On Running Venezuela

OK, so the US grabbed another nation’s leader in the early morning hours on Saturday, the 3rd of January. Certainly sounds like a declaration of war, but no involvement of Congress, which alone has that authority. Congress has for this past year been a vestigal organ of government, leaving the courts as the only bulwark against the “unitary executive” philosophy in practice.

In this case, a unitary exective branch with a withering executive displaying dementia, the effects of a stroke, or both.

In 2020, Trump put a $50 million bounty on Maduro. No takers.

No one quibbles that Maduro was a dictator, who put his thumb on the scale of elections.

No one denies Venezuela is a traffic hub for illegal drugs (but not likely a volume manufacturer of them). Maduro = Panama’s Noriega. No better, no worse. Go ask the average Panamanian who lived through that little “leadership extraction” of Noriega what they recall of it. Was that worth 516 American dead and countless more Panamanians? For one guy?

So, the big question.

Pressed by the host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Kristen Welker, on who is running Venezuela, Rubio was more direct.

“Well, it’s not running,” Rubio said. “It’s running policy, the policy with regard to this. We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction.”

Sounds like a concept of a plan.

But was the US ever at risk from an actual, armed invasion from either of those nations? No.

Now the state department expects Venezuela’s vice president to take charge and do the US’s bidding. Trump is using his typical, mob-like threats that he learned from Roy Cohn, his criminal, creepy advisor while growing up as a slumlord.

This is not a cake walk for the US and it’s going to strike a lot of MAGA people as an odd priority—getting into foreign entanglements.

Throwing one guy into a NY prison is an easy task for Seal team six. Convincing the various competing factions in Venezuela to cave into the demands of a foreign invader? Not as easy. I’ve seen this movie before.

Mission accomplished. Again.

Meanwhile, the Epstein files are still hovering in the average voter’s mind and will continue to be there in November.