Countdown to war with Venezuela

[jsc1953]

@Mundane_Super_Hero

Since when are Canadian forces on the hook to drag out the Christmas Trash

If I say so myself, this would make a good political cartoon. Panel 1: newsreader saying “In Western Hemisphere news, security forces of a peace-loving democracy invaded a neighboring country and arrested its corrupt dictatorial leader.” Panel 2: Canadian Mounties dragging Trump.

[jsc1953]

And now he just blamed Biden. Jeezus.

[Johnny_L.A]

@jsc1953

If I say so myself, this would make a good political cartoon. Panel 1: newsreader saying “In Western Hemisphere news, security forces of a peace-loving democracy invaded a neighboring country and arrested its corrupt dictatorial leader.” Panel 2: Canadian Mounties dragging Trump.

[mtnmatt]

Ha ha ha - little Marco says Cuba is “run by incompetent senile men,” standing in front of Trump

[jsc1953]

May it go viral.

[Johnny_L.A]

I posted it on my primary FB page, and my Johnny LA page. Download it, and spread it around!

[LurkMeister]

@Chronos

OK, if he’s not the legitimate President, then why are we taking power? Why not just hand over the reins to whomever we claim is the legitimate President?

I’m surprised Trump hasn’t announced that he’s planning to annex Venezuela as the 51st state.

[DavidNRockies]

I may hate Trump and his minions, and basically everything they’ve ever done or do, but …

I just emailed the administration to ask if they’d Deed Margarita Island over to me. I’ve heard good things about it.

Hey. It could happen.

ETA: Hmm. The neighborhood may have changed a bit:

On Maduro’s ‘terror island,’ Hezbollah operatives move in as tourists drift out

[But … Fox News]

[Ludovic]

@mtnmatt

Ha ha ha - little Marco says Cuba is “run by incompetent senile men,” standing in front of Trump

In one of his digressions, his orangeness claimed that he had cleaned up DC such that there is “no crime” at all in it, at which point I laughed and changed the channel.

[Moriarty]

@Johnny_L.A

From The Telegraph:

Donald Trumps says the US will run Venezuela until a leader can be found to replace Nicolas Maduro.

“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” he says.

So, “when they stand up, we’ll stand down.”

Yeah, this is going to go so well.

[Ellecram]

I don’t think anyone in this administration thought 2 inches beyond the current status of events.

“Running” a recently bombed country is not something the US is skillful at under the best of administrations.

Also :
Indirectly related to this situation are a number of departure/arrival cancellations in the Caribbean including a majority of flights to/from Queen Beatrix International Airport in Aruba.

That’s sure to make life great for some unsuspecting travelers and entirely uninvolved countries.

[Elmer_J.Fudd]

Re: Aruba.

Might be worth pointing out that 100,000 Americans cruise within 15 miles of the Venezuelan coastline every month. Quite a target for a disgruntled drug cartel.

[Czarcasm]

I think the first eight words in your post were sufficient.

[Atamasama]

@Ludovic

In one of his digressions, his orangeness claimed that he had cleaned up DC such that there is “no crime” at all in it, at which point I laughed and changed the channel.

Meanwhile…

DC Police identify victim in deadly double shooting on New Year’s Eve

[DavidNRockies]

From a cousin of mine, posted elsewhere:

Action Without Wisdom Is Not Strength
Venezuela and the Doctrine of Spectacle Over Strategy

Note: I wrote this article before the press conference that just occurred. Everything said by Trump, Rubio and Hegseth is an illustration of these points. Particularly when President Trump laughed about claiming the bounty on Maduro and when Rubio and Hegseth praised him for being a man of action.

{..}

This morning, reports out of Venezuela described military strikes and the capture of Nicolás Maduro. The details are still emerging, and the long-term consequences are unknowable. But the Trump administration messaging was familiar: chest-thumping, mock-patriotic rhetoric and a self-satisfied sense that decisive action is proof of leadership.

It isn’t.

There is a reason so many Americans find this style of leadership appealing. Action feels reassuring. It implies control. It signals confidence, dominance, and clarity in a world that often feels chaotic and threatening. When Donald Trump moves quickly and loudly—militarily, economically, or politically—it creates the illusion of strength. And illusions can be seductive.

I understand that appeal. Truly. After years in uniform, I know how uncomfortable uncertainty can be, and how deeply human the desire is for someone to just do something.

But here is the lesson this administration has repeatedly failed to learn—or has actively chosen to ignore:

What a president can do is not the same as what a president should do.

Again and again, this administration chooses action over wisdom, force over foresight, and spectacle over strategy. Not because it serves the American people—but because it serves itself.
I can say this more plainly now than I could while I was still bound by the restrictions of military service: the defining feature of the Trump presidency is not strength, but self-interest. Its decisions are guided not by national security, democratic stability, or long-term American prosperity—but by what ensures political survival, personal loyalty, and the continued accumulation of wealth and power among a narrow billionaire class.

That lens explains nearly everything.

Why military action is treated as spectacle.
Why alliances are dismissed as inconveniences.
Why authoritarian leaders are praised while democratic institutions are undermined.
Why complex problems are met with blunt instruments.

From Venezuela to the Middle East to our own streets, the pattern is the same. The question is never “Will this make Americans safer in the long run?” It is “Does this make me look strong right now?” Or worse: “Does this benefit me personally?”

And that is where the danger lies.

Action untethered from principle is not leadership, it is the impulse. It is the behavior we expect from a toddler who hasn’t yet realized the world isn’t centered on their interests alone. And impulse at the scale of the presidency carries costs that others, often far removed from the decision-makers, or the least able to bear those costs, are forced to pay.

I spent more than two decades in the military watching the difference between disciplined, restrained power and reckless power. Real strength and wisdom are deliberate. They weigh second- and third-order effects. They understand that military force, once used, has real human consequences both to those struck and those doing the striking. They recognize that legitimacy—at home and abroad—matters as much as capability.

This administration knows how to wield power. It simply does not care enough about the consequences to wield it responsibly.

Supporters will say this is what makes Donald Trump different. That he “doesn’t hesitate.” That he “gets things done.” That he refuses to be constrained by norms, institutions, or critics. But those constraints exist for a reason. They are not weaknesses—they are safeguards built by a nation founded on the principle that unchecked power is antithetical to liberty. They are what prevent personal ambition from becoming national catastrophe.

Decisive action by the forces at the disposal of the United States, when used to advance individual interests, is not courage. It is corruption.

I can acknowledge why some Americans are drawn to Trump’s bravado without excusing it. I can recognize the hunger for leadership that feels forceful and determined without pretending that force alone is virtuous. And I can say, without hesitation now that I am a civilian, that this administration’s actions are almost never aligned with the interests of the nation as a whole.

They are aligned with Donald Trump.
With his survival.
With his wealth.
With those who seek his favor.

America deserves better than leadership that confuses shock and awe for progress and domination for strength. We deserve leaders who understand that the most powerful question is not “Can we?” but “Should we?”

That question has been missing for far too long.

And the bill for that absence always comes due.

[Der_Trihs]

@enipla

Trump needs to be removed from office TODAY.

Never happen. He’ll die in office, rich safe and unpunished.

[Mundane_Super_Hero]

I can almost see some Canadian (or former Canadian ) actors fighting to play the Mounties.

Ryan Reynolds is strong enough to hold up his side of The Orange Hefty Bag; Ryan Gosling is strong enough to hold up the other side with one arm while beating it with a truncheon with the other.

Maybe with Nathan Fillion as the desk sergeant and also possibly Dan Akroyd as the judge?

( Also Could we pull “Ye Old Bone Stripper” out of storage ? )

[Mundane_Super_Hero]

@jsc1953

And now he just blamed Biden. Jeezus.

I’m surprised that he didn’t blame Jeezus…

[enipla]

@Der_Trihs

Never happen. He’ll die in office, rich safe and unpunished.

Wasn’t a prediction. But I did tell my senator’s that. Have you?

[Mundane_Super_Hero]

@Der_Trihs

He’ll die in office

“Dear Santa,

Yes, that is what I wanted for Christmas but the ‘back order’ status and and shipping delays really do suck. Still, I love you, Mrs. Claus, All of the elves and the reindeer too.

. - Timmy “