Venezuela

Crazy Is As Crazy Does…

by MyBaconPress

So, it seems at this point like he has dropped the whole ‘Peace Guy’ persona entirely. He has invaded one foreign, sovereign nation, Venezuela. He’s threatening another, Greenland. He’s bombing Nigeria. Now he’s saber-rattling about Iran. The ONE country, it seems, he’s reluctant to help, militarily, is Ukraine, the one country that has asked – begged – him for help. I can’t (Putin) understand (Putin) what’s keeping him (Putin) from helping in that one (Putin).

No, Nobel Peace Prize for you, Donny. We let you have the vaunted FIFA Peace Prize and you’ve crapped all over it’s hallowed tradition. And, no, you can’t even “share” María Corina Machado’s Peace Prize. I know, I know, you’ve ended, what, a hundred thousand wars? Sure, you have. But the demons you battle in your own head don’t count…

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47 said, “If we don’t take Greenland, you’re going to have Russia or China as your next-door neighbor. That’s not going to happen.” Will somebody please show him a map? Specifically, Alaska from where, we all know from that voice of wisdom, Sarah Palin, we can see Russia. They’re already our “next-door neighbor.” Dumbass…

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Donny keeps insisting that oil companies are lining up to get all that beautiful oil – somehow our oil, that we’re only storing under Venezuela – under their control. Obviously the oil companies want the stolen oil. It’s oil. But they’re not as interested in the problems of getting it, so they’re expressing hesitation.

Donny keeps insisting that oil companies are lining up to get all that beautiful oil but the CEO of ExxonMobile said, “If we look at the commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela, today it’s un-investable.” But Donny keeps insisting that oil companies are lining up to get all that beautiful oil – so now he’s threatening to cut out ExxonMobile because they don’t see it as a dependable investment. But Donny keeps insisting that oil companies are lining up to get all that beautiful oil…

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Let’s visit an old friend, shall we? I’ve got to confess, his illegal invasion of Venezuela, coupled with the ICEhole’s murder of Renee Good served – very effectively – to push the Trump/Epstein files off of the front page. But the matter hasn’t gone away. No matter how desperately he wants it to and wishes it would go away, it hasn’t gone away.

We know Team Evil has been working hard to release pieces of paper showing as little information as possible. They claim those are the files, the pieces of paper. Most people think the “files” are the information on the paper, not the pieces of paper themselves. The 8.5 x 11 black pages aren’t cutting it. Worse, they’re releasing those pieces of paper as slowly as they can by claiming, “We’re working on it. We just read slow.”

So now Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna have requested the court overseeing the release to appoint a Special Master – someone who CAN read. Massie wrote: “Attorney General Pam Bondi is egregiously violating the requirements of the ‘Epstein Files Transparency Act.’ Under her leadership, the Department of Justice is missing statutory disclosure deadlines, making excessive redactions, and illegally withholding the Department’s internal communications. Because the Department of Justice has shown it cannot be trusted with making the disclosures required by law, a Special Master should be appointed to oversee the release of the Epstein files.” See? It hasn’t gone away and it isn’t going away…

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Just a thought: racism among white men seems to be rooted in a fear, “Holy crap, what if they do to us what we’ve always done to them?” So, you could stop doing to them…

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As Iran cracks down on protestors, martyrs are being highlighted. Oddly, as the US cracks down on, um, who are they cracking down on, again? Oh, right, anybody who gets in their way for any reason, whatsoever, right. We’re getting some martyrs, too.

Iran has been in upheaval to one degree or another, ever since the United States overthrew the democracy there in favor of the Shah (and the oil, of course). It seems natural they’d have a martyr or two. On the other hand, the US has only been in upheaval since Donny the Dumbass seized power. He’s only been running the show (into the ground) for about a year, we already have a name or two to rally around.

Yes, your own country creating martyrs IS a badge of shame, but let us not let their tribulations and deaths be in vain. Word is, his criminal regime will fall if we can get just 3% of the population into the streets. Our current population is 345,297,879. That means we need about 10.3 million people marching – peacefully, please. The sooner we get out there, the fewer names of martyrs we’ll have to collect…

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I’ve got to say, these Forty-Niners are a rather amazing squad. They keep suffering injury after injury. They have a long list of starters sitting on the sideline. They just lost another in yesterday’s game. They won anyway. Now they’re going to play Seattle again. They played two weeks ago and it didn’t go well for the Niners.

The Niners Head Coach, Kyle Shanahan, has publicly requested a Sunday game instead of a Saturday game of the NFL. That’s pretty unusual. Normally, coaches just shrug off whatever day they’re assigned. “It is what it is.” I suspect he needs as much time as he can get to prop up what’s left of his team. Yeah, the Niners won, but they lost George Kittle to a torn Achilles tendon, the latest in a concerning, long line of soft-tissue injuries. The team leads the league in soft-tissue injuries.

There’s a story going around. Maybe a rumor? There’s a guy out there named Peter Cowan. He says he has an inkling as to why the Niners are the most injury-prone team in the entire NFL over the last decade. First he lists the injuries. It’s a pretty brutal list, and it’s long. Every Niner fan knows this team has suffered more than it’s share of injuries. We openly ask each other, “Why?” What’s going on? I mean, the injuries are a regular topic of conversation.

Cowan says he thinks the problem can be traced to an electrical substation next to the Niners practice field. He says the substation emits “low-frequency electromagnetic fields” that can “degrade collagen, weaken tendons, and cause soft-tissue damage at levels regulators call ‘safe.'” Cowan traces the pattern back to 2014, when the team started using Levi’s Stadium full time. It’s an interesting theory, if nothing else. Meanwhile, the Niner survivors are off to Seattle to face the Seahawks again…

What’s Important and What’s Not…

by MyBaconPress

You’ve got to hand it to MAGA media, they’re very good. Fast, you know? Pretty much as quickly as Donny’s bombs fell on Venezuela, cons had been conditioned to answer the question, “How happy are Venezuelans that Maduro is gone?” A lot of them, apparently. Not all of them, I’ve noticed, but a lot of them. No one is interested in defending Maduro. But that’s the wrong question, isn’t it?

Look, if some foreign, sovereign nation decided to swoop into Mar-a-Lardo and bundle up our national nightmare for an unplanned visit to the Hague to stand trial, the vast majority of this nation – hell, the vast majority of the world – would fall out partying and celebrating. Not everyone, of course, but the vast majority of us. Would that make it okay? See, the question conservatives should be asking is, “What right does the United States have to invade a foreign, sovereign nation without provocation?” THAT, is the right question. Oh, and just for the record? None. The proper answer is none.

Oh, I know. It’s easy enough to blow off that question, “What if some foreign, sovereign nation decided to swoop into Mar-a-Lardo and bundle up our national nightmare for an unplanned visit to the Hague to stand trial?” We’re the biggest, meanest country on the block and you know no one could pull that off, so it’s easy to be smug. But that, too, is sidestepping the proper question, which is, ‘What right?’

Donny has no legal authority to take the action he took. He just did it. This is just a sidebar, but many are pointing out that the US is asserting that the US can enforce laws against Presidents of foreign nations, but simultaneously asserting that the US can NOT enforce laws against the US President. That’s just some pretty convoluted thinking, right there. But I digress.

In one action, he has instigated an illegal regime-change, nation-building, forever war – AND set the rest of the world on edge, wondering where his delusions might strike next – and MAGA seems to be all in. That part, I have to admit, blows my mind. 47 ran on “no wars.” MAGA used to throw the “no wars” thing in people’s faces – even as the US was still fighting in Afghanistan. No wars, no wars, no wars. Yeah, yeah.

Now he’s going to sacrifice American soldiers and American taxpayer money so he can illegally steal another country’s natural resources. In retrospect, he DID tell the oil companies that if they gave him lots and lots of money, they could dictate his actions vis-à-vis our government and their corporations. Apparently, they chose “Venezuela” and another oil war was on.

“No, it’s not a war,” many MAGA are saying, “it’s more of a… police action.” Oh, really? Were those police officers that invaded Venezuela? Or were they United States military troops? Wait, haven’t we heard that one before? Oh, yeah, over the war cowardly Cadet Bone Spurs worked so hard to avoid. Vietnam was ‘just a police action,’ too. 58,000 American soldiers lost their lives and countless more were injured and damaged – and that’s only our side.

All of that death and destruction over a “police action.” And now, Donny says he’s going to stay in Venezuela. He’s going to install his preferred government because when has THAT ever gone wrong? Then he’s going to “run” Venezuela – into the ground, if his past is any indicator. He actually said, “We can’t take a chance that someone else takes over Venezuela who doesn’t have the interests of Venezuelans in mind.”

What, like him? He went in to steal their natural resources and funnel the money – ALL of the money – to himself and his rich friends. How well do you suppose that’s going to serve Venezuelans? We really ARE living in the Upside Down…

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I put these two bits together because they reflect my day. The first, an issue of great weight and importance. The second, a low-level time-suck intended to bring pleasure through entertainment. I woke up to the news that 47 had bombed a foreign, sovereign nation. It cast a pall over my day. So I looked forward to a little entertainment in the evening – and got yet another bomb.

But there’s an obvious, huge difference between, “People died” and “My preferred team did not prevail in their sporting competition.” The juxtaposition was jarring. If it seems jarring here, too, well, that was my day…

So, yeah, they looked good – but that was just the uniform. Other than that, it was pretty ugly. Someone should have called the Forty-Niners and told them they had a real football game to play. Clearly, nobody did. The Niners apparently thought it was a scrimmage and didn’t show up. The Seahawks did, though. Kyle Shanahan got all stubborn again. The Seahawks are the very best at shutting down the run. So, Kyle kept trying to force the run. Oh, BOY did that not work. But Kyle kept trying.

I know, McCaffrey only carried the ball eight times, how stubborn is that? Well, considering the Niners only had the ball, like 15 times, that’s pretty stubborn. Yeah, okay, hyperbole alert, but not by much. The Niners only had 9 first downs in the whole game. How many carries is one going to get when one’s whole game is three-and-outs? McCaffrey could NOT move the ball on the ground. The recommended reaction is to throw quick, short passes until the defense softens up a little. Kyle didn’t do that or, at least, he couldn’t make it work.

When there was a hat-tip to the reality that the Niners weren’t going to run on Seattle, Kyle tried to pass from formations with the QB under center. The problem was, Seattle could blast right through our offensive line like it wasn’t even there. So after Purdy took the snap and dropped back, he kept finding Seattle players in the backfield with him. I think Purdy should have taken more snaps from the Pistol or the Shotgun to give him an extra beat. Kyle wasn’t taking my calls, though.

Okay, the truth is, the Niners should have been out of contention somewhere around Week 4 or Week 5. The team has had so many injuries, especially on Defense, it’s a bit of a wonder they were even able to field a team, let alone be playing for first place in the NFC. It WAS a terrible game and a sad portent of what the Niners playoff experience is going to be like this season – but it was an amazing season from a team that shouldn’t have been where they are (were)…

Holy Gods, What Now?!?

by MyBaconPress

But… but… he won the FIFA Peace Prize. How could he do this? I wake up each day, hoping for the same headline but, so far, it’s always something else. Usually, it’s just the normal, Team Evil insanity. I often write parts of these posts ahead of time, as they unfold. I check the news before posting, just in case I get my wish for that desired headline. You know the one, “Trump Dead At 79.” As I’ve mentioned, so far, he has disappointed me on that each and every day. Still, hope springs eternal. Sometimes, there’s something that forces me to re-write. Today was one such. I got up, got my coffee, opened the paper and…

Holy crap, that dumbass has attacked Venezuela and taken President Maduro and his wife into custody! Pam Bondi has promised Maduro and his wife “will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.” Just for the record, that’s pretty much a clean sweep of promises made, promises NOT kept. He hasn’t lowered prices. He hasn’t provided better health care. He hasn’t fixed the economy. He didn’t “drain the swamp.” He IS the swamp. And now, he hasn’t even kept his promise not to get the US into unnecessary wars.

Put it down as yet another international war crime. Venezuela was/is no threat to the US. Venezuela has taken no military action against the US. There have been no formal declarations of war from either side. But the US military swooped into Venezuela, kidnapped Venezuela’s President, brought him back to the US under cover of darkness, and now intends to put him on trial.

It’s a violation of pretty much every international agreement ever put together. It’s going to take years just to figure out which international courts get jurisdiction first. Team Evil is counting on the adage that might makes right. Still, they’re wrong. They’re setting the stage for their own version of the Nuremberg Trials. I suggest they be called ‘The Caracas Trials’ in this case.

Reports say the US attacked both civilian and military targets. That’s Trump, murdering civilians in an attempt to sate his own demons. The UK was quick to step up and disavow any knowledge or participation in the crime. Putin called his puppet, too. Russia is demanding “immediate” clarification about the circumstances of the capture of Maduro. Much of Venezuela’s oil goes to China. Well, it did. I’m guessing the Chinese are going to be interested in the theft of Venezuelan oil, too. In fact, every country that has taken a position on Donny’s misadventure in Venezuela as of this writing has condemned the action.

The plan (threat) is to put Maduro and his wife on trial – ostensibly for selling drugs in the United States. Who believes that? Donny pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, who was convicted of conspiring to distribute over 400 tons of cocaine into the United States during his time in office. How strongly could Donny be opposed to someone selling drugs in the US if he’s pardoning them after trying to sell 400 tons of cocaine?

The oil makes a lot more sense. The effing oil wars just never end, do they? Even after we’re able to shuffle off the yoke of addiction to oil, the oil wars continue. We don’t even need the crap. The LAST time Republicans and the oil corporations wanted to steal a bunch of oil, the US was treated to the fiction that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Iraq. He didn’t. The US knew he didn’t. International weapons inspectors swore up one side and down the other, he didn’t. Even US weapons inspectors said he didn’t have any.

The US attacked anyway. How many people died? How many were maimed for life? But the US marines are the US marines. It literally took us days to get to Baghdad and when we did, we found Saddam and ripped his head off. “THAT,” we warned, “will teach everybody NOT to try to sell their oil in any currency other than dollars.” Then we pretended some rusted old weapons buried in the desert qualified as “WMDs.” Then, since were there anyway, well, we took thousands and thousands of barrels of oil – gratis.

Apparently, Venezuela didn’t get the “only dollars” memo and has been selling oil in other currencies. Some of that was to get around sanctions. Some of it, I presume, is about trying to break the US stranglehold on oil sales. But Donny has already said the US will be “very strongly involved in Venezuela’s oil industry.” Keywords? VENEZUELA’S oil industry. This is street-level thuggery on an international scale.

Stay tuned. This has just started. I think Donny, as a result of his delusions and in concert with his desire to blot out the Trump/Epstein Files, has painted himself into quite the corner. The entire international community has condemned this illegal action. Donny is so stupid, he thinks attacking Venezuela will keep people from paying attention to the Trump/Epstein Files and/or the Jack Smith testimony in which Smith swore to Congress he had everything he needed to put Donny in jail.

But the Drumpfster’s international war crime didn’t even stop me from mentioning the Trump/Epstein Files or the Jack Smith testimony in the first reports of the criminal action. Reasonably intelligent people are capable of holding more than one thought at a time. Long term, I think all he has accomplished is to create yet another avenue of indictment just as soon as the world gets the chance. I hope the world gets the chance soon.

Dear world,
Donny has set the tone. Donny has dictated the way it should be done. You have a problem with a rogue world leader, disrupting and destabilizing everything? Sneak in at night at whisk his ass away for trial in your country. It’s okay. We won’t even say anything. Hell, we’ll pretend we don’t even know the guy and we never knew the guy. Just, someone, please, haul this boy away.

No such luck. Donny is a problem of the United States and it’s going to have to be the United States that solves that problem. But we had better hurry. Now that his insanity is splaying worldwide, the rest of the planet may not wait for us to get around to it…