I'm so glad you wrote about this. When I first heard about our invasion, I raced to the NY Times and CNN to get a view as to what was happening, and couldn't stomach their passive, non contextual recycling of the administration's talking points. There was no real criticism at all until I got to the BBC, where one of the opinion writers called this what it is- an illegal coup of a sovereign nation. I am so fearful of the downwind consequences of these actions, including what they embolden other nations to do, such as China, Russia, and any other powerful nation that decides to just take what they want from militarily weaker nations. The damage this administration has wrought/ continues to enact is astonishing, and we're still in the first year
I've been watching Al-Jazeera's coverage and Venezuelan coverage from Telesur English to contrast how the stories are being reported. Our press is compromised.
To be honest we’ve been the bad guys for a long time. The invasion of Panama, or for that matter the invasion of the Philippines at the beginning of the 29th century are not very different from what Trump just did. The real difference is that we now have a government run by a malignant narcissist with dementia and serious cognitive impairment whose view of the world changes depending on who he talked to last.
Unfortunately there are far worse “downwind consequences” than emboldening Russia or China (though Trump has certainly kicked the door open for Xi to decide its time to take back Taiwan). No the potential (however remote) that Congress grows a spine and says no to the child king could see Trump feel like the cornered rat he would be. And said rodent controls nuclear weapons…….and I have zero doubt he would use them to take us all down with him.
"we are, in other words, on a ship whose thin hull has finally rusted through in too many places, that is going down no matter how fast the passengers desperately try to bail it out. Which of these interpretations you believe is mostly a matter of attitude. What is not debatable is that the United States government under Donald Trump is the most dangerous force on earth, and a serious potential threat to every other nation, and the leading cause of geopolitical instability. That usually causes a backlash." This country started with a mix of rot and idealism. We have never dealt with the rot. This is the result.
Cementing his grip on this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Generalissimo trump marches ever onward, cutting an Orwellian swath through the world as we once knew her...as the prime minister of Poland put it, "We are in a pre-war era", where nations decree "spheres of influence", thence act on those imperatives.
Is Taiwan next? Mexico? Greenland, ffs? The reality is that no nation or group of nations can put an end to militaristic imperialism should the very powerful, unconstrained countries take it upon themselves to act as belligerents to secure self-defined "national security" issues...and here we are, "America First", joining other gangster regimes in imposing ruin and plunder upon lesser nations.
This is what you can do when you have a swath of voters and supporters in Congress living in a fantasy world created by right wing propaganda: Venezuela really WAS responsible for all those drugs and those drug boats really WERE killing 25k so we're the good guys!
HN as usual captured the essence of Trumps regime when described as gangsterism. The US government is a brutish, lawless force that has established itself as the most dangerous nation in the world. A superpower that has gone rogue and unabashedly will attack friend and foe alike.
To repeat what others have said, the lack of outrage, pushback or real resistance is mind boggling. The MSM is a complete joke. And I have no illusions that Congress will step up, except to a podium to chastise Trump for bad behavior.
I still don’t believe in violent revolution, it’s a dead end. But my god how long can we keep marching around the block on Saturdays, making speeches and talk about resisting when meaningful change will not happen without meaningful sacrifice.
I’m have no room to complain, I’m not clear in my own life what I’m willing to give up or sacrifice, but I think we need to have a conversation around the idea if we have any real chance of stopping this country’s free fall.
Right Mr Gee, any sacrifice or risk has to be done in unison. Our new N Y C Mayor sent a shock around the world by using the word “collectivity” in his inaugural speech.
A close friend of mine messaged me earlier today expressing support for the kidnapping of Maduro etc. The thing is, he's too important to me to just cast him aside without even trying to convince him that he's wrong, and I'm reasonably confident that I can talk him down; in no small part because he was born in 2006 and doesn't really remember the Iraq War like I do.
I've been trying to work up the strength for hours to begin, and reading this gave me the shot in the arm I needed to actually do it. Wish me luck.
Yes Izzy, unless one was there at the run up to Iraq, it would be hard to see the similarities- a script baked in to the playbook of our Dept of State.
On New Year’s Day, I stumbled upon my creative writing journal from 20 years ago. As I leafed through it earlier today, I was struck by several passages that addressed what was happening at that time in our country and because of our country, and how many of those things have unfolded in the years subsequent. To see the writing on the wall, and to now have the hindsight of knowing that impulse was correct, filled me with an immensely defeated feeling. To have your piece pop up a couple hours later, strangely enough, was comforting (despite its uncomfortable subject). So, perhaps more than ever, thank you for the work you do.
Thanks for writing this! If looked at thru the lens of class struggle, the battle lines divide the international working class vs. Anglo-American Empire led by the US. Whose side are WE on?
Do we really want to live in a world where countries can simply invade each other just because they can? It was wrong in Iraq, and for this we have not even a pretext. This was the world before there was such a thing as international law. When the president talks about borders, he should be laughed off the stage.
Also Maduro WAS elected and every other sanctioning overseer certified it as legit except CIA-NED connected Edison Research. Only dummies believe Edison
Jeffries is only mad he didn’t seek permission before bombing.
Mamdani is using State Department language referring to Maduro as a “dictator” (he was democratically elected in June under massive international observers)
they have not opposed “intervention”
Biden raised the bounty on Maduro before leaving office.
Israel is supporting this too, and Democrats listen to Israel.
All of these fuckers are swallowing CIA talking points because Maduro was bad for their donors. Maduro was legally elected and has like an 80% approval rating. He was passing out weapons to civilians in case the US invaded. Would he do that if he was worried they would revolt?
The Dems seem to be more angry that Trump didn’t get their permission first, so they could personally get something out of it before the bombs dropped.
Your opinions are not evidence. Neither is your lame attempt at projection.
Are you going to present the evidence I requested for "Maduro was legally elected"? And are you aware that Maduro's forces killed at least 20,000 people and 20% of the population fled the country?
Whats funny is someone so hard in the tank for dems ABSOLUTELY held and expressed the opinion Chavez/Maduro are dictators who needed to be ousted when it was Obama, Clinton, Biden and Blinken saying it.
But now its orange man bad and vbnmw so its citations needed on claims that dems like him believe the shit he absolutely believes.
well said -- in the 1920s it was send in the marines to protect United Fruit and the banana plantations -- and the 1954 overthrow of Guatemala's government. Now it's definitely oil. If drugs were truly the issue, the troops would be in Colombia. Wonder how this is read in Beijing and Moscow? OK to invade Ukraine? Destabilize and invade Taiwan? The repercussion are just beginning.
We’ve forgotten so many- Trujillo, Papa and Baby Doc, maybe a dozen others. Americans have hardly a clue as to the brutality these folks have suffered as a consequence of our meddling. Now we persecute them here for escaping from what we largely imposed on them.
Goodbye to the America that had a brain and has been replaced by cowards and sadists so filled with greed and stupidity that they don't give a damn about killing children or destroying other nations to pack their empty skulls with"power". Hitler is dancing in hell.
I'm so glad you wrote about this. When I first heard about our invasion, I raced to the NY Times and CNN to get a view as to what was happening, and couldn't stomach their passive, non contextual recycling of the administration's talking points. There was no real criticism at all until I got to the BBC, where one of the opinion writers called this what it is- an illegal coup of a sovereign nation. I am so fearful of the downwind consequences of these actions, including what they embolden other nations to do, such as China, Russia, and any other powerful nation that decides to just take what they want from militarily weaker nations. The damage this administration has wrought/ continues to enact is astonishing, and we're still in the first year
I've been watching Al-Jazeera's coverage and Venezuelan coverage from Telesur English to contrast how the stories are being reported. Our press is compromised.
To be honest we’ve been the bad guys for a long time. The invasion of Panama, or for that matter the invasion of the Philippines at the beginning of the 29th century are not very different from what Trump just did. The real difference is that we now have a government run by a malignant narcissist with dementia and serious cognitive impairment whose view of the world changes depending on who he talked to last.
Unfortunately there are far worse “downwind consequences” than emboldening Russia or China (though Trump has certainly kicked the door open for Xi to decide its time to take back Taiwan). No the potential (however remote) that Congress grows a spine and says no to the child king could see Trump feel like the cornered rat he would be. And said rodent controls nuclear weapons…….and I have zero doubt he would use them to take us all down with him.
Yup! the NYT calls it the "U.S. Operation in Venezuela"
"we are, in other words, on a ship whose thin hull has finally rusted through in too many places, that is going down no matter how fast the passengers desperately try to bail it out. Which of these interpretations you believe is mostly a matter of attitude. What is not debatable is that the United States government under Donald Trump is the most dangerous force on earth, and a serious potential threat to every other nation, and the leading cause of geopolitical instability. That usually causes a backlash." This country started with a mix of rot and idealism. We have never dealt with the rot. This is the result.
The glorified “founding fathers” likely felt vastly superior in professing their idealism while writing of human equality.
Cementing his grip on this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Generalissimo trump marches ever onward, cutting an Orwellian swath through the world as we once knew her...as the prime minister of Poland put it, "We are in a pre-war era", where nations decree "spheres of influence", thence act on those imperatives.
Is Taiwan next? Mexico? Greenland, ffs? The reality is that no nation or group of nations can put an end to militaristic imperialism should the very powerful, unconstrained countries take it upon themselves to act as belligerents to secure self-defined "national security" issues...and here we are, "America First", joining other gangster regimes in imposing ruin and plunder upon lesser nations.
This is what you can do when you have a swath of voters and supporters in Congress living in a fantasy world created by right wing propaganda: Venezuela really WAS responsible for all those drugs and those drug boats really WERE killing 25k so we're the good guys!
Also! This means that the US court system has the authority to punish FOREIGN presidents and leaders for their crimes, but not US presidents
Brilliant, as usual.
HN as usual captured the essence of Trumps regime when described as gangsterism. The US government is a brutish, lawless force that has established itself as the most dangerous nation in the world. A superpower that has gone rogue and unabashedly will attack friend and foe alike.
To repeat what others have said, the lack of outrage, pushback or real resistance is mind boggling. The MSM is a complete joke. And I have no illusions that Congress will step up, except to a podium to chastise Trump for bad behavior.
I still don’t believe in violent revolution, it’s a dead end. But my god how long can we keep marching around the block on Saturdays, making speeches and talk about resisting when meaningful change will not happen without meaningful sacrifice.
I’m have no room to complain, I’m not clear in my own life what I’m willing to give up or sacrifice, but I think we need to have a conversation around the idea if we have any real chance of stopping this country’s free fall.
Right Mr Gee, any sacrifice or risk has to be done in unison. Our new N Y C Mayor sent a shock around the world by using the word “collectivity” in his inaugural speech.
A close friend of mine messaged me earlier today expressing support for the kidnapping of Maduro etc. The thing is, he's too important to me to just cast him aside without even trying to convince him that he's wrong, and I'm reasonably confident that I can talk him down; in no small part because he was born in 2006 and doesn't really remember the Iraq War like I do.
I've been trying to work up the strength for hours to begin, and reading this gave me the shot in the arm I needed to actually do it. Wish me luck.
Yes Izzy, unless one was there at the run up to Iraq, it would be hard to see the similarities- a script baked in to the playbook of our Dept of State.
On New Year’s Day, I stumbled upon my creative writing journal from 20 years ago. As I leafed through it earlier today, I was struck by several passages that addressed what was happening at that time in our country and because of our country, and how many of those things have unfolded in the years subsequent. To see the writing on the wall, and to now have the hindsight of knowing that impulse was correct, filled me with an immensely defeated feeling. To have your piece pop up a couple hours later, strangely enough, was comforting (despite its uncomfortable subject). So, perhaps more than ever, thank you for the work you do.
I’m furious. (Can’t believe you gathered these coherent thoughts so quickly.) Shared on FB.
Thanks for writing this! If looked at thru the lens of class struggle, the battle lines divide the international working class vs. Anglo-American Empire led by the US. Whose side are WE on?
Lizzy, I usually don’t get who “we” is. If “ class struggle” became far more frequent in our discussions, it might clarify it.
Do we really want to live in a world where countries can simply invade each other just because they can? It was wrong in Iraq, and for this we have not even a pretext. This was the world before there was such a thing as international law. When the president talks about borders, he should be laughed off the stage.
Word for word, my brother.
Also Maduro WAS elected and every other sanctioning overseer certified it as legit except CIA-NED connected Edison Research. Only dummies believe Edison
Please provide a shred of evidence for your claim.
Democrats are on board too. We definitely are the bad guys but it’s bipartisan. IDK how we fix this rot
Please provide evidence for your claim that "Democrats are on board too."
Jeffries is only mad he didn’t seek permission before bombing.
Mamdani is using State Department language referring to Maduro as a “dictator” (he was democratically elected in June under massive international observers)
they have not opposed “intervention”
Biden raised the bounty on Maduro before leaving office.
Israel is supporting this too, and Democrats listen to Israel.
How much more would you like?
Klobuchar: "we're not happy he sent soldiers into harm's way without our permission"
is not "he just committed an act of war against a sovereign nation and kidnapped the leader's wife too, which should be completely off limits"
That's how you know
They all love imperialism.
Stop bootlicking for Democrats.
None of them give a shit about you. Wake up.
That David dip shit isn't worth your time responding to seriously but here's one from 09 right after he got in power;
Obama declared, "We must remain firm when we see the news that Venezuela is exporting terrorist activities,"
All of these fuckers are swallowing CIA talking points because Maduro was bad for their donors. Maduro was legally elected and has like an 80% approval rating. He was passing out weapons to civilians in case the US invaded. Would he do that if he was worried they would revolt?
The Dems seem to be more angry that Trump didn’t get their permission first, so they could personally get something out of it before the bombs dropped.
I just realized. You don't even know what evidence is, do you?
Your opinions are not evidence. Neither is your lame attempt at projection.
Are you going to present the evidence I requested for "Maduro was legally elected"? And are you aware that Maduro's forces killed at least 20,000 people and 20% of the population fled the country?
Holy shit it's a shitlib CIA fanboy in the chat. Do some homework.
Ask @Arturo Dominguez
Every international observer certified it EXCEPT for NED-CIA connected Edison Research.
You swallow propaganda whole. You should be embarrassed but you keep doubling down and getting more aggressive.
Keep drinking that Kool-Aid. CIA is very happy with you.
Keep being a good little unquestioning sheep.
You shouldn't flaunt your ignorance and cognitive limitations in public.
Dummy. These are not "my opinions"
You asked how Democrats were on board
I gave you statements from 5 publicly elected Democrats.
I am now going to block your trolling, CIA loving behind.
Good luck in life. You're clearly going to need it.
Eat a dick.
Please provide evidence for the claim that you're not a tiresome bore David
Whats funny is someone so hard in the tank for dems ABSOLUTELY held and expressed the opinion Chavez/Maduro are dictators who needed to be ousted when it was Obama, Clinton, Biden and Blinken saying it.
But now its orange man bad and vbnmw so its citations needed on claims that dems like him believe the shit he absolutely believes.
well said -- in the 1920s it was send in the marines to protect United Fruit and the banana plantations -- and the 1954 overthrow of Guatemala's government. Now it's definitely oil. If drugs were truly the issue, the troops would be in Colombia. Wonder how this is read in Beijing and Moscow? OK to invade Ukraine? Destabilize and invade Taiwan? The repercussion are just beginning.
We’ve forgotten so many- Trujillo, Papa and Baby Doc, maybe a dozen others. Americans have hardly a clue as to the brutality these folks have suffered as a consequence of our meddling. Now we persecute them here for escaping from what we largely imposed on them.
well said -- a real US export industry! Guatemala, Nicaragua, Iran, so many examples.
Goodbye to the America that had a brain and has been replaced by cowards and sadists so filled with greed and stupidity that they don't give a damn about killing children or destroying other nations to pack their empty skulls with"power". Hitler is dancing in hell.