A protest erupted in Albuquerque in response to Trump's illegal invasion of Venezuela. However, many folks called the protesters "extremists" and "communists" with talking points straight out of Fox "News." They clearly didn't understand what the protest was about. www.koat.com/article/prot...

I've said this before and I'll say it again. It would only take a tiny handful of Republican Congress members or senators to stop the slide of America toward authoritarian fascism, but nope. They're all in.

#USA is not at war with #Venezuela unless and until it is authorized by an act of Congress. Until then, it is an unconstitutional action of 47 involving the DoD in an illegal move in Venezuela. The people of USA have not authorized a war. Far from it. Repost!

Nicaragua is very displeased, we need our zone of peace

We are a country whose Constitution, according to the Supreme Court, gives our own presidents immunity for crimes committed while in office, but we will prosecute presidents of other countries for alleged crimes and invade them to execute arrest warrants.

In 2019 Fiona Hill, who served in the first Trump administration, told Congress that the Russian government had been “signalling very strongly that they wanted to somehow make some very strange swap agreement between Venezuela and Ukraine”. www.ft.com/content/dcd8...

I'm no expert on Venezuela, but remember that Minister of Interior, Diosdado Cabello, has his a considerable power base, and was indicted in both the Maduro indictments.

At PN, I argued that Trump attacked Venezuela not to prevent drug trafficking, and not even really to get oil, but mostly because he is a fascist who thinks military action and murder are fun and manly. www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-vene...

Reup: My post on the differences between the 2020 and 2025 Maduro indictments. Of note, 2025 includes flimsy claims about TdA, which Stephen Miller will use to renew his AEA claims. Also, far less attention to democratic legitimacy in 2025 one. www.emptywheel.net/2026/01/04/d...

I assume Trump will be paying himself the $25 million bounty Joe Biden placed on Maduro.

Some new instant oil experts are incorrectly reporting that Amber Energy, an affiliate of Paul Singer's Elliott Investment Management, has acquired Venezuelan owned Citgo Petroleum's US subsidiaries As I recently reported a judge approved Amber's bid but deal has not closed and is being challenged

“As many Puerto Ricans suspected, the former Air Force base at Aguadilla was his first stop on American soil…The giveaway? The photo that Trump shared on social media of a blindfolded, handcuffed Maduro showed him holding a bottle of what appeared to be Nikini brand water—widely available in PR.”

* RUSSIA'S UN ENVOY: WE CONDEMN US ACT OF ARMED AGGRESSION AGAINST VENEZUELA * CHINA'S DEPUTY UN ENVOY ON VENEZUELA: CHINA "DEEPLY SHOCKED" AND STRONGLY CONDEMNS UNILATERAL, ILLEGAL AND BULLYING ACTS OF US @reuters.com

Spot the difference: Iraq vs. Venezuela

According to this reporting, Trump will keep the popular Venezuelan resistance leader Maria Machado from power in Venezuela because she not he won the Nobel Prize. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Seizing another country's national resources by military force for US oil and mineral companies to plunder while refusing the recognize the opposition leader with zero regard for the well being of the Venezuelan people does not make us the "good guys." bsky.app/profile/atru...

Trump makes it clear on Air Force One that Venezuela was about the oil. He also floats more strikes in Venezuela, military action against Cuba and Columbia, and taking Greenland. Completely off the rails.

What in the Gestapo is going on in Grand Rapids? Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.

I now wonder whether pardoning the drug running former Honduran President wasn’t Trump showing Maduro he too would get a pardon if he left the country, kept his allies and not the opposition in power, and gave Trump the oil. bsky.app/profile/adam...

The level of pettiness here is almost unbelievable. According to sources close to The White House who spoke to WaPo, Donald Trump reportedly soured on supporting Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado after she accepted a Nobel Peace Prize instead of insisting it be awarded to him.

Trump just issued threats to attack Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Iran, Venezuela (again), and Greenland (which would be an attack on all of NATO).

January 4, 2025

@hcrichardson.bsky.social Sunday afternoon Visibility Brigade in Concord MA. 70 intrepid, angry, noble souls braved the cold and icy walk to send their message. We usually only have a handful of folks. You can do it too. It’s SO worth it. 🗽🇺🇸

It's the only game that matters. My SKETCH of British politicians playing the Trump Game.

Cancelling research into preventing breast cancer is classic Trump and classic insanity. www.facebook.com/reel/4354173...

among other things, you can't just *give* the Nobel prize to someone else. that's not how it works

Since TANF was converted to block grants, only 22% of funding goes to cash assistance to the poor. This is Welfare State 101 knowledge. But the Washington Post does not mention that because now the editorial page is a place that draws its evidence from right wing youtubers rather than researchers.

Reporter: Did you speak with the oil companies before the operation? Did you tip them off? Trump: Before and after. They want to go in and they’re going to do a great job.

💯

This is resonating so much at the moment. It’s informative and horrifying but also an inspiration. Democratic coalition building is the only way forward.

WH sources say Venezuela's opposition leader committed the "ultimate sin": She accepted the Nobel Peace prize. “If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

My Dad, almost 97, stood against fascism as a teen in the US Navy! He shouldn’t have to see his sacrifice go to waste 🤬

Is there anyone in this room who thinks there will be a cease-fire soon? & no one raised their hands. Trump doesn't have a strategy. He doesn't think strategically or geopolitically. The previous Pope, picked a fight with Vance. -Anne Applebaum- Thread 1/8🧵 #InternationalLaw #Venezuela #Europe

Anne Applebaum describes both what 47th POTUS and his death cult want life to be in USA for indefinite future and what life has been like for populations of North Korea, Russia, China, among others for decades and decades.

I think “we the people” should start focusing on Republicans, in their him states, at their offices. We have had some big wins, the Epstein Files law, which are pummeling Republicans, the votes to extend the ACA subsidies, which will be in the spotlight again Tuesday when they come back from break,

Now that Trump is trying to hand Venezuela to US oil companies, that incentivizes execs to give big donations to his PAC and WH ballroom in a "vicious circle" of corruption, @normeisen.bsky.social says. MTG gets how this betrays MAGA. On the pod Norm lays it all out: newrepublic.com/article/2048...

Here’s what The Counteroffensive is reading today: Ayatollah Khamenei plans to escape to Russia if protests in Iran are not successfully quelled, The Times wrote, citing an intel report. The escape is modelled on Assad's escape in 2024 and would include Khamenei's inner circle.

The oil companies are a co-equal branch of government. So are the tech bros. Congress isn't.

Actually, it's clear that there is no plan

My full statement on Trump’s unconstitutional military operations in Venezuela:

As of this week, millions of Americans are now paying thousands more for health insurance. If the President and Congressional GOP think Washington has the capacity to "run" Venezuela right now, why won't they fix the insurance cost crisis they've created here at home?

The media need to stop beating their chests about how powerful our military is. It's a point of pride when your country has a strong military that keeps the peace. It's a source of shame when politicians turn your strong military into an international armed robbery gang.

Once a progressive check on state policies, the Florida Supreme Court is now a conservative weapon remade by Governor DeSantis. All seven justices are Republican appointees, five chosen by DeSantis himself.

Missouri Republicans played power politics in 2025, crushing Democratic opposition in the Legislature on major issues from abortion to congressional redistricting. via @missouriindependent.com

The impact was swift: DHS and the FBI ramped up their presence in the state, and federal funding for child care in the entire state was frozen. But a week later, state officials said the child care centers accused of fraud were all operating as expected. https://cnn.it/4jqkIGt

Stephen Miller has made clear that he would like to be Reichsstatthalter for Venezuela, not Rubio

We’ve apparently entered the YOLO phase of MAGA

Trump has pretty much abandoned the lie that regime change in Venezuela was about drug trafficking, but Republicans in Congress still seem committed to the bit regardless.

Patriots, take to the streets. A national day of action should be simple in its demands and disciplined in its message. The American people do not consent to spill blood and treasure on regime change and conquest. open.substack.com/pub/saltypol...