Cutting to the chase!
- Let’s begin with the thing apparently no one in power remembers: if a criminal flees your country, the grown-up, law-abiding response is extradition. Paperwork. Courts. Treaties. Not a smash-and-grab foreign policy.
- “Narco-terrorism” is a nonsense phrase invented to scare voters and justify bad behavior. Drugs don’t ambush Americans in parking lots or blow up buildings. Americans are the largest consumers of illegal drugs on Earth. This is a demand problem, not a supply problem—and bombing or kidnapping won’t fix it.
- History lesson: Panama. Manuel Noriega wasn’t even the official head of state when the U.S. grabbed him. There was already a U.S. military presence in country. Still illegal as hell. Apparently, “we’ve done this before” is not the legal defense they think it is.
- Kidnapping the president of another country is not “decisive leadership.” It’s a massive violation of international law. And for those applauding—what’s to stop another country from doing the same to the American president? Pause. Reflect. Continue.
- While we’re clearing the fog: drug users are not innocent bystanders to their own overdoses. That’s not cruelty, that’s reality. You don’t solve addiction by destabilizing entire countries.
- Nicolás Maduro is a corrupt authoritarian who refused to leave after losing an election. Meanwhile, María Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who won that election, is in hiding. And let’s be clear—Donald J. Trump does not want her anywhere near power.
- Follow the money. Oil companies funneled millions into Trump’s campaign, and in return he promised access to Venezuela’s oil. Venezuela holds the largest proven oil reserves in the world. I’ll happily bet that whoever gets “installed” there has deep ties to the oil industry.
- If Trump truly cared about drug trafficking, he wouldn’t have pardoned Juan Hernández, the former president of Honduras, convicted of—you guessed it—drug trafficking. Funny how principles evaporate when donors are involved.
- Venezuelans are not thrilled. Yes, some expatriates abroad are celebrating Maduro’s exit, but many of them have never lived under an American-engineered regime. Spoiler: it’s not freedom wrapped in a flag.
- And no, this wasn’t a Trump brain trust moment. This reeks of Stephen Miller. May I live long enough to watch him explain himself to a judge.
- Vladimir Putin condemned the action. Putin. Sit with that. And don’t be fooled—he’s taking notes. So is President Xi, who is absolutely side-eyeing Taiwan right now.
- Congress is, once again, missing. If it had any spine, it would be in emergency session. The better question: how many members have personal investments tied to oil?
- Lastly, the legislators who warned the military they don’t have to follow illegal orders? Modern-day Cassandras. They told the truth. No one listened. And now the ship is scraping ice.
Today’s newsletter content is heavily inspired by a FB lawyer friend, Kim Akins.
Julie Bolejack, MBA
TIP: keep your passport current!
