Donald J. Trump, dictator of Venezuela

 

Trump on Venezuela: "We Are Going To Run The Country"

George W. Bush crossed the Rubicon of American Imperial pre-emptive first strikes in 2003 in Iraq but it was hotly debated in 2002, now we hardly bat an eye when Trump does it

Government of the Uniparty, by the Uniparty, and for the Uniparty.

Trump fancies that he's different from George W. Bush, but he's the same guy. 

Flashback: July 1, 2002 

Striking First: President Bush's Preemptive Strike Policy

... We can't have one kind of law for the rest of the world that we impose on the rest of the world and an imperial law, if you will, a law of empire, that applies only to the United States. ... We were seeing the possibility of a new kind of law of empire where we would stand above the rest of the world, and the bottom line when we look at the question of attacking civilians, what happens when we're wrong? Like we were today in Afghanistan, where civilians died because of bad intelligence? ...

 

China may have been buying up to 80% of Venezuelan oil exports, but that amounts to just 4% of China's imported supply

 Ample oil supply shields China from impact of Venezuela disruption, for now

 

They're licking their chops over Venezuela's $17 trillion worth of crude oil

 

U.S. in Prime Position To Unlock Venezuela's Vast Oil Reserves

Eaton, et al., WSJ

Venezuela's new dictator

Hegseth: When Trump Says U.S. Will "Run" Venezuela, He Means "He Will Be Able To Dictate"

Long yields have defied Fed interest rate cuts since September 2024, signaling persistent higher inflation

 

For Donald Trump there's REGIME CHANGE, and then there's R E G I M E C H A N G E

 

Some people think this might have been, you know, theatre, where if everyone plays their part then everyone wins

Except for the casualties in Venezuela, of course, who presently number about 40. 

 

Trump was against regime change before he was for it

 

In August 2016 in Youngstown, Ohio Trump specifically disavowed regime change wars, but now we're going to be running Venezuela for a while after removing Maduro

 

 ... Our current strategy of nation-building and regime-change is a proven, absolute failure. ...

Here. 

 

Trump captures Maduro on the sixth anniversary of his Soleimani assassination lol

 

... Explosions were reported in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, at about 2 a.m. local time (0600 GMT), according to images circulating on social media that could not be independently verified. ...

More.

... Soleimani was assassinated on 3 January 2020 around 1:00 a.m. local time (22:00 UTC 2 January),^[158] by a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad International Airport.^[159] 

More.

 

 

American Con Mag, voting for the enemy since 2008

 

Gold surged 64% in 2025, silver 147%, dwarfing more traditional investments

... [Gold] Bullion surged 64% in 2025, its biggest annual gain since 1979, driven by Fed rate cuts, geopolitical tensions, strong central bank buying, and rising ETF holdings. ...

Spot silver advanced 4.6% to $74.52 per ounce, after hitting an all-time high of $83.62 on Monday, while platinum jumped 4.7% at $2,150.46 per ounce, after rising to an all-time high of $2,478.50 on Monday.

Both metals recorded their best year ever, with silver leading by posting 147% annual gains, driven by its designation as a critical U.S. mineral, supply shortages and low inventories amid rising industrial and investment demand. ...

More.

 

Meanwhile in more traditional investments in 2025:

VMMSX +35.66% emerging markets fund

VTIAX +32.18% total international stock index fund

VGENX +20.62 energy fund 

VFIAX +17.83 Vanguard 500 index fund

VGHCX +17.31 healthcare fund

VTSAX +17.12% total stock market index fund

VFICX +9.53% intermediate term investment grade bond fund

VWESX +7.18% long term investment grade bond fund

VBTLX +7.15% total bond index fund admiral

VBMFX +7.03% total bond index fund investor

VFSTX +6.73% short term investment grade bond fund

VMRXX +4.23% money market fund

VGSLX +3.19 real estate fund.

So-called America First president threatens Iran over its domestic turmoil

 Trump and top Iranian officials exchange threats over protests roiling Iran

 “We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” Trump wrote, without elaborating. 

 Trump Criticized Obama For Not Intervening During 2009 Iran Protests:

"If Obama would’ve backed the people of Iran two years ago when that county had a big, big problem—and the protesters were making headway...we wouldn't have any problems in Iran, believe me.”

 

Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed

 

Only 99.395 million deportations to go, Kristi

 

 

🤣

One week after Supremes rule against Trump, he withdraws National Guard from Chicago, LA, and Portland

 Trump gives up on National Guard deployments in Chicago, LA, Portland 

... The pullback comes a week after the Supreme Court delivered a stark blow to Trump’s push for military troops to patrol U.S. city streets, rejecting his bid to send National Guard members to the Chicago area to protect federal officials enacting his immigration agenda.

In an apparent 6-3 decision, the court explained that federal law generally bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement, and the law Trump used to call up the National Guard likely only applies when the president is unable to execute laws with the regular forces of the military. ... 

 

I missed the December 23 Supreme Court decision story because my cat died the very hour it broke.

 

I guess I'll always remember her now as the Posse Comitatus Cat. 

 

Supreme Court rejects Trump’s bid to send National Guard to Chicago

 ... Citing the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the military from engaging in domestic law enforcement unless explicitly authorized by the Constitution or Congress, the court found Trump lacked the authority to deploy troops to Illinois in this case.

“At this preliminary stage, the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois,” the unsigned order states. ...

Lunatic progressive Democrat, but I repeat myself, complains about Harris' massive failure to get 6.8 million Biden voters from 2020 after people like him forced Biden out

Norman Solomon here: 

... Voter disenchantment: Losing 6.8 million voters who supported Joe Biden in 2020 proved pivotal in the close 2024 election. Harris’s inability to mobilize those pro-Biden voters was a massive failure.

Biden’s betrayal: Biden’s stubborn decision to seek re-election, and his refusal to step aside until very late in the process, robbed Democratic voters of open primaries and undermined Democrats’ chances. ...

 

Progressives did the betraying here, not Joe Biden.

No one in his right mind would expect Biden voters to turn out for somebody else, especially someone else put in at the last second of a campaign which was announced more than a year earlier. Biden did have primaries and won 14 million votes of confidence. And as I've said before, Harris was decisively but narrowly defeated.

Progressives should think about how many of those 6.8 million voters might have still showed up for Joe Biden in 2024 had they not thrown him out, even if he ultimately lost.

Some of those 6.8 million votes might have been the difference between a Republican U.S. House with a five seat majority and a Democrat one, and if the latter, the difference between passing Trump's Big Ugly Bill under reconciliation by just four votes, or it never seeing the light of day in the first place.

Democrats lost five seats in the U.S. House to Republicans in 2024 by 1.62 points or less, the difference between stopping President Trump in his tracks and the madness he is unleashing now, all because progressive elites like Solomon and his ilk betrayed Joe Biden and forced him out:

PA-8:  1.62%

PA-10:  1.26%

PA-7:  1.01%

CO-8:  0.73%

IA-1:  0.19%.

  

In 2018 The Wall Street Journal was still defending China's admission into the WTO, today it pretends it wasn't part of that bipartisan folly

 Then: "The U.S. properly worked for China's inclusion".

Now: "An era of folly began in the new century. Leaders of both political parties supported China's entry into the World Trade Organization".

I can't wait for the Wall Street Journal to admit that America's decline actually began under Reagan forty years ago, not twenty-five, because at this rate I'll be dead before they do.

 

Ohio political strategist is essentially correct that Democrats need to rediscover the New Deal, but seems blissfully unaware that the implication would be a drastic tax cut for 98% of the American people

 

Democrats Need the New Deal, Not Socialism

Brendan Frasier, The Hill

 

The word "tax" comes up only one time:

 

 ... When I asked her why she called herself a democratic socialist, she listed ideas like raising taxes on the wealthy, expanding childcare, paid family leave and strengthening labor protections. I told her that these are not socialist positions. These are social capitalist policies. ...

 

In 1936, 98% of earners made less than $4,000 a year. The tax on that was effectively 3%, or $120. 

 

The average income was far less, about $1,000 a year. The tax on that was effectively 0% because of the $1,000 personal exemption.

 

Revenues were raised by soaking the rich, leaving the rest of us alone.

 

Democrats should by all means revive the New Deal. They'd win in a landslide. Unfortunately, most of them seem to be leftists, not Democrats.

 

Dhey no speaka da language.