A PALACE IN CARACAS, FREE CUBA, WORLD COP TO WORLD BULLY

Anthony Davis wrote on his Substack blog that Donald Trump finally solved the annoying constitutional problem which states that presidents are supposed to consult Congress before taking the nation into war — simple: don’t ask! Trump demonstrated that a ‘war powers’ discussion is only theoretical — just be loudly confident and “sufficiently uninterested” in being told ‘no’. So, no consultation, no vote, no pretense of deliberation. The sovereign state of Venezuela became the victim of executive power on full volume, with the triumvirate of Trump, Miller and Hegseth flexing their ‘unitary government’ model for the whole world, flying a kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro, his wife to be held as prisoners in New York, pending their courtroom appearances.

In a November Vanity Fair interview, White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles explained that land strikes in Venezuela would require Congressional approval, because “it’s war” that needs legal justification. Trump privately admitted to Congress members the same song and dance as he continued to blow ‘drug smuggler’s’ boats to smithereens; then came the recent announcement that docks, ‘drug warehouses’ and ‘drug boats’ on Venezuela’s shores had been destroyed. The new year then brought the “large scale strike against Venezuela.” the regime change abduction of its president, and Trump’s announcement that his administration would “run the country and take over its oil reserves.” CNN reported in early November that the administration was seeking opinions from DOJ for such strikes, so quite obviously they came up with the language the president and his plotters needed to initiate the action. At his rambling press conference following the action, Trump made the comments that the strikes were about more than stopping the threat of a small-time drug-running head of state who was endangering lives of Americans.

So far, the administration has offered remarkably little care in explaining their justifications or a legal framework — it depends on who you might ask which only adds to the confusion. Vice President Vance is quoted as saying, “You don’t get to avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas.” Secretary of State Rubio picked up on a line that seems to be echoed by others that, “the military had been supporting a law enforcement function,” noting that Maduro was under indictment in the first Trump administration. That’s woeful news for individuals in other countries that are also under indictments — do we have enough equipment, personnel, and money to also go after them? Yikes!

One of Trump’s early suggestions was that strikes might be justified because Venezuela was sending “bad people” into the US, downplaying any role of that country’s oil reserves, but then a revision occurred — the president voiced his opinion that we needed to reclaim “the oil, land, and other assets that they previously stole from us.” A confused Senator Lindsey Graham indicated that the administration lacked “clarity” in the messaging. He said, “I want clarity here. President Trump saying Maduro’s days are numbered. That seems to me that he’s gotta go. If it’s the goal of taking him out because it’s a threat to our country, then say it. And what happens next? Don’t you think most people want to know that?” It is interesting to note that following the Venezuela action, Graham posted on X: “Free Cuba.”

The attempt to keep the focus on the law enforcement aspect of the operation during the Saturday morning press conference became a shambles as Trump kept wandering off script to emphasize how his administration would temporarily run the government of Venezuela, with repetitious references to the oil reserves and how Venezuelans would become “rich,” all of which begs the question: If he and his bumbling gang can’t run this country successfully, how does that translate to another mismanaged country? And restructuring the Venezuelan oil industry, which is reportedly decrepit and out of date, is another question entirely. “We’re going to rebuild the oil infrastructure. We’re going to run the country right,” said Trump without a whisper of any justification, let alone a plan of action to accomplish this. Venezuela’s large geographical size could prove difficult to control, and because of its significant oil wealth, other countries will take an interest in how our government moves. China has chimed in, calling the attack a “blatant use of force against a sovereign state.”

Of course, the blustering Trump has threatened the possibility of further military options beyond kidnapping and destruction of Venezuela’s industrial and military infrastructure, making it clear that he intends to continue testing the limits his presidential authority and Americans‘ tolerance for his stretching the law. Yet, Americans probably can still be shocked and horrified at his undeclared, unprovoked, and illegal attacks, but we should recognize that this puts us on the same moral and legal footing as Putin’s Russia in their war of pure aggression against Ukraine. Senator Ruben Gallego, in a post where he remarks about his service in the Iraq War, wrote, “Second unjustified war in my life time. This was is illegal, it’s embarrassing that we went from the world cop to the world bully in less than one year. There is no reason for us to be at war with Venezuela.”

Jennifer Rubin writes in The Contrarian on Substack, “It is hard not to conclude that the action is a ‘wag the dog moment’ aimed at distracting the public from the Epstein files, the rotten economy, and Trump’s declining health. It very well could supercharge Trump’s lawless and violent domestic policies against migrants, civil society groups, and others on grounds that they are authorized by wartime powers. His rickety tower of constitutional rubbish will continue to build.” Rubin feels that we should have no expectation that congressional Republicans will do anything to thwart Trump, since they have repeatedly caved in allowing his illegal attacks on boats, even killing survivors in the sea.

With tongue firmly in cheek, the Daily Dose of Democracy site posts, “Whew! It’s almost as if there’s a festering scandal dogging the embattled president on the domestic front and his regime is desperately looking for cover wherever it can find it. Almost.” The writer says that America’s wannabe dictator is feeling frisky after the Venezuela action and is hellbent on continuing his imperial march across the planet — no matter the cost. Trump admitted that US military action against Colombia “sounds good to me,” with an ominous warning to Cuba, and a repeat statement that taking over Greenland is important for our national security. Another repeat was the threat toward Iran should that country’s  crackdown on protesters get out of hand. Unable to stop his ranting, he issued another warning to Mexico over drug trafficking, telling them to “get their act together, or else.”

The attack on Venezuela Rubin blames on the MAGA Supreme Court majority, and Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. specifically, who granted broad immunity never envisioned by the Framers of the Constitution, and now Trump has taken that and made a run headfirst into war. AG Pam Bondi ran headfirst to X, writing, “Nicholás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York. Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machine-guns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machine-guns and Destructive Devices against the United States.” She then added, “They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts. On behalf of the entire US DOJ, I would like to thank President Trump for having the courage to demand accountability on behalf of the American People, and a huge thank you to our brave military who conducted the incredible and highly successful mission to capture these two alleged international narco traffickers.”

Conservative commenters, concerned that New York justice would let down the country, and that Maduro wouldn’t “feel the full wrath of American justice” that Bondi seeks, posted: “So we just hyper complicated this case to a jurisdiction power struggle? In S NY? Well alrighty then;” “Indicted in SDNY? Is that to ensure something does or doesn’t happen?” Another sarcastically posted, “Hopefully not the ‘full wrath’ Ghislaine Maxwell is getting.” Ben Meiselas on MeidasTouch wrote, “I thought the American justice system was supposed to be about ‘due process’ and not ‘wrath,'” as he points out the irony in Trump’s pardon of the convicted drug trafficking Honduran president. One poster on X commented, “The Sackler family has done more to fuel the fentanyl epidemic in America than Venezuela. Can we conduct a midnight raid to arrest them too?”

The president told Fox News there were no US casualties in the raid, though helicopter troops were hurt when their craft was hit, but no Americans were killed. Venezuelan officials denounced the operation as military aggression, calling for mobilization, with reports of around forty deaths and many injuries which are still being assessed. The government’s inner circle is still intact, with vice president Delcy Rodriguez being secretly sworn in as interim president, after which she appeared on state television calling the US action “a brutal attack.” Trump later claimed she had spoken to Marco Rubio and was “essentially willing to do what we think is necessary,” but that claim raises more questions than it answers, especially with all the confusion we’ve seen within the administration over the last few days as they attempt to present a convincing plan for the future.

What could be more Trumpian than The Washington Post’s report that the president has iced out opposition leader, and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Corina Machado as a successor to Maduro? Her unforgivable sin of accepting the Prize rather than demanding it be given to Trump has resulted in her being thrown under the bus, with Trump stating, “It’d be very tough for her to be the leader because she doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country.” Opposition leaders were stunned because expectations that Washington would rally behind her were dashed. Daily Dose of Democracy calls this newsworthy with the president’s petulant self-serving behavior being truly unmatched — a stark reminder to anyone on the world stage willing to play ball with The Donald, that his ego and self-interest are job numero uno.

The administration’s insistence that the Venezuela action was simply to make an arrest — sure, with helicopters, fighter planes, missiles and bombs, and an armada of support ships in the sea — begs the question: Why is it necessary to now run the country? Trump insists, “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.” He and Secretary of State Rubio need to get their stories on the same page! Senator Chuck Schumer tweeted, “The idea that Trump plans now to run Venezuela should strike fear in the hearts of all Americans. The American people have seen this before and paid the devastating price.” Keep the repeating the mantra: He can’t even run THIS country!

Several MAGA dissidents oppose Trump’s attack, one arguing that, “Most Americans are enraged. American disgust with our own government’s never-ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it, and both parties — Republican and Democrat — always keep the Washington military machine funded and going.” Outgoing Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene posted on X: “This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end. Boy, were we wrong!” Podcaster and MAGA influencer Candace Owens suggested that the Trump administration had carried out the attack “at the behest of globalist psychopaths.” She says that Venezuela has been ‘liberated’ like Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq with the CIA staging another hostile takeover. “That’s it. That’s what is happening, always, and everywhere,” she said. Democrat Ro Khanna argues that Trump has “betrayed” his MAGA base by launching a war to bring regime change to Venezuela. He said that we keep voting against dumb wars, but our presidents get us entangled in conflicts abroad, while ignoring the lack of good jobs and high costs for Americans at home.

At the unhinged, reckless press conference — as described by Ben Meiselas — Trump appeared to be dozing off for extended periods of time as the military details of the operation were presented by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine. “Nothing says end of empire like a grasping regime change war launched by an aging leader who can’t even stay awake for the announcement,” posted on X by MS Now host, Krystal Ball. “A literal coup isn’t thrilling enough to keep him awake,” wrote journalist Peter Rothpletz. Given the severity of the events revealed at the press conference, author Aaron Bastani wrote on social media, “Trump sounds exhausted while talking, and can’t keep is eyes open. The neocons got what they wanted. Curious to see when he’s disposed of.”

Substack’s Anthony Davis posted: “The larger concern is not just Venezuela, but the precedent. If the world’s most powerful country can bomb a capital city, kidnap a sitting president and face little more than sternly worded statements, others may take notes. Some warn that China may see this moment as proof that force, when wielded by the powerful, comes with few consequences.” Davis observes that Trump appears increasingly comfortable with military theatrics, and positively energized by the operation to use ground forces if needed. His falling approval ratings and domestic scandals only increase the temptation to project strength abroad. Venezuela is a stress test for the international system — if the rules only apply when convenient, then there are no rules at all, only suggestions for smaller countries. Davis concludes: “Trump’s fascist playbook now extends beyond US borders, as he assumes the role of CEO of Venezuela, replacing one dictator with another.”

A RED SIREN, DEFENSIBLE, DELUSIONAL, STOP YELLING!

The synopsis by Ben Meiselas of MeidasTouch of President Trump’s recent 18-minute address from the White House pretty much sums up its value as “a tantrum with a teleprompter.” “A grievance sermon delivered at warp speed, yelled at the American people, as if your bank account personally insulted him,” summarizes Ben. “It was a hostage video starring facts bound, gagged, and shoved into the trunk of a golf cart.” Meiselas surmises that Trump chose the prime time slot — sorry, fans of ‘Survivor‘ — because his “poll numbers are underwater and sinking fast,” and not because of the national emergency of a sinking economy. With sixty percent of the country disapproving of his actions — not a rounding error, but a flashing red siren screaming ‘we don’t believe you‘ — he decides to yell louder at his victims. As if speed-reading a grocery receipt he picked up in a parking lot, he spouted prices of items, and screeched that expenses are falling fast, but Meiselas points out, “You can’t shout inflation into submission. And you definitely can’t bully people into believing their expenses are cheaper just because you said so.” And adding, “Believe me,” doesn’t cut it.

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