The Reign Insane Fails Mainly on the Plans
Over the weekend, I had lunch with a friend. At one point, he commented how amazing it was that Trump seemed to have a scandal a day. Sometimes two a day, I added.
And so, I planned to write today about his latest big scandal. But I won’t. Because it wasn’t the scandal that requires writing about first. It was a different scandal – it was going to be about the House Judiciary Committee testimony by Jack Smith on Trump's criminal indictments, which the MAGOPs buried by releasing the video on New Year’s Eve. But – being Trump – there was indeed a new scandal the very next day. And an even bigger one. Which is impressive even by Trump standards.
(You really do need a scorecard to keep straight what you're talking about when bringing up "So, what do you think about this Trump scandal?" Sorry, they'll reply, you'll have to be more specific.)
So, there on Saturday, was Trump ordering the bombing of Venezuela. Capturing President Nicolas Maduro. Destabilizing the area. Saying we’ll now "run" Venezuela. Explaining (over and over) that we'll control all their oil. And yet not having an end game for where this all will lead, or a plan what to do next.
At the very least, it was good that the immediate reaction by every expert I saw or read was beyond critical for how truly terrible a decision this was. But that Trump went that much more crazy at his press conference speaks loudly of the trouble he's put himself in. He actually, really said that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela!! Well, there’s a claim that is going to instantly come back to haunt him – on three levels. One, that we won’t be able to do so. Two, that we shouldn’t "run" Venezuela, it's lunatic. And three, that this is completely contrary to what his base loves about him, that he promised “America First” and wouldn’t get us involved in any foreign wars. Oops, so much for that. (No doubt some of his base, being a cult, will now suddenly realized they're for regime change. Though not all will, as we've already seen from comments.)
But let's not rush past that yet. “Run” Venezuela?? Seriously?? "Run" Venezuela?? Trump can’t even run the United States! After only 11 months in office, he already only has a 33% approval. Two-thirds of the country isn’t buying what he’s selling. "Run" Venezuela?!
And in his press conference on the attack of Venezuela, where the world was listening intently for details on what was done, what is planned next, how we would be “running” Venezuela, what would be done about Venezuelan oil, Trump couldn’t help himself and instead kept bringing up...President Joe Biden. Because not only is that what’s been relentlessly important to Trump most of all, over and over, down to the minutiae of an auto-pen and infantile plaques on the White House wall, but even more to the point, it's his dementia kicking in – when you can only keep focusing on the same thing obsessively.
There was a tweet on social media by Secretary of State Marco Rubio trying to push the idea that this action shows that Trump isn’t a "game player," but a man of action. (When he isn’t falling asleep in public, presumably.) But – not a game player?? That’s all Trump is. Ever. It's long be well-established that Trump is about two things: himself and being transactional. "What's in it for me?" There’s no plan here, no idea of what’s next, no explanation on how we’re going to “run” Venezuela, no agenda on how he’s going to control and distribute Venezuela’s oil, which Trump said (repeatedly) is now ours. It’s all game playing to Trump – who said he thought he deserved some of the $50 million bounty on Maduro. (Yes, really.) And who tried to pump himself up by claiming this action should now be called the “Donroe Doctrine”!!! It’s just so egregiously Trump – trying to put his name on everything others created and accomplished. Even if it's part of important U.S. history. Thankfully there’s not a building with “Monroe Doctrine” on it that Trump can plaster his name over.
Not a game player? That is all Trump can do.
And man, is “Donroe Doctrine” going to stick to him in ways he will never, ever want, when the debacle implodes. And it can’t help but implode. That’s what debacles do.
Consider, just for starters: Trump says we will “run" Venezuela. Venezuela has 28 million people. Its landmass is huge – it’s about the size of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas and Louisiana...combined!!! The same political party of Maduro is still in control. And we only have 15,000 military there. We had 500,000 people in Vietnam! For a decade. And failed.
This is the Pottery Barn Rules: You break it, you own it. And Trump openly owns it, it's the Donroe Doctrine!
Furthermore, Trump can’t even get his “mission” straight for Venezuela. It’s been a changing lie at every step of the way. First it was about stopping the spread of fentanyl (never mind that Venezuela doesn’t manufacture fentanyl). Then it was about stopping cocaine being brought into the U.S. (never mind that Venezuela’s cocaine is targeted for Europe). And that, no, it was never ever never about oil (which Trump now explains -- and said the word "oil" literally 25 times in his press conference!! -- we own). And that, again, no, no, it was never about regime change - which Trump now says we will “run”!!!
By the way, lest one think this is hyperbole about lying, the DOJ just released a 25-page indictment of Maduro. And as Rep. Thomas Massie noted, "25 page indictment but no mention of fentanyl or stolen oil. Search it for yourself." And provided a link to the indictment.
And lest we forget among all the lies about what wee are doing, looming over it all remains the threat of a war crime – that “second strike” video Trump and Hegseth won’t release, killing a man under duress at sea against all international law. There was the argument, briefly, that no, it wasn’t a war crime since we weren’t really at war -- so it was “just” murder. But now it turns out to be clearly part of what is, essentially, a war.
One additional, huge problem. (They do mount up...) Trump and his MAGOP circle are rejoicing on what they call the great success of capturing Venezuela’s drug lord President Maduro who we’ve arrested and brought to the U.S. The huge problem with this is that it calls direct attention to the other South American president who was a drug lord, Juan Orlando Hernandez of Honduras, who we arrested and actually convicted to 40 years in prison for bringing 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. – and Trump just pardoned weeks ago!!
Pro Tip: That kind of undercuts your celebrating the arrest of a South American drug lord president who you arrested for smuggling drugs into the U.S. All the more so because Maduro didn't do that, while Hernandez did.
(By the way, it would shock no one paying attention to who Trump is if Maduro buys his way to getting a Trump pardon.)
But the biggest problem for Trump is – and it can’t be said enough – what’s next? What is the plan how to “run” Venezuela? To control their oil industry? To do anything? With 15,000 military there. And no authorization from Congress? Without Congress, not even the critical "Gang of Eight" even being informed beforehand!
What comes next? What is the plan?
And worst of all (and yes, there is “worse” than all the rest of this) – is that Trump’s action not only destabilized the entire region and created mass refuges (Colombia has already sent its military to lockdown its borders)… but Trump opened the door for Putin and China to do the exact same thing (attack and capture the President) against countries who they want to control – like Taiwan and Ukraine. And what moral outrage can the U.S. now take to the world to decry their lawlessness?
Besides which, it certainly makes negotiating a peace deal over Ukraine even harder.
I take no pleasure in this action. What I do take pleasure in is that this is most-likely to hurt Trump badly. And hurt his party which will most surely feel compelled to support this disastrous action as a Great Thing. Because MAGOPs in Congress will be stuck having to do what they’ve been doing since the start of Trump’s first term – defend slavishly everything Trump has done. Without, in this case, even knowing the slightest about what the plan is for what’s next.
All the while, as of January 1, healthcare costs will begin to skyrocket for 20 million Americans. As a potential government shutdown looms at the end of the month.
And that’s exactly what MAGOPs are doing. Raving about Trump being a “man of action.” Because bombs exploding look great on video, like fireworks. And photos of a captured Maduro look great and victorious.
Yes, they look just as excitingly wonderful as George W. Bush’s “Shock and awe” operation looked on video. And as him on board a battle cruiser with the “Mission Accomplished” banner looming above him. And the photos of the captured Saddam Hussein.
It looked great – to those who wanted it to look great. Unfortunately, that “Mission Accomplished” lasted eight years. At a cost of $3 trillion. And 4,300 dead Americans. And 200,000 wounded.
But to the Desert Storm "shock and awe" supporters, those first days sure did “look” great!
(Not to worry, we've gone on long enough here, so we won’t get into discussing Afghanistan.)
And keep in mind, we had experts overseeing Iraq. And Afghanistan. And Vietnam. Now? We have Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, Marco Rubio, Kristi Noem, “JD Vance” and…Trump. Along with all his other unqualified incompetents surrounding Trump, acquiescing to all his faux-macho, malignant narcissistic desires, compounded by him having dementia. Which is degenerative.
Well, so much for that Nobel Peace Prize. Again. And again. And again.
(No word yet if FIFA is going to retract its quaint, first-ever "FIFA Peace Prize" that they gave Trump a month ago to placate his infantile ego. Man, that didn't age well. Even as a participation trophy publicity stunt.)
Well, this surely is going to push the Jack Smith video testimony on Trump's criminal indictments off the lead story on Monday...
But the problem there is it’s not going away.
The transcripts and video will still likely be covered at some points during the day. Just with much less time devoted to it. However, since it’s being bumped for a even “worse” story for Trump, the trade-off is very bad for him.
And the testimony is something that can be dealt with later. Though timely, it's not time-dated, but based on news from two years ago, so it can hold off. Further, it seems more likely now that Democrats might call Smith to testify in public if/when they take control of Congress after the Mid-Terms.
And it’s not like these are the only scandals Trump is facing. It’s a 20-car pile-up. Can you imagine? Trump and MAGOPs are going to have to deal with an unauthorized attack on a Venezuela with no “What’s next?” plan in sight – and as backup stories, just waiting in the wings are the Jack Smith testimony, the Epstein files, and 20 million Americans at risk of losing their healthcare as cost skyrocket from premiums being ended. Along with tariffs kicking in now that it’s the New Year, measles outbreaks, unemployment up, military in the cities, and arrests of legal immigrants along with deportations without due process.
And then throw in for good measure. With a possible government shutdown at the end of the month.
All for Trump with a 33% approval. As I’ve noted – when you have high approval and make a misstep, people tend to view it as just that, a misstep. But when your approval is very low, and you have a misstep, it tends to confirm to people why they dislike you. Including at least some of his dwindling base.
This would be a burden for any president to deal with, the pounding stress. Imagine it for an almost 80-year-old malignant narcissist who falls asleep in public and has dementia. Which is degenerative. It’s not getting better for him.
Yes, isn’t it amazing, my friend said, that Trump seemed to have a scandal a day. Sometimes two a day, I added.
The thing is, scandals don’t take their place in line and not start until the previous scandals has finished. They overlap one another and pound down like a typhoon during an earthquake, as a tornado twists across the land.
By the way –
This is not normal.
We interrupt this article for a Special Report with exclusive footage on what it's like inside the Trump White House.
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