Russia would love to see Donald Trump win the election. He would appease Russia by giving them part of Ukraine, that they currently occupy. From there, Russian troops would pour into Kyiv and Trump would do nothing.
For anyone who is undecided who to vote for- the choice should be clear after Trump’s statement to appease Putin.
Per AP news story:
Former President Donald Trump described Ukraine in bleak and mournful terms Wednesday, referring to its people as “dead” and the country itself as “demolished,” and further raising questions about how much the former president would be willing if elected again to concede in a negotiation over the country’s future.
The Ukrainian people are not dead and the country is not demolished. Russia has done its best to conquer the country, and Ukrainians have fought and given their lives so they can live in a free country. Ukraine is an independent country with internationally recognized borders. Donald Trump does not appreciate the need to contain Russian aggression. He wants to appease Putin.
If there is any lesson to be learned from World War II, it is that appeasement does not work. Russia controls Belarus and Chechnya. The leaders of these countries report to the Kremlin.
Since the invasion on February 24, 2022, Russia thought it could send its tanks from Belarus, to Kyiv, but the Ukrainians proved them wrong. From the outset, the US pledged military support in terms of weapons but not soldiers. Biden had it right when he said that once there were Americans and Russians on the same battlefield, you have the beginnings of a world war.
Trump has lied repeatedly about VP Harris meeting with Putin before the war started. It never happened.
CNN Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. Harris has never met with Putin. In reality, she met with US allies, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at the Munich Security Conference in the days before Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Putin was not at the conference.
The US position prior to the invasion was to maintain full alignment with partners and send a clear message to Russia that the US prefers diplomacy but is ready in case of Russian aggression, according to CNN. This is why Harris was in Munich.
And just as I completed this post, General McChrystal endorsed Kamala Harris. He wrote:
Character will dictate whether we stand by our NATO allies and against Vladimir Putin’s continued aggression. Character will dictate whether we have a commander in chief who honors and respects the men and women who serve in uniform.
And later he writes, Harris has the right character to be commander in chief.
Ms. Harris has the strength, the temperament and, importantly, the values to serve as commander in chief. When she sits down with world leaders like President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, representing the United States on the global stage, I have no doubt that she is working in our national interest, not her own.
General McChrystal service to our country spans decades in many conflicts. His bio is provided below.
Trump has always threatened to pull out of NATO. Per The Atlanta, “But during Trump’s time in office, the withdrawal never happened. That was because there was someone there to talk him out of it. Bolton says he did it; Jim Mattis, John Kelly, Rex Tillerson, Mike Pompeo and even Mike Pence are thought to have done so too. (The Atlanta, issue January/February 2024)
James Mattis, the Secretary of Defense under Trump, said it best, “He is more dangerous than anyone could ever imagine.”
National Security Advisor H.H. McMasters under Trump stated, “President Trump and other officials have repeatedly compromised our principles in pursuit of partisan advantage and personal gain.”
Harris will work with our allies and see that Putin never takes Ukraine. The Ukrainians are paying the ultimate price, defending the country with their lives. Trump will leave Ukraine defenseless to satisfy Putin.
On November 5, tell Trump that Ukraine lives. It doesn’t matter how much damage Russia inflicts on Ukraine. They will not surrender to tyranny. And we should not either.
Ronald Rowe, the new acting director of the US Secret Service, gave a press conference yesterday. I was impressed, because he came straight to the point- the Secret Service failed to protect former President Trump due to a series of errors that were avoidable. He stated: “While some members of the advance team were very diligent, there was complacency on the part of others that led to a breach of security protocols.”
According to the CBS report, “Rowe said that one minute before, the Secret Service’s security room called a countersniper response agent to report an individual on the roof of the building where Crooks was stationed, called the AGR building. That “vital piece of information was not relayed over the Secret Service radio network,” the acting director said.
I really liked his honesty and directness. He used the word “failure” in describing the multiple communications issues with various law enforcement agents at the site and a “lack of due diligence” by the Secret Service. The “one minute” delay affects outcomes between life and death.
He agreed that the level of protection given to President Biden must be extended to all presidential candidates. The House has passed legislation to this effect.
Selecting our next president is serious business. Candidates disagree on many issues, including the trade tariffs, immigration and the war in Ukraine. How we handle global warming and abortion rights are on the table. I have already expressed who should win this election, based both on policy and character.
What is important is that we do it peacefully. We settle our differences at the ballot box on November 5.
It’s deja vu all over again. Yogi Berra, I say this because these were election issues in the past 4 elections. It also was an attempt to steer the debate away from Harris, to criticize Biden’s decisions.
Nord Stream 2
The Harris-Trump debate consisted of some very old recycled falsehoods from Trump, more than 2 years old. Here it is:
“Why does Biden go in and kill the Keystone pipeline and approve the single biggest deal that Russia’s ever made, Nord Stream 2?” Trump said Tuesday night. Harris finally came back with the great one liner, “Well I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump.”
I call it the double whammy, because it calls for Harris to defend Biden’s supposed “approval” of Nord Stream 2. There was no approval, because it was Germany’s decision. For now, it isn’t even an issue. No gas is flowing from Russia to Germany. The pipelines were sabotaged in September 2022 and repair is unlikely because Germany will not allow the pipeline to go in service.
Nord Stream 2 is an underwater natural gas pipeline connecting Russia and Germany, which was first planned in 2015. It is 767 miles long. Because the pipeline exports Russian gas to Germany, they must approve the project. The US can make it more difficult to construct the pipeline by sanctioning the companies involved in the construction. But approval or disapproval are not options.
Biden’s approval of Nord Stream 2 is a recycled lie. Trump’s February 2022 speech at the CPAP conference is just one long series of lies, exaggerations and deceptive statements. Of course this is a conservative Republican event that is very eager to embrace his false statements because they sound good. See link at bottom.
“It’s a good thing to get along with people not a bad thing. You can be very tough and get along. You know, I’m the one that ended [Putin’s] pipeline. He said, ‘You’re killing me with the pipeline.’ Nobody else ended his pipeline. Biden came in, he approved it.”
Sorry, This is a baseless lie. It only highlights Trump’s creativity in telling lies with Vladimir Putin, down on his knees to Trump, begging him to approve the pipeline. US sanctions may have slowed construction but they did not stop it. Per Wikipedia: “In December 2020 [while Trump was still President] , the Russian pipelaying ship Akademik Cherskiy continued pipe-laying… The laying of the second line was completed in September 2021.
In May 2021, Biden allowed soften the sanctions. At the time, Germany was very upset with the US sanctions against companies involved in the construction of the pipeline as they saw it as an interference in their foreign policy. Biden attempted to re-direct the sanctions more specifically at Russia’s economy as it became clear that the Nord Stream 2 project was going to be completed no matter what the US wanted.
Biden was looking for some leverage to negotiate with Putin. The real threat was a Russian invasion of Ukraine not Russian gas flowing to Germany. Biden was attempting to solidify European unity to counter Russia’s hostile and aggressive policies. The Ukrainian invasion occurred because of Putin’s underestimation of Ukraine’s willingness to fight, and the US and European support for an independent Ukraine.
Germany will not permit the pipeline be put in service as long as Russia occupies Ukraine. Germany never granted Russia a certification of completion for the Nord Stream pipeline.
The claim by Trump during the debate that Biden terminated the Keystone XL project is correct. He did so on his first day in office, based on environmental concerns. His agenda to rejoin the International Paris Accords and gain further cooperation for reduced CO2 emission would be inconsistent with supporting import of heavy oil from Canada. Per Wikipedia: “As of 2024, oilsands account for 8% of the total of Canadian emissions. Emissions from the oilsands continue to increase, while most other sources are decreasing.
The Keystone pipeline saga is a long one. There are multiple pipeline construction phases. The one that Biden cancelled was the fourth phase called the Keystone XL pipeline. The KXL pipeline would have shorten the route to Texas refineries. Trump tried to hasten the approval permitting process, but legal challenges in Montana succeeded in November 2018, with the judge ruling that the expediated approval violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act.
It is true that the construction of the other phases of the Keystone project were easily approved during the Obama administration. The real issue was whether it was in the US interest to import the heavy crude (the nastiest oil, see NRDC link) which would have serious environmental and ecology impact.
Did Biden’s cancellation of the pipeline hurt the oilsands projects? Not really, as production from Canada’s oilsands continued to grow. There are still the longer route to bring Canadian oil to the US. Railcars can transport the heavy oil. And this is not good for climate change efforts. See links below.
The pipeline construction is 8% complete. TransCanada Corporation (now TC Energy, TRP stock symbol) disbanded efforts to continue the construction after Biden denied the export permit. The company is still doing well with a market cap of 42 billion dollars. The CBS article suggests that Canada production growth may flatten out in 2024, with competition from other sources.
(The long and controversial history of the Keystone XL pipeline stretches back to 2008 when Bush was president)
The German Experience transitioning to Green Energy
Immediately after the debate, Germany took exception to the following:
“You believe in things like, we’re not going to frack, we’re not going to take fossil fuel, we’re not going to do things that are going make this country strong, whether you like it or not,” Trump said Tuesday night, referring to Harris. “Germany tried that, and within one year, they were back to building normal energy plants.”
Their response: “Like it or not: Germany’s energy system is fully operational, with more than 50% renewables,” the ministry wrote. “And we are shutting down — not building — coal & nuclear plants. Coal will be off the grid by 2038 at the latest.”
Harris stated that she supported fracking. The side comment on Germany was just thrown into the mix for effect. They also watch our debate.
Opening up and closing other potential areas for drilling by Biden
Energy policy will continue to be controversial and poorly understood by the electorate, regardless of who wins the 2024 election. Biden surprised climate activists when he approved the massive Willow project (massive in terms of investment required) in the petroleum reserve.
The 2021 ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) lease sale by Trump, after he lost the election in 2020, was a total disaster. The potential of ANWR is poorly defined, as no wells have been drilled inside the refuge. Chevron drilled an exploratory well just outside of the refuge in 1985. Results have never been disclosed.
Per Wikipedia:
Two small independent companies, Knik Arm Services LLC and Regenerate Alaska Inc, won one tract each. The auction generated $14.4 million, lower than the $1.8 billion estimate from the Congressional Budget Office in 2019, and the auction did not receive bids from any oil and gas companies.[53]
On June 1, 2021, Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland suspended all Trump-era oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge pending a review of how fossil fuel drilling would impact the remote landscape.[10] Indigenous and conservation groups urged Biden to make the suspension permanent. On September 6 2023, the Biden administration cancelled the leases.
The same article notes that Goldman Sachs and other investment banks stated they would not finance investments in ANWR. On September 6, 2023, the Biden administration cancelled the leases.
I doubt that the lease holders really lost because without a major oil company taking over the lease, there would be no exploratory drilling.
Summary
I have corrected the misrepresentations by Trump at the debate concerning the two pipelines, neither of which are operational. So, this is a matter of old and bitter political fights. Canada will produce their heavy oil to the chagrin of climate activists.
The supply of oil is likely to increase from new discoveries offshore Guyana, and from developments in Brazil, US (offshore developments plus fracking) and Canada. Gas prices could definitely go down, as supplies increase.
Our energy policy is too short term focused. Going forward in the long run, will mean transitioning from our dependence on fossil fuels, to renewable fuels, which includes solar and wind energy. We can’t keep building roads, and adding gasoline burning cars. Collaborating with other countries, like China and India, I hope, can lead to cutting global carbon emissions. Global problems require global solutions.
I don’t think there is any hope of a Trump administration addressing these future challenges. The hubris that comes from the MAGA folks, is competitive, and ignores the climate impact.
I am much more hopeful that a Kamala Harris would make real progress in green energy and more efficient use of our resources, for the long term future.
President Nicolas Maduro lost the election that occurred on July 28, 2024. Instead of accepting defeat, he withheld the official election tallies by district and had the National Electoral College declare false results showing he had won.
Mass protests erupted in August, and Maduro allowed police to arrest more than 2,400 people involved in organizing the protests. Nicolas Maduro controls both the legislature and judiciary. The country is in shambles as he tries to destroy any opposition by force through Operation Tun Tun (knock knock). According to the Miami Herald, “activists have denounced that a number of the agents taking part in repressing opposition figures and protesters have Cuban accents”, as “at least four passenger flights” have arrived from Cuba, according to local media.
An arrest warrant was issued for the real winner of the election, Edmund Gonzalez. Fortunately, he was able to escape to Spain. A summary of the international response in condemning Maduro is provided in the summary below.
The US is not standing by. It has sanctioned hundreds of government officials involved in falsification of election results and the crackdown of the opposition party. The sanctions involve seizing any assets the officials have in the US and denying them visas to enter the US.
So, Maduro is seeking vengeance against the US. It has arrested six individuals including three Americans in plotting to assassinate Maduro. I don’t know the evidence against them, but if the president can rig election results, he can certainly convict these individuals without any real evidence.
Maduro went on to claim this is a CIA plot without any evidence. See link below:
No CIA plot. Venezuela does not threaten the US. Maduro threatens democracy, and the rule of law in his country. He is attempting to rule the country by fear and corruption. He has destroyed the most important institutions in a democracy – an independent legislature and judiciary.
Maduro has a few friends, like Nicaragua, Cuba and Russia. These countries also have dictators.
The news reporting is frequently the same on both networks. If there is some big event, like a plane crash, the content on both networks will be pretty much the same.
The difference is in commentary. Fox News supports conservatives, including Donald Trump. CNN supports Kamala Harris but will report on news damaging to her campaign. The difference is apparent on their websites.
Fox Example
Today on the FOX News website is the headline “Melania Trump releases new video with warning to all Americans ahead of a 100 million dollar lawsuit.” This is a teaser headline. The key words are “ahead of.” Trump hasn’t filed a lawsuit.
Seriously, who is he going to sue? The FBI? Filing a frivolous lawsuit can backfire. If search is illegal, then all evidence is thrown out. This is the case law since the 1961 “Mapp” Case by the US Supreme Court. Note, that the three more conservative justices did not want to extend the protection to searches by state and local authorities.
This is a case of more false information on Twitter, but this time, in support of Kamala Harris. There is a second Twitter account which is uncovering all the lies this Twitter account.
Video clips of Trump or JD Vance have been edited to make them deceptive or false. As stated in the CNN article, this was done recently. They cite eight different examples including one where the post infers that Trump was confused on the name of the state of the rally was occurring. It is a complete lie. CNN calls these hacked videos misleading. I would call them a complete lie.
My take
Fox News is more likely to post misleading “news stories” which are really commentary. Fox News headlines of a 100 million dollar lawsuit, which does not exist. And if Trump’s lawyers say they will sue Biden, they are forgetting they just won in the Supreme Court on presidential immunity.
CNN commentary is often biased, but they are doing a better job with fact checking. This includes fact checking pro-Harris twitter posts.
Don’t go to Youtube, Twitter, Facebook or any other social media. It is mostly political entertainment. It is not reliable information.
Trump has lashed out at ABC and in particular the times they corrected him, for lies that went to the level of “pants on fire.” A lot of lies were told, and the moderators had to be very cautious in the few times they corrected Trump. The legal termination of live babies was obviously one lie that just went over the top and I was very glad the moderator caught it.
Trump said he will sue ABC. This is just another anger tantrum from Trump. The lawsuit will ultimately be dismissed.
The debate will begin at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Sept. 10. It is a very close race. Seven states are toss-ups as follows: WI, MI, PA, NC.GA, NV and AZ.
The debate prepping is beginning. They are preparing zingers.
The one I particularly like: Kamala Harris has a resume, Donald Trump has a rap sheet. (Rep Crockett, DNC Convention)
Hard adjectives: Trump’s favorite words are disgraceful, disastrous, despicable. Add “truly” or a sentence beginning with “I could believe how … ” Also Incompetence and low IQ. I don’t think he will go for crazy Kamala, but will refer to her as an ultra-left radical.
The Big They Conspiracy Argument: “Lock Them Up” (JD Vance)
(JD Vance) He [Trump] traded everything he had for unjust persecution, for slander and scorn from the fake news, all for this country, for you and me. They couldn’t beat him politically, so they tried to bankrupt him. They failed at that, so they tried to impeach him. They failed at that, so they tried to put him in prison. They even tried to kill him
Will Trump go this far as to blame the assassination attempt on the government? I think he will suggest that for reasons unknown, the normal security procedures on that day were absent, putting his life endanger. The conspiracy folks can take it from there.
Trump is generally favored over Harris on doing a good job with the economy and immigration. So, I expect, as usual, the problem will be greatly exaggerated, the past efforts dismissed so only Trump can solve it. That’s par for the course.
(JD Vance) You cannot let in 20 million illegal aliens to compete with Americans for scarce housing and then raise interest rates, which is exactly what Kamala Harris has done. As America’s border czar, Kamala Harris unleashed the worst border crisis in American history.
Harris was never the “border czar” and the 20 million immigrants number is highly exaggerated, as it includes people caught and sent back, and those from Afghanistan and Ukraine who applied for asylum.
Whatever the subject, particularly with respect for law and order, drug epidemic and the economy, it will come back to a flood of immigrants ruining our country. Trump and Vance will be playing the race card against Harris. At rallies, he calls her crazy Kamala, ultra left wing socialist. Here is a bit of Trump’s rants:
The suburbs will be overrun with violent crime and savage foreign gangs. That’s what they’re doing. They’re sending all their gangs into the United States, right?
I believe he will proclaim his innocence in the legal cases, and just something that the ultra-liberals in New York did to him in an act of desperation. It was truly despicable. Another words, play the victim of the legal system. With criminal convictions in New York City and indictments in Washington D.C. (January 6 election interference case), Florida (classified documents, case dismissed but this decision is under appeal), Georgia (Conspiracy election obstruction), this claim that Trump is a victim of “radical Democrats” gets old.
Who is best for the economy?
I find Goldman Sach’s analysis very compelling, which says Harris has the best plan for the economy.
It’s all pretty nuanced, not really easy for the “zinger fest” tomorrow. Deficit hawks have a difficult time choosing between Trump and Harris. The legislature (particularly the House) is supposed to control spending, but Trump found ways to borrow funds from military budget to add more miles to his wall, which was more repair/enhancements than new construction. Trump’s tax cuts added to the deficit. Cutting government income and adding to its expense, results in more debt.
Project 2025
Harris will try to link the Trump campaign to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, because many of the contributors, including JD Vance, work for his campaign. However, Trump has not endorsed the project’s long set of recommendations. So, she might say that Trump will likely raise taxes on the poorest individuals, while cutting them on the top wage earners, as proposed in Project 2025.
Trump will simply reply that Project 2025 is not his plan. Obviously, once elected, things are different.
I like the following from Pete Buttigieg, on debate prep.
“This year and to honor you all, to thank you all, I am going to decree the beginning of Christmas on October 1. Christmas arrived for everyone, in peace, joy and security!” he said.
Thank you President Maduro. This really happened today, September 4. The Venezuelan Episcopal Conference on Tuesday protested the unilateral acceleration of Christmas, warning that the holiday “is not to be used for political or propaganda goals.” “Christmas commences on December 25,” it said in a statement.
In Part I, I covered the seizure of Maduro’s plane and Maduro’s accusation of piracy. Nicolas Maduro stole democracy and destroyed the economy of Venezuela. He is the much larger pirate.
Both the judiciary and legislature fear Maduros. The arrest warrant for the Presidential candidate, Edmund Gonzalez is an attempt to silence the main opposition party, Plataforma Unitaria Democrática (PUD).
The first opposition candidate, Maria Carine Machado, was ruled ineligible to run as candidate by the Venezuelan Supreme Court, which is compliant with Maduros regime and suppression of democracy. Bit by bit, the populace has grown fearful of Maduro and his suppression of free speech.
On 1 August 2024, Machado published a letter in The Wall Street Journal, stating that she had gone in to hiding “fearing for my life, my freedom, and that of my fellow countrymen from the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro.”
It was a wonderful chance to revive democracy. But this chance is gone.
The Biden administration tried to strike a deal with Maduro, of freeing Americans held in Venezuela, and conducting fair elections in return for easing sanctions on the export of oil to US refineries, referred to as the Barbados agreement. A prisoner swap occurred in December 2023. Presidential elections were scheduled.
This new approach failed on April 17, 2024 when the Supreme Court ruled that Maria Carine Machado could not run for the presidency. The US re-imposed sanctions, but allowed the international oil companies to continue to operate (Chevron, Repsol and others) using waivers from sanctions. I think with the arrest warrant for Edmund Gonzalez, these waivers will soon be gone.
The article below describes their exodus to neighboring countries. It also describes the dynamics of a petrostate, where the country is very dependent on a single resource namely oil.Eight million Venezuelans have left the country. With a massively corrupt government, and little chance that dictator Maduro would do anything, but make things worse, it is no wonder that the brightest and most ambitious look to leave their country.
One excellent step, undertaken by the Department of Justice during the Trump administration, in year 2020, was to indict Nicolas Maduro and 14 other officials of narco-terrorism, corruption, drug trafficking and other criminal charges. In announcing the indictment, AG William Barr referred to Maduro as the former president of Venezuela, because on January 23, 2019, Juan Guaido was elected by the legislature as the interim president, and quickly recognized by over 60 countries. This didn’t last, and by 2021, EU countries and the US reluctantly recognized Nicolas Maduro as president.
“Today we announce criminal charges against Nicolás Maduro Moros for running, together with his top lieutenants, a narco-terrorism partnership with the FARC for the past 20 years,” said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman.
FARC is a rebel group within Colombia, financed by drug trafficking, kidnapping and extortion. FARC still exists and given the dire situation in Venezuela, I have no doubt Maduro would have little to lose from collaborating with them in opioid drug distribution, particularly from Brazil to Europe.
The US has been on the side of Colombia in their decades long fight against FARC. Not only did they receive help from their South American neighbor, Venezuela, but Libya’s dictator Gaddafi was sending them millions of dollars until he was killed in the Libyan civil war in 2011.
Back to the current problems in Venezuela. Maduro can try to change Christmas to October, but really there is no Christmas in Venezuela, after he stole the election. There is reliable evidence of a rigged election:
Academics, news outlets and the opposition provided “strong evidence” according to The Guardian[11] to suggest that González won the election by a wide margin,[12][13] with the opposition releasing copies of official tally sheets collected by poll watchers from a majority of polling centers showing a landslide victory for González.
And he is prepared to lock up those who accuse him of stealing the election.
The US statement was very cautious, but this was a few days before the arrest warrant was issued for Edmund Gonzalez. Still, it supported the people of Venezuela instead of the “elected” president:
The United States applauds the courage and resilience of the millions of Venezuelans who voted and who continue to peacefully call for Maduro to acknowledge that Edmundo González Urrutia received the most votes.
Approximately 2,400 people have been arrested. On August 15, Maduro’s supporters in the National Assembly passed a law that grants the government broad powers to control and shut down nongovernmental organizations.
Venezuela produces approximately 800,000 barrels per day of heavy oil. They need to import a diluent (heavy naphtha) to pump the oil through pipelines and into tankers. So, I believe the US and other countries will increase sanctions against oil exports and naphtha imports.
Latest News is troubling
Venezuela has claimed that it is entitled to about 2/3 of Guyana, which I investigated in Feb 2024:
As reported on September 4, Guyana discovered 4.4 tons of cocaine in a very remote area of Guyana, close to the Venezuelan border. There was a landing strip constructed by the smugglers. Days earlier, a large fuel depot. Guyana is neither the source nor the destination of this cocaine, but transhipment point. From Guyana, the cocaine could be smuggled to Brazil, to be sold in Europe. Or perhaps destined for the US.
I am wondering if Maduro administration is involved in this activity. Mathews Ridge is definitely in the area that Maduro claims belongs to Venezuela.
I am following this story closely. A senior policeman from Guyana was connect to this drug bust.
Going forward
It would only be Christmas in Venezuela if Maduro left in October. The country will suffer, until there is real change in the country. The rest of the countries will absorb the Venezuelans escaping the chaos. I hope Venezuelans never give up fighting to restore their democracy.
Unfortunately, even with sanctions and condemnations of the rest of the world, Maduro will be a menace for his people, and many other countries.
Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, accused the United States of piracy, because we took his plane, which was undergoing maintenance in Dominican Republic. In particular, he attacked Attorney General Merrick Garland. It was obviously embarrassing to Maduro. Purchase of the plane was done through a “shell company” to get around US sanctions. Kudos go to all the agencies involved, particularly the State Department, which had to get the approval from Dominican Republic and the Department of Homeland Security under the leadership of Alejandro Mayorkas.
The accomplices to the repossession, the Dominican Republic, are likely very happy to accomodate the US as they have been absorbing the exodus from Venezuela for years. DR is not paradise, as it seems to take a beating with every hurricane, but it’s better than the repressive regime of Maduro.
The Department of Homeland Security also is to be congratulated. Excerpt from CNN link:
For years, US officials have sought to disrupt the flow of billions of dollars to the regime. Homeland Security Investigations — the second largest investigative agency in the federal government — has seized dozens of luxury vehicles, among other assets, heading to Venezuela.
The economic sanctions against Venezuela, have a long history. The U.S. has been concerned about Venezuelan narcotics trafficking since 2005 and its lack of cooperation in combatting terrorism since 2006.
Venezuela’s President Maduro looks for some legitimacy, but his government thrives on corruption, and the July 28 election is being widely condemned as fraudulent.
Following the announcement by Venezuelan authorities that Maduro had won the 28 July 2024 presidential election, condemned as fraudulent, Reuters reported on 21 August 2024 that the U.S. Treasury Department had submitted to the State Department a list of 60 individuals and their family members—particularly those from the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ)—for possible sanctions.
The Maduro regime refuses to release the official tallies of the election. I imagine there are some extremely brave Venezuelans who just will not sign off on false tallies.
So, the attorney general of Venezuela is having the opposition candidate thrown in jail. That’s what dictators do when they lose an election.
Venezuela’s attorney general’s office said on Monday a court has issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, accusing him of conspiracy and other crimes amid a dispute over whether he or President Nicolas Maduro won a July election.
Venezuela’s economy is in shambles. Oil production is now well under a million barrels per day, about 1/3 of its production, a decade before. Oil is the life blood of the Venezuelan economy. In many countries, the rich get richer. In Venezuela, to become rich, they first have to kiss up to the president and his party. Corruption breeds corruption.
Unfortunately, it will get worse before it gets better. Maduro lost his plane. Venezuela lost its democracy and economy. Just who are the pirates?
It is anticipated that when immigration issue comes up in the debates, Donald Trump will come fully prepared with lies. He will offer them up shotgun style, which is difficult to unpack quickly.
Lie in a TV ad: “Attention seniors: Kamala Harris has promised amnesty for the 10 million illegals she allowed in as border czar, making them eligible for Social Security. Studies warn this will lead to cuts in your Social Security benefits.”
To support this claim, they offer a direct quote, which gives the impression they are talking about her proposal.
FALSE (CNN fact check) : Kamala Harris was never a “border czar.” She was never given the responsibility to secure our southern border. This responsibility went to the Secretary of Homeland Security. She was given the diplomatic responsibility of working with three Central America countries to improve their policies, so many of their citizens would not attempt to enter the US.
The 10 million illegals “she let in” is false, as explained by CNN. We have amnesty programs available to refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine.
Harris has not made any promise to grant legal status to all of the migrants who have crossed the border during her vice presidency.
More immigration lies: This non-existent link between Social Security and illegal immigration will undoubtedly be offered up as it is used often in Trump’s rallies. Trump’s shorter version is: “Your Social Security will be destroyed by the people coming in. There’s too many of them. It’s not sustainable.”
FALSE: Joe Biden “is letting millions of people from jails, from prisons, from insane asylums, from mental institutions, drug dealers pour in.”
Trump will re-tool this one for the debate, as perhaps the Biden-Harris administration, or just “Under Kamala’s time in office, she has let in …”
Lie from J.D. Vance: “Kamala Harris wants to give $25,000 to illegal aliens to buy American homes.”
FALSE. The idea of a federal program to give assistance to first time home buyers, who are working and paying rent for the last 2 years, has been proposed. Specifics of this idea have not been given, however illegal aliens with invalid Social Security numbers can be easily screened out of the program, through a computer check. This is routinely done with employers.
If I total up the lies on immigration (Mostly false, false and pants on fire), there are nearly 900 false statements. Trump likes to blur facts at times, saying “the government reports says 10 million illegals, could be much more than this … ” to exaggerate the immigration crisis.
I believe Trump will craft a zinger at the debate, which will identify Harris as the border czar, then add to this the 10 million aliens she left in, and connect this up to as many benefits as possible (social security, health care, housing assistance) and illegally voting in the US election. And he will describe them as rapists, drug dealers and mental patients. It will be a zinger filled with lies.
Along the way, he’ll mention that illegal immigrants can get driver licenses in Tim Walz’s state of Minnesota. I support this, as they need the driver’s license to get insurance. Uninsured motorists are a huge problem where I live (Florida).
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