Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[digitaldog]

The avg joe at home will feel bolstered because the US has respect again

Except Trump's madness has destroyed respect for the USA around the globe.

Including inside the US.
Protesters took to Times Square to oppose the U.S. attack on Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolás Maduro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIspVZSlFNw

The Brazen Illegality of Trump’s Venezuela Operation
A scholar of international law on the implications of the U.S. arrest of President Nicolás Maduro.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-brazen-illegality-of-trumps-venezuela-operation

[Robert Roaldi]

Except Trump's madness has destroyed respect for the USA around the globe.

Trumpistan and the Christian Taliban thinks that the rest of the world is Satan's playground. The fact that others criticize them is proof that they are on the right track. They are eliminating vaccines and scientific research, including medical, so let's not assume that there is any logic at play. A few weeks ago Trump said that people shouldn't take the MMR vaccine but rather should take the 3 vaccines separately. Utter illusion, but I've seen the FB threads where he was lionized for taking that stand. Yesterday I saw several posts from people bragging about how the US is the greatest for giving freedom back to Venezuelans and so f**k the rest of the world if they don't like it. But that's FB, so who cares, except I read that Republicans are already coming round to Trump's view of Venezuela. Which means they're more or less ok if the US grabs their oil. I think he will get away with it.

[Robert Roaldi]

Including inside the US.
Protesters took to Times Square to oppose the U.S. attack on Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolás Maduro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIspVZSlFNw

The Brazen Illegality of Trump’s Venezuela Operation
A scholar of international law on the implications of the U.S. arrest of President Nicolás Maduro.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-brazen-illegality-of-trumps-venezuela-operation

I truly hope that these things still matter. I am pretty sure they don't to Trumpistan. The protests will be treason to Trump and may be incentives to bring in martial law, since you're at war now. The main lesson these guys probably learned from the Vietnam era is how better to control the message and not lose their grip this time. The main thing working against that is how incompetent Trump and his minions are but that may no longer matter.

Their ultimate fallback, if everything goes south, is that Trump pardons all his buddies, then resigns and gets pardoned by Vance. None of the every day average Americans who suffer from the tariff and health policies will ever be compensated for their suffering. Their money is gone. They will be told the same things that the preachers told the slaves and the coal miners, that their reward will be in heaven, and enough will believe.

I read somewhere that US business bankruptcies are way up, yet the GDP numbers and the markets are doing well. Makes you wonder what we're measuring and in this politicized day and age, who is coming up with those numbers. Personally, I think it's safest to assume that everything that comes out of this administration is propaganda. Even if that's wrong, it's safer to assume it's right.

[digitaldog]

Who would have written this in the script a year ago?

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says Maduro capture is 'the same Washington playbook' that we're 'sick and tired of'
The Republican congresswoman has previously bucked the president, and her last day in Congress is on Monday.

Greene publicly spoke against the Maduro operation on Saturday as well. The congresswoman said in a post to X that Americans’ “disgust with our own government’s never-ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it.”

“This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end,” she said in the post. “Boy were we wrong.”

[Robert Roaldi]

Patrick Boyle analyses his demonetization by the yt algorithm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJP6K2_rr90. Censorship doesn't need to be based on ideas, blunt application of rules can work too.

[Robert Roaldi]

Who would have written this in the script a year ago?

Mind-boggling. Maybe one of those space lasers zapped a lobe.

[Robert Roaldi]

In this interesting 30 min conversation between David Frum and Anne Applebaum, they try to make sense of all the reasons for the US "action" in Venezuela. Many reasons were put forward by the administration that don't much sense. Rubio's latest explanation (that I heard of) was that the whole thing was a law enforcement action. Sure, that'll work on FOX. I mean, the US can just walk into any country whenever they want to grab anyone they want. At least back in Oriega's day in Panama, they had broad regional support.

Trump is now using the US military as a personal mercenary force to grab another country's oil. He set the precedent and the GOP is fine with that, it seems. There was no security emergency that required swift action and they're not even pretending that.

Ukraine and Canada should have kept their nukes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oSRcLWxzYA

[digitaldog]

Trump is now using the US military as a personal mercenary force to grab another country's oil.

That's basically it. Well outlined here:

Fareed Zakaria GPS
What’s Next in Venezuela?
Now that US President Donald Trump has removed Venezuela’s head of state and says America will “run” the country for the time being, Fareed assesses the fallout and likely next developments with International Crisis Group Senior Fellow Phil Gunson and New York Times correspondent David Sanger.

https://www.cnn.com/audio/podcasts/fareed-zakaria-gps/episodes/876c552a-b5a8-11f0-b45b-c3cc9bf7a971

[Rob C]

In this interesting 30 min conversation between David Frum and Anne Applebaum, they try to make sense of all the reasons for the US "action" in Venezuela. Many reasons were put forward by the administration that don't much sense. Rubio's latest explanation (that I heard of) was that the whole thing was a law enforcement action. Sure, that'll work on FOX. I mean, the US can just walk into any country whenever they want to grab anyone they want. At least back in Oriega's day in Panama, they had broad regional support.

Trump is now using the US military as a personal mercenary force to grab another country's oil. He set the precedent and the GOP is fine with that, it seems. There was no security emergency that required swift action and they're not even pretending that.

Ukraine and Canada should have kept their nukes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oSRcLWxzYA

Greenland too! Not that I suppose it had any, but Europe does, and being a distant part of Europe…

[Robert Roaldi]

Greenland too! Not that I suppose it had any, but Europe does, and being a distant part of Europe…

I see that the propaganda machine is hard at work. The web-o-sphere is saying that Trump freed Venezuela from a brutal dictator. Strictly speaking that's true but there are "indications" that Maduro's second in command is willing to "work with" the US. Maybe Maduro got greedy and he needed replacing. Too bad that's still not the party that won the last Venezuelan election. Trump has already come out against them, but his disdain for free elections is well-known. I can only surmise that the policies of the Maduro tribe have oil policies that more closely align with Big Oil and Trump. This seems like just the latest American incursion into Latin American internal politics. It has worked out so well in the past, for some anyway.

[degrub]

The problem with the Venezuela crude is  that it is very heavy with plenty of sulfur. There were only two refineries left  on the US Gulf coast that could processes it directly. The others were converted long ago or built for a lighter, sweeter ( low sulfur) crude and cannot directly take and process it. It would take 2-3 years minimum to reconfigure and replace/build new the processing equipment. By that time, the US should be headed in a different direction and few private oil companies would be interested in that risk.

[Robert Roaldi]

The problem with the Venezuela crude is  that it is very heavy with plenty of sulfur. There were only two refineries left  on the US Gulf coast that could processes it directly. The others were converted long ago or built for a lighter, sweeter ( low sulfur) crude and cannot directly take and process it. It would take 2-3 years minimum to reconfigure and replace/build new the processing equipment. By that time, the US should be headed in a different direction and few private oil companies would be interested in that risk.

How can we be sure that the US will be headed in a different direction? Besides, it's not as if Trump is shy about doing the previously unthinkable. What reason would he have NOT to majorly interfere in the mid-terms under the guise of "emergency"? Who is going to stop him? It's not as if he has a strong beliefs in political freedom. He is deliberately thwarting it in Venezuela. Besides, the historical interference in Latin American politics is not the sole domain of Trump's GOP; it has been going on for a while under many administrations.

Chinese enterprises have established footholds in many S.A., middle eastern and African countries. Why might they be so successful? What has the US done wrong, you don't hear that discussed much.

Trump continues to repeat that Greenland and Canada should be part of the US. He's talking about Mexico and Colombia too. History has shown that the US does not have the knowledge or the stomach for long protracted conflicts in other countries. So who is he kidding. The US had good relations with numerous stable and trusted allies and for some reason Trump has thrown that away and many bootlickers jumped on board. Why? What's the upside?

My question is why are so many people in the world finding themselves discussing unacceptable options just because two old cold war farts like Putin and Trump say so. There must be some bug in human software that makes us suckers for loudmouth twerps.

[degrub]

As it has ever been....

[MattBurt]

Why? What's the upside?

Personal gain surely. That seems to be the sole motivation for everything. Well, except revenge but that is a kind of personal gain as well.

[Robert Roaldi]

Personal gain surely. That seems to be the sole motivation for everything. Well, except revenge but that is a kind of personal gain as well.

I sort of get that. Normally people expect to do better financially from peaceful interactions with friendly countries. But Trump doesn't. He's using taxpayer subsidized hard military power to sanction his personal wealth accumulation. If the citizens of the US are ok with this, there's big trouble ahead.

I see that the White House is floating the use of the military in Greenland. Will Greenland be the new Sudatenland? Americans at home can ignore all this, play with their phones, go to work, etc., because it's only a few volunteer soldiers who get hurt. At some point, a line will be crossed and that will no longer be true. Where's the line? Cancelling the mid-terms, Greenland, Colombia, Canada, Mexico. The US military may be able to take everyone on, and even win, whatever that means in that insane context, but at what cost. Stephen Miller stated that he doesn't think that anyone will attempt to stop the annexation of Greenland military. Did he just declare war on everyone because that's what it sounds like to me.

The people of the world can more or less ignore Russian expansionism. I mean, 4 years later they haven't defeated Ukraine. But how much US expansionism are people going to tolerate.

How many years did the US spend in Vietnam and get nowhere. Was it 18 years in Afghanistan? Trump doesn't care about these things because he doesn't care who gets harmed, Americans or not.

This is quickly becoming more than just one senile old fart losing his mind in public while giving a slurred speech. The US administration is openly talking about invading other countries because Trump feels like it. The US is becoming the enemy. I don't hear China threatening to invade Canada or Greenland.

[Rob C]

I wonder if he has already sold his soul to Satan? Millions of Mohammedans think so… it would explain the hubris, the carelessness, everything.

[Robert Roaldi]

I wonder if he has already sold his soul to Satan? Millions of Mohammedans think so… it would explain the hubris, the carelessness, everything.

As does stupidity.

[Robert Roaldi]

Gwynne Dyer chimes in on the US-Russian equivalence https://gwynnedyer.com/2025/derzhavnost-and-respect/.

He also chimes in on Venezuela https://gwynnedyer.com/2026/trump-is-overcommitted/.

[Robert Roaldi]

It flew under the radar but about 2 weeks ago, Putin accused Ukraine of targeting his home for attack. As if that’s a terrible thing. It’s ok to kill civilians waiting for trains, or in apartement buildings or hospitals, but taking out the leader of a country, well, geez, that’s a no-no.

The next day Trump criticized Zelensky for targeting Putin. There is no proof for any of this, mind, just Russian propaganda but Trump always takes the Putin line.

Are these clowns saying there is some kind of gentlemen’s agrerement not to kill each other?  The politicians are the FIRST ones I’d take out if I had the chance. Especially dictator types, since there is no real backup to them.

Some days it all sounds like made-for-TV farce.

[Rob C]

Much of the tv I see appears to indicate a post-apocalyptic future where it doesn’t really matter anymore at all. Perhaps that’s the attraction: ten days in the gym and all those government guys are Rambo.

I watched a tv documentary yesterday about the rise and fall of the original Russian oil oligarchs, and how the St Petersburg mafia was slowly introduced to displace the original wide boys with Putin’s homies. Then, that accomplished, the gas network was next.

The program explained how Germany was seduced into becoming Russia’s foreign end of the new gas line, cutting out the value of the existing Ukrainian pipes and turning Europe hostage to continuation of the through-Germany flow. Genius. It all left Ukraine a bit derailed, if not irrelevant…

It seems, in glorious hindsight, how dumb was Europe to pin its defence faith upon USA fidelity. Now, the blinkers torn off, we see how naïve that was. I wonder how long Europe will be able to retain access to LuLa, amongst other foreign Internet addresses… we, as Europeans, should have been fiercely independent in everything from the start.