Venezuela – Just Another Teen Movie

Rah! Rah! Rah!

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Stefaniegbh, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Flag of Venezuela

"We” won! "They” lost! Everyone lived happily-ever-after and the quarterback sexytimed a cheerleader.

At least, such is the Professional Consensus from the Important People of the Edumuhcated Classes.

Being Evil unto doubting the inherent nobility of all done in the interest of Happy Valley High, Your Humble Correspondent offers a varying perspective of this jovial adolescent theatrical.

Central Casting Wants Its Imbeciles Back

If there was one aspect truly frightening regarding the recent attacks on Venezuela it was the puerile justifications by those who are nominally adults with authoritative positions.

Thus, we had Pete Hegseth who provided insightful commentary that Venezuela "f*cked around and found out”. (*UGH*…your name is PETER…GROW. UP. Also, Fourth Grade buzzed the Head Office and it wants its star tether-ball player back.)

Later came observation from various poseurs to intellect during Prime Time who referenced the highly regarded academic work by von Clausewitz on war…oh no, wait…it was, in fact, Season 2 of "Jack Ryan” they ruminated upon regarding polemics of the geopolitical landscape.

(Some of us would expect better than a low-rent-North-By-Northwest-wannabe program used as military instruction…but then again, as we all know, whoever sells the most copies of trash "novels” is a font of wisdom…so perhaps when Iran is bombed next we can make with Harry Potter anecdotes!)

Think Tank Thunkers

Alarmingly, our dearth of adenoidal inanity did not end with execrable Cabinet Members. The former politicians (and current lobbyists) belonging to multifarious petroleum interests sprang into action with assessments which — universally as well as unsurprisingly — consisted, "We thunk we done gud, Coach!”.

Several commodity "experts” claimed even if the attack was about crude (which, mindful of future contracts, they scrupulously denied) it would be "twenty years before Venezuela could refine its oil…”.

Which…sort of is the point, gnome? As in…the entire purpose being to fill up those idle American heavy crude refineries which have dropped from 80% capacity to 20% capacity since the late 1970s…but then again, who would expect…AN OIL "EXPERT”…to be aware such arcane and obscure minutiae…*sigh*

Ostensibly none of these adroit Thunkers ever thunked to themselves how extracting natural resources of Venezuela would be facile (not to mention beneficial) in terms of making a few billions for Uncle Sam.

By the way…have any considered perhaps it is not in the interest of the U. S. to EVER repair Venezuelan refineries if to do so would be a severe detriment to all those vacant facilities from Texas to Louisiana?

China Ain't Gonna Do Nuttin'

Entirely unmentioned by almost everyone (other than raaaiiiccciiissstttsss…because pointing out obvious facts in this country makes you "racist” for some alchemical reason) is a Chinese Delegation met with the Venezuelan Government on…wait for it…hold…one more second…THAT MORNING!

Now, what might we anticipate as rejoinder from Beijing? According to everyone from Ms. Now to her sidepiece Mr. Fox…nuttin'. (Not that any conference was particularly noted by most American media.)

Being the dissolute figure I am, Yours Truly broke out the factbook on Chinese Investment in Venezuela which, depending on sources, is between $60 Billion and $100 Billion. So basically, to recoup their losses, the doyens in the Orient need but win the Powerball lottery a few dozen times. No problem, kids.

Or, just for funsies, what if Beijing decided to lob a missile at some Taiwanese ship? MEI YOU, invasion of Taiwan would be overkill…also, it could fail…but China might easily sink a Formosa military boat in order to send a message…and then? Half the U. S. Navy is now in The Caribbean…so what could we do?

Russians Ready to Rumble

Honestly, in this circumstance, Moscow is likely not a factor. They have their own house party going on in Europe. Same time, exist significant philosophical questions to be considered if you aren't clueless.

Example: Why is America going into Venezuela okie-dokie but Russia going into Ukraine is rape under the bleachers? Ohhh, because of a "Court Order” issued by the visitors…uhm, are you students familiar with how easy it is to obtain a Court Order? I'm rather sure if this be the metric of our Belligerent New World then Putin can have a magistrate sign off on rounding up Commander Cosplay by this afternoon.

Or, another for Study Hall, suppose The Kremlin decided to quit playing nice (which they ARE even if most Westerners do not recognize it) and did their own little abduction operation against the President of Moldova or some such place? We doing war over that potentiality?

Maybe so, because this week American Forces detained and seized a "Venezuela-Adjacent Tanker” (according to Controlled Media) which was sailing Under Russian Flag (according to Practical Reality). If Putin wants to make an issue of it this could well provide a legally sound justification for open conflict.

Don, Deaths Aren't Funny

Paramount of the idiosyncrasies I dislike about Donnie here is his damnable Boomer smugness.

Whether our sworn enemies or just some fellows in the wrong place…over 30 Cubans are dead from the raid. I, not being a Boomer Plutocrat, read about them. The age range was 20 to 60 and all had families.

SO QUIT LAUGHING DURING INTERVIEWS, YOU GERIATRIC NARCISSIST.

Okay, maybe you needed to do what you did…I'm not arguing the politics. Except there is distinction between a regrettable necessity and delighting in mass murder. YOU gave the order. Therefore, YOU are entirely responsible for the deaths of those men. Take some accountability and behave appropriately.

A decent human being would say something akin to, "What happened was necessary for the security of our country…but even so, I regret that anyone had to lose their lives”.

Every winter Putin visits the Cathedral and every single time the Western Press describes him as "somber” with seemingly mystification in their reviews…well, allow me to solve the mystery Controlled Media…Putin is a Man — I guarantee if you spoke to him direct he would utter something along the lines, "I'm pleased we are winning the battle of Ukraine, but the death of any Slav is a tragedy for our People”.

No doubt. He wouldn't be grinning. At the very least, he would know enough not to be glib in public.

It's Not a Game and It Isn't Over

Whatever is going to be the resolution in Venezuela, the repercussions have not even begun.

Here are only a few possibilities:

• Increased repression from a Venezuelan regime under internal attack
• Civil War in Venezuela under the (entirely false) belief by rebels the U. S. will assist (like with the Kurds)
• Outside provocation in terms of direct confrontation; i. e. There are currently several oil tankers en route to Venezuela crossing the Atlantic which are Foreign Flagged…are they Chinese…if so, what's the plan? We threaten them? We board them? We bomb them? We allow them entry to Caracas?
• Outside jimmy rustlin' abroad; Let's say China bombs a maritime target or minor city in Asia just to rile Uncle Sam while his pants are down over in South America…or maybe someone in Colombia jumps the gun and fires on American ships…which, granted, they stand no chance…but what does a proverbial fortunate "hit” do the stock market…or the price of silver…or the value of the dollar? We ready for that?
• Internationally, those 50 Million barrels of oil you keep hearing Trump has "redirected” to the open market for sale? Yeah, those were until this week promised to Beijing…at cost of around $2 Billion…so do you hypothesize the Chinese are merely going to eat those outlays, Valedictorian?
• Domestically, already Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leader Kristi Noem has publicly stated that all the hordes of Venezuelans already here?…Yep, them millions are now all of a sudden allowed to apply for "Refugee Status”…which means they're staying…so if not money, why did we do this action?
• Finally, there are the obscene levels of "coincidence”. In November of last year Billionaire Paul Singer of Elliott Investment Management swooped in for a sweetheart deal on Citgo (the Venezuelan national petroleum corporation) to the tune of $5.9 Billion…largely due to sanctions by Trump…and which currently has an outstanding legal judgement of approximately $21 Billion…that will now filter to Singer once black gold begins flowing…which to SOME people might sound a heckuva lot like corruption, no?

The Euphoria Phase Seldom Lasts

See it straight, the Venezuelan Homecoming Weekend is never going to look better than right now.

Whatever manner our action is ultimately interpreted, this moment is the best it is ever going to be.

Admittedly things seem to be a success. (Remember, this is not about the politics but the aftermath.)

Trump enjoys purported 80% approval for Republicans while Overall he sits at a meager 40% popularity.

Only that is BEFORE the Health Care Great American Kick-Off gets started. Also, silver hit a new high and gold is soaring, both of which mean the U.S. Dollar is sinking. The nominal Inflation reported by the Government is a lie according to anyone who happens to require food from the grocery to survive.

We haven't even discussed Mass Human Displacement (MHD) coming from A.I. this year. (In case any missed it, the "Godfather of A.I.” recently stated developments were progressing wildly more rapidly than anticipated.)

Also for you Gen Whatevers out there, I might remind that the month following Iraq I old Georgie Bush I rated over 90% with The Public…before falling down to under 30% less than a year later…so…uh-huh…

There are immense problems facing Average Americans with few of them being "Down Argentine Way”.

Obviously, I get it — "Our Team” won a big rivalry…but the Prom ain't started and the Gym is flooded.

Let's have some perspective, Fellow Yutes.

Guy Somerset writes from somewhere in America