Quotes Of The Day-- "A Horrible And Disturbing Signal"

 

"Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth looked every Senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn’t about regime change. I didn’t trust them then and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress. Trump rejected our Constitutionally required approval process for armed conflict because the Administration knows the American people overwhelmingly reject risks pulling our nation into another war. 

"This strike doesn't represent strength. It's not sound foreign policy. It puts Americans at risk in Venezuela and the region, and it sends a horrible and disturbing signal to other powerful leaders across the globe that targeting a head of state is an acceptable policy for the U.S. government. This will further damage our reputation – already hurt by Trump’s policies around the world – and only isolate us in a time when we need our friends and allies more than ever."  Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ), on the Malignant Fascist's strike on Venezuela earlier this morning.  

____________________

“President Trump’s unauthorized military attack on Venezuela to arrest Maduro—however terrible he is—is a sickening return to a day when the United States asserted the right to dominate the internal political affairs of all nations in the Western Hemisphere. That history is replete with failures, and doubling down on it makes it difficult to make the claim with a straight face that other countries should respect the United States’ sovereignty when we do not do the same.

“Where will this go next? Will the President deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce the fragile ceasefire in Gaza? To battle terrorists in Nigeria? To seize Greenland or the Panama Canal? To suppress Americans peacefully assembling to protest his policies? Trump has threatened to do all this and more and sees no need to seek legal authorization from people’s elected legislature before putting servicemembers at risk.

“It is long past time for Congress to reassert its critical constitutional role in matters of war, peace, diplomacy and trade. My bipartisan resolution stipulating that we should not be at war with Venezuela absent a clear congressional authorization will come up for a vote next week. We’ve entered the 250th year of American democracy and cannot allow it to devolve into the tyranny that our founders fought to escape.” -- Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The desperation to get the Epstein-Trump files off the front page has now led this malicious clown car regime to engage in an act of war as a further distraction while getting the "benefit" of grabbing a sovereign nation's oil resources.  America's reputation is close to a nadir, and the signal this sends to the world is "might makes right."  You just know the likes of Putin and Xi are just licking their chops at this turn of events.

BONUS:  More reactions from Democratic officials here.

Venezuela Attacked; Maduro And Wife Captured (UPDATED)

 

The Malignant Fascist took to social media (!) to announce that the United States committed an act of war early this morning against the regime of Venezuela's dictator Nicolás Maduro, and has captured Maduro and his wife. They've reportedly been flown out of Venezuela by U.S. forces.  From AP:

The United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Saturday and said its president, Nicolás Maduro, had been captured and flown out of the country after months of stepped-up pressure by Washington — an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack.

Multiple explosions rang out and low-flying aircraft swept through Caracas, the capital, as Maduro's government immediately accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations. The Venezuelan government called it an “imperialist attack” and urged citizens to take to the streets.

It was not immediately clear who was running the country, and Maduro's whereabouts were not immediately known. Trump announced the developments on Truth Social shortly after 4:30 a.m. ET. Under Venezuelan law the vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, would take power. There was no confirmation that had happened, though she did issue a statement after the strike.

“We do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores,” Rodriguez said. “We demand proof of life.”

Maduro, Trump said, “has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. Details to follow.” He set a news conference for later Saturday morning.

The legal implications of the strike under U.S. law were not immediately clear. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted on X that he had spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who briefed him on the strike. Rubio told Lee that Maduro “has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.”

The White House did not immediately respond to queries on where Maduro and his wife were being flown to. Maduro was indicted in March 2020 on “narco-terrorism" conspiracy charges in the Southern District of New York...

The MF is expected to hold a news conference at 11 EST.  Beyond the overarching question of by what authority the MF had to order the strike and capture of Maduro, we'd like to know "what's the plan; what's next?," because the MF and his regime aren't known for strategic thinking.  We'd also like to know what casualties were incurred by both American forces and Venezuela.

We want to be clear, though, that Maduro is a fascist dictator who was ruling illegitimately;  there's a reason why 25 percent of his citizens fled the country.  So, one could easily argue, is Putin, Lukashenko, Kim Jong-Un, and countless other despots around the world (all of whom just got a green light to conduct "regime change" anywhere they want). But they don't have the largest proven oil reserves in the world like our Western Hemisphere neighbor Venezuela, do they?  We're sure that played no part in this coup.*  What a whiz-bang distraction from the Epstein-Trump files, too!

The action brings to mind George H.W. Bush's invasion of Panama in December 1989 to capture Panamanian president Manuel Noriega, also accused of drug trafficking and other crimes.  He was in U.S. custody for 20 years.  We'll have to see how long the repercussions of the MF's action last in this case.

* UPDATE: Not content with raping and pillaging his own country, Trump says the quiet part loud --

The United States is going to be “very strongly involved” in Venezuela’s oil industry after the operation to capture Maduro, Trump told Fox News on Saturday. He said: “We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and we’re going to be very much involved in it.”

UPDATE II:  JFC, the mad moron is thinking about Mexico next.

UPDATE III:  He says the U.S. is going to run Venezuela.  Hell he can't even run the U.S.!

(Photo:  Caracas under attack / STR/AFP via Getty Images)