president Maduro captured after US strikes

[RazorV66]

He ain't wrong.

[SomeStupidName]

Who, exactly, is winning, though? Are you, personally, going to be better because the tariffs make everything unaffordable and all those very expensive military fireworks (that you paid for) are being set-off overseas?

I am personally doing better, my monthly costs are continually getting lower. I'm saving more money each pay period, my investments are back up. Those expensive military fireworks will get easily replaced which provides for the workers who build them and the company's that supply the materials, the folks that deliver them, we are winning and it's about to get even better as new America first blue collar jobs return home. We win. Go sulk under a rock.

[Vermilion]

He ain't wrong.


[Video: https://youtu.be/4q9qTlnlkQo?si=K0roZ7gTEPrtFbY8]

It’s never organic.
This is a great read…


So when we learned that there was an air strike on Caracas, I watched the clock -- and waited for the signals.

⏱️ 1:35 AM — As U.S. special operations reportedly land in Venezuela,
@BTNews, a socialist propaganda arm of the ANSWER Coalition, posts early video and frames the mission as an “illegal bombing of Caracas.”
The narrative is set.

⏱️ 1:45 AM — Manolo De Los Santos @manolo_realengo of @PeoplesForumNYC echoes the “illegal bombing” line.
Message discipline is established. The People's Forum had been funded by a tech tycoon named Neville Roy Singham, who lived in Shanghai and funded a global network of socialist causes.

⏱️ 2:29 AM — The ANSWER Coalition drops a red-siren graphic on X calling for protests in Times Square: “NO WAR ON VENEZUELA.” The shift from commentary to mobilization begins.

⏱️ 2:34–2:43 AM — The People’s Forum and the Party for Socialism and Liberation amplify the call. Same poster. Same language. Same timing.

⏱️ 3:21 AM —
@VijayPrashad, director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, a research institute funded by Singham that examines issues through the lens of "national liberation Marxism," weighs in with a tweet: “Down with U.S. imperialism.” The ideological framing goes global.

⏱️ 6:09 AM —
@CodePink condemns the U.S. as “terrorist.” The group was cofounded by Singham's wife, Jodie Evans, a fixture in anti-American protests, along with cofounder @medeabenjamin. Professional CodePink protestor @OliviaDinucci frequently yells at Trump administration officials around town. The nonprofit ecosystem is now fully engaged.

⏱️ 7:49 AM — The International People’s Assembly
@peoplesassembly, a global umbrella group for socialist and communist organizations that partners with Singham's Tricontinental institute, circulates an “EMERGENCY DAY OF ACTION,” urging resistance to U.S. “hegemony.” The command-and-control layer activates.

This wasn’t outrage catching fire.

This was a socialist, communist, Marxist transnational network executing information warfare with military precision.

By daylight, the narrative was locked.

By midday, the protests were live.

By afternoon, politicians like @RepRashida Talib, Rep. @AOC and @NYCMayor @ZohranKMamdani were repeating the same lines I’d seen first pushed in the dead of night.

https://x.com/AsraNomani/status/2007708749075480885

[cherokeetroy]

 Both were CIA assets. Thank you for liberating Venezuela. 

Venezuela was a CIA asset?

Who was Venezuela liberated from?

[CriticalStinker]

The Monroe Doctrine.
The President doesn’t need permission.

The Monroe Doctrine has no legal basis. It was a foreign policy stance over a hundred years ago.

You’re right that presidents haven’t needed permission for some time, but it has nothing to do with the Monroe Doctrine. 

If anyone has given a shit for the last few decades, the constitution says who has the authority to wage war. In the 70’s, congress gave some latitude to the executive branch with the War Powers act which gives the president 60 days before he has to ask for permission. Then after 9/11 we got the AUMF which lets the president go after anyone involved with 9/11. Later people just interpreted that as “terrorists”.

Congressmen want to get reelected. They don’t want to vote on wars or conflict because they’re unpopular with the American people. Unpopular enough that every president post Iraq has vowed they’re anti war when they run.

But the constitution and laws haven’t mattered for some time to the political parties. Party before country.

[Vermilion]

The Monroe Doctrine has no legal basis. It was a foreign policy stance over a hundred years ago.

You’re right that presidents haven’t needed permission for some time, but it has nothing to do with the Monroe Doctrine. 

If anyone has given a shit for the last few decades, the constitution says who has the authority to wage war. In the 70’s, congress gave some latitude to the executive branch with the War Powers act which gives the president 60 days before he has to ask for permission. Then after 9/11 we got the AUMF which lets the president go after anyone involved with 9/11. Later people just interpreted that as “terrorists”.

Congressmen want to get reelected. They don’t want to vote on wars or conflict because they’re unpopular with the American people. Unpopular enough that every president post Iraq has vowed they’re anti war when they run.

But the constitution and laws haven’t mattered for some time to the political parties. Party before country.

Remember when the soviets tried interfering in our hemisphere and JFK wasn’t having it?
Monroe Doctrine

Reagan wasn’t having it either.

[chr0naut]

Trump's doing all right so far.

The other candidates may have been chosen to reflect the will of some of our people to downplay competence and to let everybody have their turn.  They could have chosen an African-American woman candidate who can speak coherently, for example.  They must have known qualified potential candidates who do.  But they did not.

Trump wiped trillions from the US economy at just the suggestion of the tariffs. It's gone now. There has been no rebound.

He demolished part of one of the most important heritage buildings in the US, without asking anyone or seeking agreement to go ahead. It's gone now. The symmetry and appearance of the White House has gone - probably forever.

The government shutdown cost the country between $15b - $30b. It's gone now.

Estimates for the costs of the mass deportations has been estimated to be between $170b to $1t over four years.

His desert fantasy wall has been estimated to cost the US somewhere between $4.5b to $69b - for only 230 miles more wall.

The national debt has risen by by $69,433.37 per second, for the past year. As far as I can tell, Trump has taken no steps to reign in debt. It's been rising very fast, from $38.1t/sec in July, up to a peak of $38.4t/sec, in December.

Meanwhile, costs of living are rising and GDP growth only being moderate in the 2nd to 3rd quarters while the greenback lost 11% of its value early in the year and is set to devalue by a further 10% by the end of 2026.

[CriticalStinker]

Remember when the soviets tried interfering in our hemisphere and JFK wasn’t having it?
Monroe Doctrine

Reagan wasn’t having it either.

JFK had congressional approval.

Regan used the War Powers act which gave him 60 days (that wasn’t around for JFK).

None of that changes the fact that the Monroe Doctrine has no legal basis. It was merely a foreign policy stance.

But again, it doesn’t matter. No one has cared about the constitution or laws for decades. It’s not unique to Trump. He won’t get in any trouble, no one has for conducting such military activity. It just doesn’t abide by the constitution or even the war powers act since we’re past 60 days. Citing the Monroe Doctrine doesn’t change that, but again, doesn’t matter.

[putnam6]

No argument there.

Alas there are so many others that would like to experience a helicopter ride at the hands of Uncle Sam just because. So why stop at Maduro. I mean are you just gonna sit pretty here and not take a hard look at the rest of the world leaders that don’t align with our policies?

Looking at you Sheinbaum

Yeah, it's a bit more complicated than that; it's not just drugs; they had solid evidence of Maduro's complicity,  an insider with actionable intelligence to get in and get out. 

All without too much collateral damage and minimal casualties...

Logistically just being close to the coast was no doubt crucial, and they had to wait for good weather

FWIW, the socio-political climate needs to be relatively clear, or you need to have the balls to make the decision to go or no go. Putting guys in harm's way

It's acceptable when Americans get in and get out unscathed, but Trump has no room for error, even among the right.

If there were American losses, there would be issues with the general public.

[chr0naut]

What exactly is unaffordable?

Nothing we buy is unaffordable, in fact, I have seen prices come down on everything we purchase.

Here’s How Prices For Everyday Items Increased In 2025—Like Coffee (Up 30%)