Context Matters
I recently had a conversation with an acquaintance about the raid in Venezuela. He seemed to misunderstand not only the situation regarding Maduro’s regime still being intact, he also appeared unaware of how this whole episode looks to Canadians and the people of Greenland, not to mention Americans who see Trump for what he is.
The capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro has met with understandable cheering from overseas Venezuelan communities.
They see justice being delivered after a decade under a vicious and cruel dictatorship that systematically oppressed, starved, beat, and tortured them.
However, the panic being expressed at home and in other parts of the globe is not about the people of Venezuela and how they feel, cold as that may be.
It is about Trump, objectively speaking, invading a sovereign nation to snatch the head of state and government to stand trial in the United States.
When you contextualize the threats Trump has made to annex Greenland and Canada, this action looks very different. That Maduro is a vicious dictator is immaterial to the very real and justified fears that Greenlanders and Canadians have now—not to mention other Latin American countries who have bad memories of US interventions.
In their eyes, Trump has just carried out the same threat against Venezuela that he has been threatening those other countries with.
On several occasions here in the United States, Trump has used the US military to intimidate localities that did not vote for him.
Los Angeles being Exhibit A.
I am one of millions of Americans who do not trust Trump to forgo using the US military against his political opponents because he already has. He has used it against cities on the West Coast and has threatened to do so against Chicago.
Moreover, Trump’s record so far has, if anything, been even more disastrous than during his first term.
My family on my dad’s side used pasta for Christmas dinner instead of roast beef like we normally do because the price of roast beef has gone so high.
As much of a first-world problem as this is, both sides of my family are relatively well off. So if my family had to save money by using pasta, imagine what less fortunate families and communities are dealing with regarding sky-high grocery prices.
Unemployment and inflation, along with other troubling trends like late rental and mortgage payments, are climbing in the United States. Trade wars wreak havoc on supply chains. ICE terrorizes communities in pursuit of Stephen Miller’s demented dreams.
Moreover, this is not the first time that Trump has prioritized spectacle and headlines over results.
Recall when Trump blew up a bunker right after Israel did real damage to the Islamic Republic’s regime via systematic targeting of the top brass of the Iranian military and the scientists. He declared he was going to do something big, blew up the bunker, then announced the operation like he won a football game. All the while, the Israelis did all the legwork to deal serious damage to Iran’s nuclear program while he just blew up some facilities. All spectacle, no follow-through. Iran’s nuclear program was dealt a serious setback but only because Israel did the labor.
Also, let’s not forget about the Epstein files.
Trump’s second administration has been a catastrophe for the United States.
So, no, I am not going to give Trump any benefit of the doubt after he has done so much damage to the United States, especially given that he has decided to do business with Maduro’s regime instead of uprooting it and having the legitimate president take over. Most especially after he has used the US military against political opponents at home.
Context matters, and as a result, I was never going to give Trump credit for an operation and plan I knew he would screw up.
Stay safe, everyone.
Postscript: A thirty seven year old woman named Renee Good was shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis, my backyard. I saw enough footage to know that this was not self defense and not justified. Moreover, I am not going to trust a word from the DHS under this administration considering their record with the truth. Most importantly, context matters here. ICE is not just an agency that is doing the dirty work of the Trump administration, they are an agency that has lied so often I can't trust a thing they say. My willingness to give the benefit of the doubt depends on past records. ICE has most certainly earned my presumption of guilt.