Heather Cox Richardson recorded a commentary on Substack about the very dangerous moment we are in.
If Trump can strike wherever he wants whenever he wants, the U.S. and the world is in deep trouble.
Which country is next? Cuba? Columbia? Greenland?
Trump is attacking the international rules-based, law-based order.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Thank you for bringing this recording to our attention.
Heather Cox Richardson is always so “right on” (am I showing my age by that comment?) about history and easily inderstandablr and interesting. This time she is also scary.
Bobbi Eisenberg
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Remember Obama and Biden, they went into a foreign country and killed them. Trump got the dictator out without killing him. He’s and now waiting trial on charges.
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I’d say that there’s a small difference in we knew Bin Laden committed 9/11 and he directly attacked the US.
Maduro – not a likable guy and corrupt dictator – but there are lots of those in the world. Obama was at least hitting purported terrorists in mountains. Trump was killing possible drug smugglers with no path to the US or an intent to harm anyone in the US since their boats couldn’t run that far.
What did Maduro do directly to the US that rises to the level of killing Americans with intent – and I don’t think drug smuggling is it. Drug smuggling is an intent to make money that sometimes ends in ODs – not a path to murdering Americans.
Put another way – if drugs are a reason to go to war, we can go to war with half the world – remember the War on Drugs? We didn’t win that one.
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Rachel Maddow started her show tonight by asking what was the reason for kidnapping Maduro.
Drugs? Venezuela is not a major supplier of drugs to the U.S.
Didn’t respect election results? That’s a laugh, coming from Trump.
Illegal weapons possession? See above. Trump loves guns.
She knocked down every conceivable motive.
She concluded that Trump wanted to demonstrate that he can send the military anywhere anytime and needs no permission.
He can bomb anyone anywhere.
He can send troops to American cities.
He doesn’t need Congressional approval.
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We all felt vindicated when we went after international terrorists, but I worried that, like the unilateral invasion of Iraq, give sanction to bad actors on the world stage. Enter Putin. Enter Chinese island building in the vital trading routes of the East.
What happens now?
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I just do not get why the Republican establishment is OK with him asserting force against Greenland of all countries.
That should NOT be OK no matter what – they’re both an ally and in NATO.
Like I can sort of see Venezuela – Maduro is not a likable character, yes he was illegitimate and a criminal.
But Greenland? We’re going to attack a sovereign state ally for resources and without a Congressional approval? How is this OK no matter what the rationale given is.
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Especially since the acquisition of the raw materials is already assured by the friendship of the last century. Trump’s belligerent attitude toward allies is all the proof I need that he is deliberately trying to wreck alliances that have assured European peace for almost a century.
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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN the people of Venezuela demand that they govern themselves, instead of being governed as a U.S. colony, and they demand that Maria Corina Machado be their President?
First, you need to know what brought Maduro to power in Venezuela’s 2024 elections:
The Venezuelan people overwhelmingly opposed Maduro going into the July, 2024, elections and wanted Maria Corina Machado to run for president.
BUT, Maduro controlled Venezuela’s Election Council and had the Council ban Machado from being on the ballot.
So, Machado’s ally, 74-year old Edmundo Gonzales, went on the ballot as a proxy stand-in for Machado.
Machado and her allies had anticipated that Maduro and his Election Council cronies would try to falsify the results of the election, so at every voting station Machado’s party collected the QR codes from the ballots that were cast.
After the election, the QR code data showed that Machado stand-in Gonzales had won the election with an overwhelming 67% of the popular vote — but Maduro’s cronies on the Election Council ignored the data and officially declared that Maduro had won with 51% of the vote.
Maria Machado continued to lead the popular opposition to Maduro, but she eventually had to flee Venezuela, fearing assassination or imprisonment. For her brave opposition to Maduro’s dictatorial rule, the Nobel Prize Committee awarded Machado the Nobel Peace Prize — the Prize that Trump felt he should have won.
So, nearly 70% of the Venezuelan people voted for Maria Machado by proxy…but Trump claims she doesn’t have the support of the people. Typical Trump — revenge that she was given the Nobel Peace Prize that he felt he should have been awarded.
If Machado becomes president, she will use Venezuela’s oil riches to raise the standard of living for the Venezuelan people.
But, Trump wants the oil riches to go into the wallets of the U.S. oil companies who finance Republican political campaigns.
So, in spite of the fact that the corrupt ministers who ran things for Maduro remain as corrupt as ever, they are getting a Good Deal from Trump: If they act as the face of the government and let U.S. oil company executives actually run things behind the scenes, they can continue to get rich and enjoy the good life.
Meanwhile, the lion’s share of the Venezuelan oil wealth will be funneled to U.S. oil companies.
You see, this was never about drug-running. It’s always been about the oil because Venezuela has THE WORLD’S LARGEST RESERVES OF OIL at 330 BILLION BARRELS. That is far more than even Saudi Arabia. It’s always been about the oil.
And it’s also about creating a big issue to distract We the People from the growing disaster for Trump with more than 5 MILLION Epstein papers coming down the pipeline.
SO, BACK TO THE QUESTION — WHAT HAPPENS if the Venezuelan people, who by proxy elected Maria Corina Machado as their president by an overwhelming vote of 67%, take to the streets to demand that their choice becomes their president and runs their country instead of them being mere colonists of U.S. oil companies? Will Trump and his oil minions send troops to silence the people of Venezuela? That’s what Trump’s buddy, Putin, would do.
(Copy and share this.)
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Repeating a lie does not make it true. Again, Venezuelans overwhelmingly reject Machado. https://medium.com/@hrnews1/polls-91-of-venezuelans-hold-unfavorable-views-of-opposition-leader-mar%C3%ADa-corina-machado-1805fcce3a54
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Or, perhaps more likely, what happens when the followers of Maduro face off against the followers of Machado and a bitter civil war ensues?
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Some rational reasoning from an unexpected source. “Just because we Democrats believe that President Trump is wrong most of the time on policies doesn’t mean we can’t support a decision when he is sometimes right.“
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/01/06/advice_to_democrats_maduro_arrest_resist_reflexive_opposition_153678.html
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Matt,
There is one big issue that I can’t overlook. Trump failed to consult with Congress. The Trump people said they thought that a member of Congress might leak the information.
But Trump’s team told someone–the Washington Post had the story but didn’t publish it.
So why did they refuse to tell “the gang of 8,” the senior leaders in both parties?
If Trump asserts the right to send troops anywhere without Cingressiobal authorization–be it Caracas or Chicago–he usurps the Constitution and the rule of law.
I personally would be happy if he liberated the people of Cuba from their oppressive government, but only if he has Congressional approval.
Are you (and Lannie Davis) suggesting that the Constitution should be ignored?
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You raise a valid question, but in these ultra-partisan times and with the hard Left turn of Congressional Democrats I’m dubious that Democratic leaders would have stayed quiet – the far Left wing of the party would have crucified them.
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Matt,
Trump could have sought the approval of the Gang of 8, the senior leaders of both parties. They have never been accused of leaking.
But even though no one in Congress was informed or consulted, the plans leaked.
It could have been Hegseth or Trump. Both love to leak to impress reporters.
There is a reason that the Congress assigns to Congress the power to authorize war. It is an awesome responsibility, and no President should take away the power that the Constitution confers in Congress.
Trump now sees himself as above the law and in sole control of the military.
Do you feel good about that?
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Exactly right. THIS is the point – to get Americans to support actions which just so happen to circumvent that pesky ol’ Constitution. It’s intentional – from repeatedly shattering the emoluments clause to criticizing then sidestepping then neutering Congress. If the people support ignoring the Constitution then it ceases to have any power – the dream of his master Putin. As someone said 240 years ago “A republic if you can keep it”.
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Both the Washington Post and the New York Times knew about the invasion in advance but chose not to publish for fear of endangering our troops.
https://www.semafor.com/article/01/03/2026/new-york-times-washington-post-held-off-on-reporting-venezuela-raid
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