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| 7:40 |
It’s 8:43, and I’ve been up since 7:15, having slept in a bit. I was surprised to see that a couple of inches of snow fell overnight, so I’ll be out shoveling later this morning.
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| First Ice Fishermen Of 2026 |
Yesterday, I woke to upsetting news: the U.S. had invaded Venezuela under Trump’s orders, making us no better than Russia or any other imperialistic nation. He claims it was to overthrow Maduro because of drugs, but in reality, it’s about oil. The worst part is that House and Senate Republicans sit back and say nothing—cowardice that, sadly, is not unusual. I am embarrassed by our actions, and most of the world will rightly condemn us. Enough.
Other than that, yesterday was a day of leisure for Evie, though less so for me. I was up early, quickly sinking into depression as I read about the invasion. Evie joined me around 9:00, having slept in. We soon got down to business and made a shopping list for Wegmans, since our pantry and fridge were practically empty. I wanted to make kuru fasulye, a white bean stew, but we were out of beans. Instead, I found a pound of garbanzos and put them in the pressure cooker for 35 minutes, hoping to make something tasty with them.
We gathered what little trash we had, and I headed off to the Transfer Station and Wegmans around 11:00. I stopped at Ryder’s Cup after the Transfer Station and learned that my good friend Paul is now in hospice—how sad. Wegmans on Saturdays and Sundays always seems busy, and yesterday was no exception. It took a while to get through Evie’s list, but I fortunately found an open cashier and was done quicker than expected.
I was home around 12:30 and had lunch: chicken noodle soup from Wegmans and sandwiches leftover from our road trip. I watched some basketball, but I couldn’t get into it, so I went upstairs to read and take a nap. I dozed briefly, then came back downstairs to finish our dinner—adding onions, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, spices, and coconut milk to the garbanzos and letting it all simmer for a good half hour. The rest of the afternoon was either wasted or simply leisurely.
We both looked forward to wine time, though yesterday it turned into Manhattan time. Instead of the news, we listened to our Manhattan playlist, built over the years, and loved it.
Dinner—the garbanzo stew—wasn’t quite a disaster, but I won’t be making it again. No matter how long I simmer those beans, they never seem done. Eventually, we just ate the stew with naan and watched our show. After Evie went to bed, I watched the first half of the NFL game before heading upstairs just before 10:00 to read and sleep.
Just released: Pirates of the Carribbean 6. Having done this, he is worse than the bad guy.
ReplyDeleteHave you considered the Noriega precedent from 1989? The Bay of Pigs Invasion supported by JFK? If we are no better than Russia, we’ve been no better than Russia for generations. Ironically, your statement resembles what Trump said in reference to Russia back in 2017 or so (“I think our country has killed a lot of people too”) that many good liberals and others (including me) rightly condemned. At the end of the day, there is a world of difference between the US acting to remove a dangerous thug, who tortured political opponents *and American citizens,* who flooded the US with thousands of tons of cocaine, specifically seeking to destabilize our population, and who was a strategic geopolitical threat to the US, and Russia’s territorial ambitions in Ukraine. Maybe go read the Osman Khan lawsuit in Miami or the DOJ indictment against Maduro that’s been pending since 2020 (including through all four years of Biden), and you’ll begin to realize that no, we are not the moral equivalent of Putin. I’m hopeful that Trump, at least, has come around on that question.
ReplyDeleteYeah, he is less bad than those. But not smarter. You don’t “run” a sovereign state. You don’t “fire” a president. Let’s see what China will do with Taiwan. Let’s see if Intel could produce those chips at home soon enough while his oil buddies can get reimbursed on an old commodity. So, it sets a precedence for rogue ambitions of certain countries. By the way, does anyone know if there is a thug in Greenland? Punch, punch, punch. Think and “deal” later. Grab. Grab. To Brits Boston Tea Party said enough to your grabbing and leave us alone. So long Ukraine. So long Taiwan.
DeleteRecommend George F. Will’s recent article on Washington Post: “Trump’s Monster-Hunting Without a Whiff of Legality.” After all, he wraps it up much better than any of us here. He is known to be a libertarian conservative writer.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I see Russia has condemned the operation as an “act of armed aggression.” It’s perfectly legitimate, in my view, to question the wisdom of the operation, the plan going forward, whether Trump should have sought Congressional authorization, and so on. But to jump all the way to “we are no better than Russia and I’m so embarrassed!” is, in my view, an utter failure of moral clarity. It was a surgical operation to take out a rogue and a threat to the US. We aren’t rolling tanks into Venezuela, killing hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and trying to conquer and subjugate a people to our rule, as Putin is doing in Ukraine. There’s a vast moral difference. And the so-called “most of the world that will rightly condemn this”? It’s the likes of China, Russia, Cuba. Look at the UK’s very measured response by contrast. Sadly, the hatred of Trump drives many to become worse versions of him. Their reaction is the response of Russia and China, trying to make a moral equivalence where there is none. That’s not what the “most of the world” that I respect is doing.
ReplyDeleteWorth noting as well Obama’s intervention in Libya that led to the downfall of Gaddafi and Clinton’s Serbia war, which led to Milosevic’s ouster. Perspective, people. We are not Putin or an imperialist. Nor is what Trump did a break from America’s moral leadership in the world. Deep breaths.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, TJD, the blogger, has not yet replied to these comments. We, two commentators, are chatting back and forth. He is outside this loop. I am writing from a country farther away than Venezuela to the US. But, hey, the US is neighbor to every country in the world. Some years back, the US tried to stage a coup to capture our president but failed because people took to the streets and laid in front of the tanks and unarmed civilians had disarmed the soldiers. I don't know if we had been a threat to your national security or 'interests'. I would have liked another government but I would not have cheered had the coup succeeded. Not with the meddling of a foreign state or power, no matter the outcome or intention; no matter, open or covert. We prefer to change governments with our own will. As a citizen opposing the government then present, I had opposed that unfortunate intervention. Hundreds were killed. Today. the same president is still in power and with a much firmer hold on everything called our lives.
ReplyDeletePutin or otherwise, comparative morality does not make one or the other better. That surgical is better than an invasion; covert action and deniability is better than a declared and open attack, etc. relativizes the legality. Neither the quantification of collateral damage. 40 versus 140 dead. Like saying, one is a little bit pregnant. Anyway, let's leave TJD alone and let's not make him regret that he had ever published a comment while leading a happy and peaceful life in that beautiful part of your country. Signing off. Thanks for the exchange.
No one is attacking TJD, just disagreeing strongly with his comment. He is a good man who welcomes all viewpoints even though he has strong opinions of his own. I won’t reply further because I feel I have made my points, and at a certain stage we all just agree to disagree and go on as friends and neighbors despite our differences. Thank you, too, and thank you TJD.
ReplyDeleteJust a few items not included in the previous comments:
ReplyDeleteOne, I don't know how impressed I am with this operation in military terms. By the administration's own description, this was a massive operation - over 150 aircraft, plus ships and intelligence assets - along with with months of planning and preparation. Just to capture two people in a nation with an insignificant military?
Two, I know other administrations have been guilty of the same thing, although to a lesser extent, but I don't like all the chest-pounding in announcing the results of the operation. I prefer the Teddy Roosevelt approach of "speak softly and carry a big stick." The press conference struck me as bullies bragging about successfully beating up on a weakling.
Three, doesn't the timing appear a little suspect? The administration has been taking a lot of heat about the Epstein files and about the now expired ACA subsidies, with favorable ratings in the toilet, now all the news in the last few days has been about Venezuela.
Four, the capture (or kidnapping) of Maduro was early Saturday morning. The President played golf in Florida on Sunday. Couldn't he maybe have at least acted like he is working on how he plans to "run" Venezuela or replace the Affordable Care Act (in progress for what, 15 years now)?
Five, I'm sure Maduro is a bad guy, and he may well have been behind actions in the US that were or could have become harmful to this country. However, how do we pick which bad guy to go after? For example, Putin is clearly a bad guy, and my understanding is that, despite MAGA denials to the contrary, Russia has meddled or tried to meddle in our elections.
Last, I'm sorely tired of this administration's deflection tactic. Clearly, I'm across a big divide from the MAGA movement. I'm fine, though, with examining questionable actions in the past by either party, and I recognize there have been many on both sides. However, using past wrongful actions to justify a current one strikes me as comparable to a little kid caught by her parent in a misdeed and trying to get out of trouble by saying, "Alice did it last week." The MAGA tactic is the "what about ___ ?" defense.