From the CNN breaking reel:
Rubio reiterated Saturday that Maduro was “a fugitive of American justice” and an illegitimate leader with a $50 million bounty.
“I guess we saved $50 million,” he quipped, turning to Trump, who responded, “we should make sure.”
“Don’t let anybody claim it, nobody deserves it but us,” Trump added.
shouldn’t the money go to DJT, I mean ….
/s
Yes, there were differences in degree that mattered, but the modus operandi was similar. As you said yourself: lives and careers were destroyed. Perhaps they were not show trials, but they were show hearings, and they had repercussions for the accused. Accused is the right word, I think, even if it is not a trial before a judge but a hearing before a Committee. And at least one person, Senator Lester Callaway Hunt, Sr commited suicide, although he was not personally accused of anything.
Anyway: What I mean to say is that MAGA will not mind doing the same or worse so beware and good luck.
Just heard on CNN that the oil will fund it and it won’t cost the US a cent.
Just like Iraq, right?
I imagine Erik Prince is pushing for “peacekeepers” to ensure a democratic country / efficient extraction of oil wealth into the pockets of the right people.
This seems linked to what is happening now but if mods want to move it I understand:
When asked about Mexico by Fox’s Griff Jenkins, Trump responded that the cartels have more power than its democratically elected left-wing president, Claudia Sheinbaum, whom Trump clashed with early in MAGA 2.0 over immigration and the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico.
Trump said that Sheinbaum, 63, has rejected offers of American military aid to take action against the cartels, claiming she has told him, “No, no, no, Mr. President. No, no, no, please.”
Trump then hinted that he might order action in Mexico anyway, claiming that drugs coming over the southern border are killing Americans by the hundreds of thousands.
“Something’s going to have to be done with Mexico,” he said.
Moderating:
I’m not going to move it and it can stay in this thread as a point of interest, but if you want to start a new thread to discuss it, that’s a good idea. Please don’t hijack this thread with a discussion about a potential invasion in Mexico. Thanks.
I’m not going to disagree with the sentiment, but if a murderous regime like Russia continues to hold a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, the US is in no danger of losing its standing.
Of course this reveals the UN for the feckless, corrupt husk that it is, but that’s a different topic for another thread. While it’s nice to think that international bureaucracies will succeed in holding the Trump regime accountable where our own politics failed, the US is a 500-pound gorilla that’s always done what it wanted, and will always continue to do so, and will face consequences only if we make the unforced error of putting boots on the ground.
I wish Latin America had the solidarity to boycott the World Cup en masse.
Which it appears, from 45/47’s just finished press conference, is exactly what’s going to happen since the US is going to run Venezuela “till an orderly transition of power” or some such twaddle.
A CNN correspondent in Italy noted that the vice-president is also the head of the nationalized oil company, and has ties to Chevron, so that’s why Trump “picked” her over the Nobel prize winner/probable actual election winner (via a stand-in).
The vice-president is a Maduro ally, that’s true, but faced with both a big carrot and a big stick, she’s already conceding to US demands, after making a few pro-Maduro, anti-imperialist noises just to keep up appearances.
I feel like throwing up. Why??? Why???
Never mind. Going to turn things off for a bit. Can’t stand this regime.
It’s a rookie mistake to think that Trump’s ultimate actions will bear even a remote resemblance to anything he says. Likewise to assume Trump or Hegseth will undertake anything that carries a risk of doing real work, or creating real heroes who might outshine them.
Of course these things could occur by accident. We can’t rule them out. But no reliable expectations can be formed based on what Trump says.
I think the strongest predictor of what happens here is going to be the predictable pattern of human weakness in the face of Trump’s carrot-and-stick (bribes-and-violence) approach. Sounds like the contours of this are already starting to emerge:
Everyone else Trump has threatened has rolled over, shown their belly, and collected their payout. I see no reason why this pattern shouldn’t hold indefinitely. Especially when it’s the kind of gangster-to-gangster arrangement that Trump has a knack for developing.
He might actually put in a claim for it.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5671268-trump-schumer-venezuela-maduro/
And Senator Charles “Chuckles” Milquetoast Shumer was right on cue issuing a terse, sharply worded statement.
Someone needs to get him his pudding and lead him back to his comfy chair.
Argentina will not, that much is sure. Even @Frodo would be against that, I think.
I fear Spain and Germany won’t either, though I wouldn’t mind. In fact, I would be very much in favour.
So who really came up with all this? I can’t see Trump planning all of this. I can see him mumbling something about going after Maduro and then somebody in the wings going, “Great idea, sir! We should do something about all of those drugs–and the oil too,” and off we go. How encouraging and complicit are those oil companies, who stand to make millions off of this? Hegseth certainly has encouraged the whole thing because he has all those men just standing around who really need a war. Who has the big money behind this?
This is the scariest part. “run the country” means boots on the ground, which means dead soldiers. Exciting stuff for a draft-dodging coward. Embroil us in another Libya or Iran for another ten years and let someone else sort out your stupidity.
Hehe, yeah. I thought it funny that the AP ran these two updates, one after another.
I kind of doubt we’ll go boots on the ground. I suspect this is just more ramblings.