Since Midway Blitz began in early September, the federal government has spent at least $59 million deploying and equipping federal personnel and detaining the roughly 4,500 people arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents during that period, the Tribune found.

A reminder that the US killed 80 people in Venezuela, and it would be nice if the US media cared enough to think that the life of a grandmother in Caracas whose building is destroyed by a US bomb matters as much as the life of a person in the US.

So Putin and Big Oil knew we were going to attack Venezuela, but Congress and the American people didn't, because the Trump admin didn't trust us.

The affordability crisis isn’t just a policy failure. It’s reshaping communities and forcing Americans to rely on each other like never before. Where markets fail, people are building solutions from the ground up.

MacCALLUM: You have about 100,000 dying from drug overdoses, most of those drugs from from Venezuela and other places CROW: That's actually not true. The majority of the deaths by drugs in America are the result of meth and fentanyl. Almost none of that comes from Venezuela

A mystery trader made $400,000 on bets that Nicolás Maduro would soon be out as Venezuela’s leader apple.news/AgJ76d0bCR9-...

MEMPHIS: “This is intimidation! Why are y’all doing this to me?” @GovBillLee & Trump’s unconstitutional (pointless) “Memphis Safe Task Force” blockades a local business parking lot and won’t leave. Full: www.instagram.com/reel/DTJFS2E...

⭕️ New: Venezuela’s interior minister Diosdado Cabello, a central figure in the country’s security and intelligence apparatus, is calling for resistance and mobilization following the U.S. operation that seized Nicolás Maduro. According to the Miami Herald, Diosdado Cabello has sent voice...

Steven Miller is a dangerous far-right extremist, as are several other key members of the Trump administration. Perhaps the media could cover him as such?

“.. in 2025 the value of global trade likely crossed $35 billion for the first time in history. That’s 7% more than the previous year. .. The White House can tax trade, but it can’t shut it down.” @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

The imaginary occupation of Venezuela. It would take hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops to occupy Venezuela. Miller verbally abuse the corrupt Chavist leader Trump raised to power over Zoom. That's it.

Four generations of my family have served our country. Service is in my blood. The President wouldn’t know anything about that.

Aged like a fine wine youtu.be/aLCRuMsREaA?...

The instability this loss of international rules could drive worldwide is terrifying.

The Department of Defense will seek to demote Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a retired Navy captain, as punishment for reminding troops in a video last year that they are obligated to refuse illegal orders. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Christian nationalist fascists Nick Fuentes and Joel Webbon agree that "only Christians should be legislators, judges, and in the executive branch."

“The oil companies were informed about an act of war before it happened, Congress was not.” www.rawstory.com/trump-267484...

😭

Before Trump invaded Venezuela, I wrote a long post on things we (me!) should do in 2026. Partly, it's about using the foundation laid by the Epstein files to focus on OTHER corrupt oligarchs Trump is protecting. It's also about making some things more visible. www.emptywheel.net/2026/01/02/w...

FWIW, I'm very interested in the timing of this decision, bc Trump was whining again abt obeying unlawful orders in recent days (it all blurs into one Truth Social rant). So it may be Whiskey Pete told him there'd be no courtmartial and Trump had his hissy fit as a result.

1. This weekend, far-right group Lets Go Washington announced that it had collected enough signatures to get a trans sports ban on the ballot in the state. The bill includes genital inspection provisions. It is one of the first to go forward in a blue state. Subscribe to support our journalism.

We are now accepting apologies from all of the "You just hate Trump because he isn't a neocon starting foreign regime-change wars" folks

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s testified before the House Judiciary Committee two weeks ago. His request to testify publicly was denied by Chair Jim Jordan, who then released the transcript on New Year’s Eve. READ the thread below.Share it. Also, the link: d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2025/...

📊 Drone units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces set a new record in December 2025 - 33,000 Russian military hit. Drones alone inflicted losses on the level of Russia's monthly "mobilization".

Take a look at our collection of products. Everything is on sale! maddogpac.com/collections/...

UPDATE: Hegseth goes after Senator Mark Kelly’s retirement for telling the military they don’t have to obey unlawful orders (because he knows he has no chance in a trial by court martial)

Read:

*Light goes dark on Kash’s face* Someone screams in bg: “Guys, you cannot be adjusting his light!” A well-oiled machine 🙃 🎪

$T

After being a huge part of this fucking train wreck…MTG walks off into the sunset with a taxpayer funded pension and a lifetime of healthcare.

Today is Marge Greene’s last day in Congress.

UNSC will convene at Colombia's request - backed by China and Russia — today at 10am ET. UNSG Guterres has warned the U.S. action could set "a dangerous precedent". China accused US of acting like a "world judge" by seizing Maduro, with Beijing set to confront Washington at the UN.

"Swapping American dominance of the western hemisphere for Chinese dominance of east Asia would be the deal of the century. For China." @gideonrachman.bsky.social on the wild scenes of the Donroe Doctrine: as.ft.com/r/3d92b5c5-3...

i think people are wildly overestimating the level of strategic thinking behind what just happened in venezuela

Judd Legum on Trump-supporting billionaire Paul Singer, who recently got his hands on CITGO and stands to profit significantly from Trump’s Venezuela invasion, after donating to Trump’s campaign. Because of course.

This shouldn’t surprise anyone. He also decided to raid Venezuela because Maduro was dancing on TV. He doesn’t make decisions based on the reality on the ground - he makes decisions based on his ego. Always.

The pedophile is putting not only taxpayers money in his pocket, he’s also cashing in on fucking oil money. NO one has made more money off the WH than Pedo Don.

He’s as dumb and fascist as anyone in Congress.

After Rep. MTGreene's resignation, Speaker Johnson's margin narrows in House. He can lose only TWO votes on a roll call vote, assuming Dems hold together. Current makeup: 219GOP, 213Dem, 3 vacancies

Someone broke the windows at JD Vance’s empty home in middle of the night. Nobody injured; one suspect arrested. Trump world spooked and crying.

BREAKING: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer "stands with' Danish PM over Trump's comments over Greenland

"Russia's former president Dmitry Medvedev considers the possibility of kidnapping Friedrich Merz, following the American model, to be conceivable. He is thus also issuing a threat to the president of Ukraine." Article in German www.zeit.de/politik/ausl...

Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles just three weeks ago, quoted in the staggering Vanity Fair article, claiming there was on intention of invading Venezuela: “If he were to authorize some activity on land, then it’s war, then we’d need Congress.”

Attention Candace Owens. 🚨

“a global effort to expand school computer access — a program known as “One Laptop per Child” — did not improve students’ cognitive skills or academic outcomes…” But I’ll bet QAnon got a bunch of new followers. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/t...