the National Rural Health Association . . . applauded the Trump administration and called the funding “unprecedented.”
The “most sweeping cuts to Medicaid and Medicare in the programs’ histories” is also unprecedented. Now do the basic arithmetic and let us know how much better off we are under TrumpRx.
“It’s not illegal if the president does it.”
That didn’t work out well for Nixon, but he didn’t have the benefit of the current Supreme Court. Under the recently discovered constitutional doctrine of presidential immunity the president’s acts may still be illegal but you can’t do anything about it.
Good reporting on the known (old) indictment from 2020 on drug-related charges, which may have been superceded, but under seal. From CBS Miami on YouTube, but I don’t seem to be able to post a link.
Random thoughts.
Is the US at war with Venezuela? How could it not be at war with Venezuela? Evidently there is some kind of rationale based on an indictment on drug charges. Arrested to stand trial in the US. Pam Bondi suggests there are charges coming against Maduro’s wife, who was also ‘arrested’.
ETA: Wait. There’s more? Arrest the president of the country for US crimes, ‘extradite’ him using military resources, and proclaim the US is now running Venezuela? And that’s not an act of war?
Regime change is a messy business, with uncertain outcomes. Who will be running Venezuela tomorrow morning? Nobel Peace Prize winner (and possibly legitimate winner of Venezuela’s disputed election) Maria Corina Machado? As soon as the puppet strings can be attached?
Josh covered that in his Trump Says US Has Captured Venezuela’s President Maduro post.
A DOJ Office of Legal Counsel opinion from that time [1989] asserts that “the President, acting through the Attorney General, has the inherent constitutional authority to deploy the FBI to investigate and arrest individuals for violating United States law, even if those actions contravene customary international law.”
Started long before that with the overthrow of Mossadegh. Operation Ajax was the template for all following US fomented coups around the globe.
Feels like an attempted first step in an international conspiracy between Russia, China, and the US to divvy up authoritarian control of the world. Russia (Putin) gets Europe, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and Africa. China (Xi) gets Asia and South Asia. And the US (Trump) gets North and South America… and the Panama Canal and Greenland.
Ridiculous, right? Not a fan of conspiracy theories at all, but it would be foolhardy to ignore this one completely.
The move comes barely a month after the president pardoned former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was sentenced for drug trafficking. The president has claimed that Hernandez’s imprisonment was the result of a political prosecution by President Joe Biden’s administration. But the lead investigator on the case that resulted in the conviction, Emil Bove, went on to become Trump’s personal lawyer and then a Trump judicial appointee.
That pardon was heavily criticized at the time, and the operation against Maduro prompted renewed attacks of hypocrisy from Trump critics — including former Trump White House official Miles Taylor, who wrote on X/Twitter:
December: Trump gives sweetheart pardon to a drug-kingpin president.
January: Trump bombs a country to arrest a drug-kingpin president.
If you think this is about the “war on drugs,” you’re fooling yourself.
Exxcuuusse me - that’s “Kinetic Law Enforcement Activity”, buster! 
Joyce Vance covers the waterfront thoroughly here.
No, not Venezuela. We’re at war with Eurasia. We’ve always been at war with Eurasia. /s
Mr. Trump has not yet offered a coherent explanation for his actions in Venezuela. He is pushing our country toward an international crisis without valid reasons. If Mr. Trump wants to argue otherwise, the Constitution spells out what he must do: Go to Congress. Without congressional approval, his actions violate United States law.”
First, a coherent explanation of anything is outside Trump’s skill set.
Second, yes and yes, which is the only consistency in this administration.
Third, see Josh Marshall re 1989 DoJ memo.
Last but not least, Mike Lee has already set the bar for the GOP Congress to retroactively sanctify the brave actions of our esteemed commander-in-chief and his lapdog Secretary of War.
In summary, fuck every last one of these fucking fuckers. (@kelaine, I don’t feel obligated to use the blur function)
Trump is speaking right now and his remarks on the actions in Venezuela (and more) are akin to O.J. Simpson’s trip in the White Bronco on the LA freeway, i.e. all over the f_ckin’ place. Unhinged! Plus, he won’t shut the f_ck up! Trump = alleged dry drunk, Hegseth = proven wet drunk, Rubio = toady. Desperate people do (and say) desperate things! Trump says “We’re going to run the country?” WTF??
The Russian ruble was the world’s top-performing currency against the US dollar in 2025, appreciating by around 45%.
Venezuela sits on 20% of global oil reserves and nearly 12% of exports in a market with excess total global production of nearly 4 million barrels a day.
Glut solved, comrades. When does the US realize who Trump works for?
Monies must be “clawed back” to fund projects of dire national import, such as Le Arc de Trump.
…“We want in on da action.”
I sentenced myself to listen to the whole thing, all the way through Keggie’s jingoistic boasting, “Raisin” (elderly grape?) Cane’s emotionless bland report, and Little Marco’s hysterical raging on how His President doesn’t just “talk, he ACTIONS it!!”
The shameless hyperbole and over the top, exaggerated bragging and boasting were embarrassing. Apparently, it was on a par with D Day. Beyond anything anybody has ever seen! Nobody else could have done it! The rest of the world had better watch out! We’re your friend (!?!?!)
A few little details slipped by:
I found it shameful and ominous. I repeat my urge for “Get Him Out!” demonstrations, parades, and campaigns.
A taste.
No way these guys will let someone like Machado take office. The want a far right autocratic who is ‘our’ autocrat.