Illegal

There’s just so much information to be consumed and understood about what’s happening in Venezuela right now. Amongst others, I’m following Heather Cox Richardson’s always measured and informative Substack posts.

Here’s just one thing that stands out from yesterday’s column, the Republican Party KNEW this was going down. They were briefed that Pedo and his drunk Ken doll Secretary of War were sending the military to invade Venezuela and had instructed them to kidnap the Venezuelan President. The Democrats? Nope, they were NOT in the loop.

Representative Jim Himes (D-CT) who as ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee is a member of the Gang of Eight*, told CBS’s Margaret Brennan this morning that neither he nor House minority leader and fellow Gang of Eight member Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) had been briefed on the strikes. Himes said: “I was delighted to hear that Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been in regular contact with the administration. I’ve had zero outreach, and no Democrat that I’m aware of has had any outreach whatsoever. So apparently we’re now in a world where the legal obligation to keep the Congress informed only applies to your party, which is really something.”

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)—also a member of the Gang of Eight—told reporters that he hadn’t been briefed either and that the administration had deliberately misled Congress in three classified briefings before the strikes. In those briefings, officials assured lawmakers that the administration was not planning to take military action in Venezuela and was not pursuing regime change. “They’ve kept everyone in the total dark,” he said. (source) 

Allan McDonald

So, this takeover of a sovereign nation was a Republican Party approved action then. Lovely. So much for democracy, eh?

To be wicked clear, Nicolás Maduro is a dictator, one of the cruelest and most bloodthirsty BUT Prez Pedo’s motivation for taking him out had fuck-all to do with the welfare of your average Venezuelan citizen. I mean Duh-HUH. Trump did NOT put Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado in charge OR Edmundo Gonzalez, the rightful winner of Venezuela’s 2024 election. Nope. It’s Maduro’s faithful Veep, Delcy Rodríguez, of whom Trump said “if she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.” 

Christ, he’s such barbarous, pigheaded, trash brained, greedheaded primitive. The man, and I use the term WAY loosely, only cares about himself and money (not necessary in that order). 

Also…so much for the military refusing to follow illegal orders, huh? I guess the men and women wearing U.S. uniforms don’t actually give an airborne fuck about the Constitution, U.S. and international law. What made the action illegal?

Tjeerd Royaards 

• It was an unprovoked invasion to facilitate regime change. 
• There was NO congressional authorization. 
• It was in violation of the UN Charter article 2 (4) (prohibiting the threat or use of force against another state's territorial integrity or political independence).

The action’s purpose was mischaracterized. This CLEARLY was all about taking control of Venezuela’s oil (and minerals) and had nothing to do with drugs. 

I'm SO disgusted. 

* The “gang of eight” is a group of members of Congress with a pretty sweet name that includes the leaders, both Democrat and Republican, of the Senate and House, as well as the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. The “gang” is briefed on covert intelligence matters by the administration when the president “determines it is essential to limit access” to classified or national security information in “extraordinary circumstances.” The "gang" is also sworn to secrecy to not disclose this information to anyone, even other members of Congress. (source)