?
I wonder if trump is ushering in a new era of terrorism on U.S. soil? All the old players and a host of new ones?
Peace In Our Time is surely right around the bend.
An assault not seen since WW2? Yeah, right. Cheeto still blames Biden for all problems, jeez ….
"We control Venezuela"? No, POTUS doesn't have that unilateral authority.
trump's disinterest in asia summit was a tacit agreement to carve-up separate hemispheres with china.
considered conspiracy now :
trump wants to abscond foreign resources while providing nothing to citizen owners except crisis and collapse. jingoism bonus, re: venezuelan invasion of america.
And this latest military coup is brought to us by the same pinheads who abandoned our Kurdish allies on the battlefield in Syria to be slaughtered by Erdogen's forces. And forced an unexpected abandonment of our hardened military bases, to be occupied immediately by Russian forces, who sought to examine all of our best practices.
At that time it was portrayed as strategic disentanglement of foreign interference and involvement. Clearly, that hokey premise has been tossed aside in favor of involvement in Palestine, Iran, Venezuela, and trade wars with each and every ally.
From the reports on NYT, the "interim" leader of Venezuela that our Dear Leader referred to is not okay with the assault.
in foreign conflicts during his campaign.
First there was Iran, now there is Venezuela.
Perhaps extralegal attacks against Cuba, Colombia, or Mexico are forthcoming?
Our government has abdicated the moral high ground with its attacks against Venezuela.
Can Putin use this to justify the war against Ukraine?
What can we say to deter Xi from invading Taiwan?
but they (and scotus) are unable to grok that grift underlies 99% of trump's actions. so here goes :
https://thedemlabs.org/2026/01/03/venezuela-maduro-trump-grift-oil-reserves/
"Blue Water Acquisition Corp III".
Wish the media would make this kind of activity more widely known.
I'm not sure what impact this will have regarding U.S. jobs moving south.
"Former Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Georgia) told NBC’s Meet the Press
that what happened in Venezuela wasn’t aligned with the 'America First' agenda
Trump promised during his campaign."
"'After this regime change in Venezuela, I fear that we’re going to see jobs just move south,
because we’re already hearing about big corporations lining up their trips to Venezuela
for the next big business opportunity that exists, while Americans sit here with no options
that are going to provide them with good-paying jobs and affordable healthcare,' she said."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/investors-brace-for-oil-stock-futures-to-move-after-venezuela-tumult/ar-AA1TyvoP
The sheer amount of corruption within the Trump regime is astounding!
Whatever happened to draining the swamp?