A Banana Republic dependent on oil to sustain its living standards, problems with heavy, high sulfur content crude, butthurt Exxon-Mobile and ConocoPhillips, and crippling U.S. sanctions
Even as Canadians, it’s difficult not to feel a warm, vicarious pride in all the winning our American neighbours managed to rack up—watching, from a safe distance, as President Trump, acting conspicuously in alignment with Israeli strategic interests, allegedly green-lit the CIA to remind the world that national sovereignty is less a rule than a flexible suggestion.
In one decisive flourish, a foreign president and his wife were removed for safekeeping, a regime change pencilled neatly into the schedule, and an oil-rich nation’s resources politely earmarked for redistribution under a more agreeable leadership—one reliably aligned with U.S. and Israeli regional priorities.
The $1 billion cost of the operation, of course, will be graciously covered by American taxpayers. A trivial inconvenience, really—especially in a country that somehow never seems to have that same $1 billion available for healthcare, education, or addressing domestic crises. But priorities must be respected.
More impressive still is the efficiency of it all: a government that can bypass Congress to apprehend a foreign head of state halfway across the globe, yet remains curiously powerless to pursue well-documented figures on the Epstein list at home. Sovereignty abroad, paralysis at home—a truly remarkable balance.
And how comforting it is to know the estimated $17 trillion in newly liberated oil wealth will be shared so equitably with the public—by which we naturally mean the billionaires, who will now enjoy the rare honour of graduating into the exalted ranks of multi-billionaires.
Yes. The winning. So much winning. One almost forgets to ask who’s paying for it—and who’s cashing in.
eliminating the hundreds of billions lost to fraud in blue states will more than pay for this opportunity to do some good and make the world a safer place
Were you not in the least concerned about Iran, China and others gaining footholds? It was carried out as a law enforcement action with military protection as allowed under Article II of the Constitution. That’s why the law enforcement team led the way. All legal. Regime change was not the stated goal, but hopefully the end result. The people of that once great country have endured unmentionable oppression and hardship. As for the oil, restructuring that asset is essential to the recovery of the country, and it will be structured in a way that benefits both countries (and actually the world; huge globalist impact).
Here are a few of the violations committed by the US when they kidnapped the President and his wife of a sovereign country, brought them back to the United States and are forcing a regime change while simultaneously admitting they are going to steal all their oil.
1. UN Charter
* Article 2(4): Prohibition on the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of a state
* Article 2(7): Non-intervention in the domestic affairs of another state
2. Principle of State Sovereignty
* Customary international law (sovereign equality of states)
3. Prohibition on Acts of Aggression
* UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 (Definition of Aggression)
4. Hague Regulations (1907)
* Article 23: Restrictions on means and methods of warfare causing suffering
* Article 25: Prohibition on attacks or bombardment of undefended towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings
* Article 28: Prohibition on pillage and unlawful seizure of property
* Article 43: Obligation to respect and maintain existing laws and governance where authority is exercised
* Article 46: Protection of private property, family rights, and livelihoods
5. Collective Punishment
* Prohibition under international humanitarian law
6. Geneva Convention IV (1949)
* Article 33: Prohibition of collective penalties and measures of intimidation against civilian populations
7. Head-of-State Immunity
* Customary international law (immunity ratione personae for sitting heads of state)
8. Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
* Principles reflecting personal inviolability and immunity of senior state officials
9. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
* Article 9: Protection against arbitrary arrest or detention
* Article 14: Due process and fair trial guarantees
10. Extradition Law and Treaty Obligations
* Requirement to use lawful extradition and judicial processes
11. Prohibition on Extraordinary Rendition
* Customary international law and international human rights law
12. Organization of American States (OAS) Charter
* Principles of non-intervention and respect for sovereignty of member states
13. Customary International Law of Non-Intervention
* Prohibition on coercive interference in another state’s political system
So it’s OK when United States breaks laws because Israel commanded them to even though it doesn’t benefit any US citizens, yes, I get it your hopeless.
Meanwhile, the citizens of Venezuela are aggressively protesting, demanding the return of their president. Guess he wasn’t the dictator mainstream news clean he was.
The expense of arresting criminals is never considered a factor for the excuse to not arrest them. If the arrest helps shut down the drug trade, then American lives are saved, a worthy investment. Then the bonus of damaging China, Russia, Iran, is incalculable. As commander in chief Trump can bypass Congress, the notion of conferring with Congress on every arrest and military action would be ludicrous. So since none of the rest of us, or the FBI even know, please list the "well documented figures on the Epstein list" that remain at large. Maybe you'll perform a public service by releasing all these "well documented names", along with the irrefutable evidence that they committed any crimes. I don't know why you're critical of the prospect of Venezuela pumping oil like it should again, at one time that made the Venezuelan people wealthy, if the oil companies get rich by doing this, then they deserve a profit for their efforts and service. Compare that to Russia, where they spend their oil riches engaging in a illegal war killing tens of thousands for the ego of that homicidal maniac Putin. The average Russian doesn't see a ruble of those oil riches.
At first Trump said there was fentanyl coming from Venezuela then everyone on his team said no sir it doesn’t come from there. There’s zero fentanyl in Venezuela in fact so then he changed it to cocaine. That’s an important fact we can never forget and never let others forget either!
Here are some more facts, only 1% of cocaine comes from Venezuela!!!
If America wanted to end the war on drugs decisively, all they have to do is completely closed the southern border and they would cut down 99% of drugs coming into the United States! The price would climb so high for the little scraps that got through that only billionaires could afford it.
You also need to read up on a little bit of history so that you would understand that the CIA used the military to bring cocaine into the United States at one time, believe me the last thing they care about is American citizens.
Oh, so the government agencies involved in fraud, subversion, and propaganda said it’s true that there is fentanyl in Venezuela even though everyone knows there isn’t, got it. Thanks for clearing that up. At least you provided proof 🤦🏻♂️
hmmm. It seems the multiple oil tankers' stopped from their Russian and Chinese and Iranian buyers will fund this operation about 10 times over; so, there is that.
Epstein and his corruption is coming out. Be patient while they redact and note why? on the millions of pages forthcoming.
AND, hope that the Fraud endemic in YOUR own country does not approach that of ours. Yes, our kettle IS black. . .
I read both sides of the (spin) news, and see the left urging others to keep screaming “Epstein.” If there was anything, anything at all in the files implicating Trump, the Dem’s would have revealed it during the many years they had full control of the government and the files. It has always puzzled me why the Dems seemingly want more of Clinton’s involvement revealed.
There's isn't one single Democrat who gives a damn about any of Epstein's victims. They only went wild on Epstein since they just knew that they really have Trump this time. If Trump was never associated with Epstein ever, the entire Epstein story wouldn't have been in the news period.
Russia is not the enemy, Israel is the greatest enemy to all of mankind, and they control the US government, our banks, media, search engines, immigration, policies, more than half of big Pharma, and they hold sway over the judiciary
Go on Twitter and look up The AIPAC Tracker, then type in the name of any member of Congress and you will find out how much bribery they took from this foreign special interest group and you should know that 90% of Congress have committed treason!
Russia is not the enemy, Russians are not controlling anything in my country yet Israel is controlling almost everything
There are over two dozen NGO groups responsible for flooding us with Weaponized culturally incompatible immigration, but the worst one is HIAS. Do a deep dive, and you will be sick to your stomach.
The main Takeaway is that the US government is working on behalf of Israel‘s best interest and not American citizens, we have long been justified to act upon the principles of the second amendment, but they know how to just take away a little bit of freedom amount of time keeping us Subdued with subversive propaganda so that we won’t revolt
Don’t you find it strange that every year our lives get worse, all the government corruption, and none of them are held to account?
At some point, we have to blame ourselves for not taking matters into our own hands. The establishment will never allow us to regain rights, sovereignty, freedom, prosperity or our economy through an election because governments create 90% of our problems and they control our government.
You Canadians may be getting a huge profit out of the misery of Cuban people by supporting the criminals that have been oppressing it. Killing, torturing, jailing them whilst the infamous Trudeau claps and laughs what his father Fidel does.
That's very true, I apologise. But saying perpetual war over oil beating territory is preferable to solar energy usage, in my mind, comes damned close to Madelaine Albright saying the death of half a million kids in Iraq was " A price worth paying".
Easy to say for some people, when they have no skin in the game.
I have Gen Smedley Butler's book and have read it. I am the grand-daughter of a WW1 veteran, the daughter of a WW2 veteran, the niece of 7 other WW2 veterans; two of those were in the Korean War, plus my oldest first cousin, whom I never met, was blown to bits in Korea. I always say they did NOT fight for my freedom, because I have steadily lost freedom over the course of my lifetime. Woodrow Wilson was coup d'etat #1. The USA should never have been in WW1 (He's also responsible for the un-Constitutional Federal Reserve, which is A private banking cartel, the income tax, re-segregation of the US Civil Service). Vietnam & Korea-undeclared wars. Loads of people love war because of the $$$$$$$$$$$$ they make from it. Hard to seed how Venezuela will turn out, but they had MASSIVE ELECTION FRAUD FACILITATED BY PROPRIETARY ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES, WHICH ARE STILL IN USE IN THE USA. 2020 ELECTION WAS MASSIVE FRAUD.
Same type of pedigree. Granddaughter of WW1 vet, grand niece of 5 WW1 vets, daughter of 2 WW2 and Korea war vets, niece of 3 WW2 vets, cousin of 4 Vietnam war vets, and my first husband was a Vietnam vet who died. I think it is about the voter fraud and dismantling the CIA and foreign actors there, at least as much as it's about the oil.
Agreed. My father said Korea was a conflict not a war, he would say that with a smirk, he was Navy veteran in the Korean war. When Vietnam came along same thing, he would correct people and say "Conflict" which he meant WAR but he was trying to ridicule our leaders who called the butchering of our many thousands of young men simple a conflict.
Ans I agree that NO war has ever been fought to keep me free.
I am just about 65 years of age.
War is more than a racket, it is bankers getting money while the common man suffers Hell
I am a physician. JFK was a war hero. His boat was destroyed and some were killed. He had to swim to an island, dragging a wounded man thru the water. He was rescued off the island. George Bush was also a war hero. His plane was shot down by the Japanese. He had to be picked up by the US Navy. But here's what I say. The men I've taken care of (and as I write this, I have in view a photo of the 82nd Airborne dropping in on June 6th. I've never been able to accurately count all the parachutes.) weren't in the water for a day, on an island for a few days, and then they had a life of ease and wealth. They slept in the snow in their clothes, not for one night, but for many. They were in the middle of no place, with smoke and fire, noise and horror. They did what they had to do. Our men went down to the Normandy shore and cut up the Belgian gates the Nazis put there and welded them to their tanks to cut through the berms around the fields in Normandy. They thought, and made decisions. I once said to a patient of mine as I greeted him "It's a lovely day today, isn't it?" He burst into tears. It was the anniversary of the day when, as a 19-year-old, he drove his tank into Dachau and discovered its horrors. No, my patients went through the heat and horror in the PTO, the cold and horror in the ETO; those are the real heroes. But it should never have happened. FDR could not wait to get the USA into the war. He's coup d'etat #2. Also, the Veterans' Administration hospitals were the worst I ever experienced. Very little privacy. I did the best I could for my patients, including listening.
Here we go. The use of the word butt-hurt by Leake is particularly telling. He is employing the same sort of half-truths and emotionally charged language that the mainstream media uses in order to push his narrative about Venezuela. Unfortunately for him, up until he bans my account and others like it for pushing back with critique and facts, it is relatively trivial to give good counterpoints to his editorials.
Firstly, let's just address a another elephants in the room beyond my opening paragraph. Leake makes the claim that "Venezuelan oil is heavy, basically asphalt" and implies it is barely worth the effort to extract it unless oil prices are high (and kept high through artificial means). He tries to give himself credibility on this matter by citing his Texas roots. This is a disingenuous attempt at credibility and is like someone saying that because they lived in Detroit they are a qualified expert on the entire car industry.
To anyone with any real understanding of the oil industry in the United States you would know that America has been refining Venezuelan oil for over half a century. Refineries all along the Gulf Coast were redesigned and upgraded to efficiently and effectively implement desulpherization and to remove contaminants (that also have material value, btw) and handle low-API gravity crude.
Also understand that there is a serious international interplay with oil, especially Canadian crude. Canadian crude is also very heavy and sulpher rich. Did Mr. Leake mention this? Did he mention that after the U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan crude in 2019 that Canadian oil made up the difference? Canada exports about 90% of its crude to the US and the Gulf Coast receives about 19% of that. If you haven't been paying attention to Canada, it is a shit show just like Europe, heavily influenced by globalists with a bunch of woke nuts at the helm and a very anti-capitalist, anti-freedom leader by the name of Mark Carney. By going into Venezuela and getting oil exports ramped up again into the US, more economic pressure can be put on the nuts north of the border.
I've said it before and I will say it again. People like Mr. Leake are idealists the same as those on the left. Leake is a good guy but lives in a fantasyland. Pre-Trump, the coordination of American economic, political and military power was used to empower globalists and the notion of a one-world government, i.e. global communism. In my opinion, Trump is now using those same levers of coordinated power to fight the tyrannical interests. He has no choice. This is how power works. When you seize the guns that are pointed at you, you do not take a hammer and blowtorch to them. You turn them around and begin firing them in the other direction.
I can't agree with this assessment as John Leake is and was a crime writer. He is not looking to white wash crimes or cover up terrible atrocities in my opinion. He is a realist and not an idealist who has stared mass murder in the face and did not flinch. We are contemplating murder of the worst and most inhumane type. "Idealists" are not prepared for viewings of that genre. Cold blooded murder is a description of the covid crimes. Actually genocide is the correct term. Large corporations such as oil companies and drug makers have notoriously avoided calculating harm into their equations--look at Vioux.
Invading other countries is a crime. In the near future other sources of energy could become cost effective and available.....for example harnessing the ocean tides etc.
I don't think you understand the direction I am pointing my criticism when I call him an idealist.
People need to understand that, in practical terms, Trump is the closest we are ever going to get to someone who has the business expertise to manage the colossal corporation that is the USA. Look at all of the past presidents going back to Nixon, the last person who had any tacit understanding of international finance. Is Trump perfect? Far from it. However, what we are faced with in this country is a very smart, very well-funded and very violent enemy (Marxists) who have infiltrated the universities, healthcare, energy, insurance, the military, the judiciary...everything. Now we have someone who is capable of fighting back in a meaningful way. And what are conservatives doing? Fracturing along idealistic lines that are essentially the mirror image of left-wing virtue signaling. "Mah Constitution! Mah Constitution!" they scream.
This is destructive. We are not THERE yet to deal with perceived Constitutional issues, many of which are figments in the mind of the classical liberal elites, the group that Mr. Leake hails from. We first need to destroy our enemies in as lawful a way possible but not necessarily limited by the kind of subjective interpretations of "law" that our motivated reasoners in the Supreme Court, past and present, turn against us whenever they feel like it. No, first we need to cover the house with a giant tent and fumigate it as much as possible and if a few birds get trapped inside and succumb to the poison that is unfortunate. Otherwise, these martinets are going to end up convincing enough conservatives to go along with impeaching Trump that the whole train gets circled back to the gas chambers.
There is a practical side to draining the swamp. It ain't pretty, but the swamp didn't get that way overnight and not by being nice. It is time to fight the swamp fire with a backdraft.
"We first need to destroy our enemies in as lawful a way possible"
Ruth Gordon....Do you consider genocide a lawful method? That was "covid and the 'vaccines'.....Was that lawful and just because we weren't put in jail?
I'm not sure what you are asking or suggesting. It sounds like you are arguing an eye for an eye, old testament style justice. Here is what I would say to that in reference to genocide:
First off, it was not a genocide. The effects and the intent were to make as much money as possible. The causes that allowed this to happen were numerous but primarily it was the capture of media institutions (censorship) and the capture of medical licensing boards. Otherwise, the word would have gotten out and the shot would have collapsed immediately.
Second, if we can get enough people together to gather up Fauci, Bourla, most of the world's doctors, nurses, hospital administrators. board members, judges and other conspirators such as media personalities like Piers Morgan, paid actors, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, etc. and they can be put against the wall with a blindfold and a cigarette then I am all for it.
Third, no, it was not lawful what they did. But it shows the use of force, how it works and why you simply cannot fight people like that in the courts that they already own.
Leake's a good guy, but his sportsman's ethic has too much grip on his judgment. It's as though his superego shot his id and bought off his ego.
The world needs a strong but healthy USA. It's not good to be absolute to a fault in ethics and adherence to law when dealing with treacherous characters. When the court officials get bought off, do court rulings hold full value in law? If so, why? If not, then who makes the call?
It would be interesting to hear John answer that conundrum with an effective and legal plan to claw out of that trap. Trump is punching through the paper bag we've been imprisoned in, and he's showing how straightforward it should have been for his predecessors to have done.
It's a terrible mess and we are on our own, Ruth. I am wanting to keep on living just to see what happens...
Besides if I died no one would be around to care for my blind and vaccine injured husband of more than 5O years. Since his two "covid shots" he has balance issues and --though he used to read brail-- is having problems even doing that since the shots--- as Guillaine Barre syndrome make it almost impossible. That is a common "side effect" from the shots.
I think making people die and getting money for it is an absolutely wretched "career choice" but that seems to be what our government does best.
You can put all sorts of nice names on it....but the "covid program" WAS a genocide elaborately planned in advance at event 2O1. I do not believe the real goal was money....I think it was getting rid of the useless eaters....old people who worked their whole lives.....small children.....autistic people...you know the rap.
Donald Trump was involved in several casinos in Atlantic City, including the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza, and Trump Castle, but faced multiple bankruptcies and financial struggles. He no longer owns any casinos in the U.S., as all his properties have been sold or closed.
Now you are just revealing yourself to be lazy, have a severe anti-Trump bias and to not be arguing in good faith or from any sense of knowledge.
Anyone with any understanding of big business knows that every conglomerate has had to file for bankruptcy on certain businesses when they amass too much debt or encounter better competition. Let me educate you since you seem to be engaging in the same sort of left-wing motivated reasoning and deceit through omission that, frankly, got us into the mess we are in right now. Thanks for being such a clear example of how dishonest reporting leads to conflict.
1990s Bankruptcies
Donald Trump's Atlantic City casinos filed for bankruptcy multiple times: the Trump Taj Mahal in 1991, Trump Plaza and Trump Castle in 1992, and Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. in 2004. Yahoo Finance These filings resulted from a combination of high-interest debt and competition from newly legalized gambling in other states that eroded Atlantic City's market dominance.
Trump's competitors in New Jersey did not fare any better. Several of his major competitors in the Atlantic City market also had to file for bankruptcy.
Caesars Entertainment was probably the most significant case. Caesars Entertainment filed for bankruptcy earlier in 2015 to implement a restructuring that would cut its debt by $10 billion. Yahoo Finance The company owned multiple Atlantic City properties including Caesars Atlantic City, Bally's Atlantic City, and Harrah's Resort Atlantic City.
Tropicana Entertainment also struggled during this period. Tropicana was sold back to Tropicana Entertainment after the former owner was ousted.
Other Atlantic City properties also filed for bankruptcy around the same time as Trump's casinos, indicating that the problem was more systemic than specific to Trump. The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, Revel Casino, and Showboat all closed or filed for bankruptcy between 2013 and 2014.
2000s Bankruptcies
The Aladdin casino filed a $1.2 billion bankruptcy in 2001 Easy Vegas, eventually becoming Planet Hollywood. The Stardust was imploded in 2007 after accumulating approximately $1 billion in debt within seven years of opening in 1980.
Financial Crisis Era (2008-2012)
Station Casinos emerged from bankruptcy in summer 2012 after two years in bankruptcy court, while Hooters Hotel was bought at auction by its main lender. ABC News Station Casinos carried $5.4 billion in debt much of it from a November 2007 management-led buyout.
Recent Bankruptcies
Caesars Entertainment filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2015 to eliminate about $16 billion in debt, emerging in October 2017.
The Revel Casino Hotel filed for bankruptcy twice during its brief two-year lifespan from 2012 to 2014 before closing. The Chinese-themed Lucky Dragon Casino, which opened in 2016, filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2018. Most recently, Maverick Gaming filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2025.
The common underlying factors across these bankruptcies include excessive debt from leveraged buyouts, high operational costs, competitive pressures from expanding gaming jurisdictions, and in some cases, management or strategic missteps.
ha ha ha----everyone knows casinos are a good income and very easy to run. Trump is a bad business man and also pushed the death shots on an unsuspecting public with his "warp speed" campaign. He's a player and working for the big boys...
I never call people I have never met and know nothing about names otherwise I might return your silly tirade. Personal attacks on bloggers etc are beneath me--
Well, you've been educated now by ''Ruth' on business models, economics and competition, so I'll only need to insist that -- tho Warp Speed was a pharma challenge -- TRUMP gave Americans THREE ALTERNATIVES in EARLY TREATMENT
-- IVERMECTIN/horse paste, chlorine dioxide/BLEACH, and even HCQ+zinc --
that would have
1-- SAVED MILLIONS during COVID and
2-- even DESTROYED the EUAuthorzation possibility,
if YOUR FOOL leftists and TDS FOOLS hadn't declared him stupid...
So much more to the story. We don’t need their oil, at least not right now. From what I read it’s more about getting China out of Venezuela and preserving dollar denominated oil. A Rothschild family member is already on record congratulating us on this raid. Central banks love it.
The US homeland has long been crawling with a Chinese real estate, investors, academics, and agents of the the Chinese state. The US transferred cutting edge, biotech technology, developed at the university of North Carolina, to the Wuhan lab. Eventually, one needs to cease being such a sucker for US war propaganda.
You got something against WINNING for a change....?
Does it spoil your handy black pill list of cardboard anti-war bullet-points?
THIS was NOT a WAR.
And next time, don't forget to include Hezbollah in South and Latin America... all the way to Mexico... PLUS the CCP's grasping hands on the market in rare-earths... ttyl
I've been watching this unfold and have been disappointed in some of my favorite journalists phoning it in from the cheap seats, as they say. I am eight books in on the CIA and of course they meddle on behalf of Sullivan & Cromwell clients - remember United Fruit in Guatemala? So, my question is this: If Chevron, Exxon and ConocoPhillips (under different names like Rockefeller et al - all Sullivan & Cromwell clients - think Allen and John Foster Dulles) had invested in oil drilling and refineries in Venezuela, since what, 1908, and by the 60's, US companies were the largest investors in Venezuelan oil, do they have a right to protect their investments? And, can the US government be enlisted to help - military, CIA et al?
During 2007, under Chavez, Venezuela expropriated the assets of Exxon, ConocoPhillips and Chevron (Chevron did agree to keep a minority interest) and then the US (under Obama) sanctioned Venezuela - probably driving them into the cozy arms of China, and to a lesser extent, Russia.
Oil is a funny thing, like a necessity, maybe, probably, is. So, the US has relied on Venezuelan oil for a century, at least, and then the faucet gets turned off after 2007. And funny, Obama, Trump 1.0 and Biden, do nothing about it other than raising the bounty on Maduro to $25 million during 2024 and $50 million during 2025. Hmmm. Now, Trump 2.0 calls bullshit and snatches Maduro to face federal drug charges that have been outstanding since 2020. This story is much more complicated and deserves a hard look.
Guess I don't mind your criticism of Trump, but you managed to throw in an additional item that torpedos your credibility: "...Trump’s childish sycophant supporters...".
I see the snatching away of Maduro as a set back for the Chinese Communist Party, John Leake, and a hindrance to the aspirations of the Chinese to dominate the world. Let's be clear: the Chinese cannot be trusted... ever, and for that matter, neither can a Muslim nation be trusted. It is a necessary mandate for the President of the United States to hinder the progress of unfriendly nations when deemed appropriate, timely, and expedient. I think it was expedient to remove the great drug dealer Maduro from his country, and try him in America. That being said, it is my opinion that the W.E.F. and the W.H.O., along with the public/private cartels GAVI, CEPI and PAHO are easily as or more dangerous than Maduro. Covid 19 is Exhibit "A".
"I knew that Venezuela’s vaunted oil reserves were heavy and sulfurous, but until this morning, I didn’t realize that most Venezuelan oil has the consistency of asphalt and requires enormous volumes of diluents just to get it flowing."
You missed the point. While it's true that the super heavy asphalt like stuff is a majority of Venzuela's 1st in the world massive oil "reserves," those resources have never been more than a small bit player in oil PRODUCTION thoughout Venezuela's history. Heavy, but still conventionally producible oil has always been its dominant source of production. The reason that Venezuela's economy sputtered in the 80's and 90's was due to oil PRICE. Production remained very strong until Chavez and Maduro raped and pillaged the industry and most of the technical expertise and all of the capital left the country.
Anybody who's been in the business knows that it's production that matters and reserves are highly illusory and usually highly biased value.
It's fair to debate Trump's actions on constitutionality, etc. But dismissing Venezuela's oil potential is ignorant, I'm afraid.
That’s why it was carried out as a law enforcement action with military protection as allowed under Article II of the Constitution. That’s why the law enforcement team led the way. All legal. A bit sneaky perhaps. 😁 Regime change was not the stated goal, but hopefully the end result.
Per a smart friend, the part about protecting Americans from perceived or imminent threat. LE would have been under threat. Not saying that it wasn’t a bending of the law, but explains why they made sure to emphasize that LE went in first.
Obama was right to sanction Venezuela when they stole our oil companies infrastructure. They had the option to reverse that or pay us the $10 billion they stole. https://share.google/aimode/wTRU5Q8OlApJ0FY8Q
I read that the kidnapping was not an especially smooth event.
Thirty-nine Cuban security guards were killed before they secured Madero and his wife. And it is still not clear who killed them, whether it was it Venezulan military traitors or US mercs.
The 39 deaths are in addition to 40 or possible more kiled in the bombings and related activity.
Yes & there are reports that they broke the president's wife's ribs & you could visibly see the bruises when she appeared in the courtroom. Savages. The US & Israel are mirror-images of each other. The two most rotten states on planet Earth.
How horrible! And she would probably have seen the murder of their 39 guards as well. Speaking of rotten….
There is a massive buildup of US, UK and German troops underway in Europe. Israel has pulled ALL of its troops and equipment even down to the barriers out of the West bank. I believe a major attack on Iranis imminent.
My worry now is, that the way we are going with our Nero wannabe, we may not have midterm elections.
Could you cite some sources? I haven't heard any of this & I follow geopolitics very closely. I love what Pepe Escobar calls Trump: neo-Caligula, very fitting indeed.
IF what is being said is true, it appears Trump et al have no jurisdiction and thus, no way to progress forward. Could they be so outright stupid as to risk such a ruling?
It should not take long to tell. . .
Regardless, based on listening to part of this only, and only slightly understanding all the intrigue and complications and HISTORY, it is virtually impossible to discern any truth from anything.
This operation could be a feint displacing attention from a REAL motivation and event we may never know of.
Certainly, you have forced me to think harder on this. Thanks Frances.
And here is another piece of the puzzle for you, IMO the real beneficiary of the assault on Venezuela is...(drumroll).... Israel.
Trump has been pushing something called the Issac Accords, it's an Abraham Accords 2.0 for South America (SA). He has already lined up Panama, Guatamala, Argentina (thats what the $20 million to Mieli helped secure), and has targeted Venezuela for the same Israel First deal (You may have noticed he just sold Venezula's state oil company to a top dual citizen Jewish donor for a perposterous price).
To pull his SA version of Israel First off he had to get rid of Madero, why? Because Madero has been a consistently outspoken critic of Israel, especially on it's ongoing Gaza genocide. My guess is he will now turn his sights on Columbia, another strong critic of Israel. Trump IMO is a minion of Israel, probably blackmailed as well as bribed.
Compounding that is his clearly diminished mental state which has the world holding its breath. That's why neither Russia nor China are pushing back; they see the danger, they are dealing with a runaway clown car...and its armed with nukes.
Yes, I read that at least one was immediately killed.
I also read that a close Maderos supporter was sent to Cuba when this all began. Probably because he would also have been a target. He is a staunch nationalist, well respected by the Venezulan intel and military.*
Given his arrival, the new President may not be long for the role. She was bought off according to this interview.
From what I read the CIA bought off the top Venezulan miliary; they are the ones who killed Madero's Cuban security forces. They may have suffered losses, and may be included in the 40 other related deaths.
The traitors then handed Maderos and his wife over to the US troops.
Venezuela was wealthy and prosperous, but lower oil prices hurt, and they were too dependent on oil, so their economy went down, Chavez made a bad situation worse.
No one said it was going to be easy, and there are plenty of ways that this can end badly. I remain hopeful, as our enemies were gaining footholds in the country that would have led to global unrest. This action is far, far more consequential than drugs and oil.
I didn’t write the following, but believe it’s worth consideration:
1. The Venezuelan regime nationalized and expropriated, without compensation, oil facilities belonging to American companies, and later refused to pay the billions of dollars in compensation awarded against it in World Bank arbitration.
2. Transferring management of Venezuela’s oil industry from private hands to the government triggered the collapse of the country’s economy even before U.S. sanctions, which merely accelerated the process.
3. In order to cope with the catastrophe it created, the Chávez–Maduro regime found a new ally: Iran.
4. Venezuela and Iran cooperate in the military sphere (including the development of drones) and in circumventing the international and American sanctions imposed on both.
5. Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro’s leadership is an active player in flooding the United States with hard drugs. Each year, more than 100,000 Americans die from drug overdoses.
6. According to the international community, Maduro lost the elections held in Venezuela and falsified his victory. (I believe that, and that the influence may have extended to other countries.)
7. Maduro’s regime is a Bolshevik dictatorship that violently suppresses all opposition.
I will add that Maduro was abusing diplomatic immunity (using relatives in private planes to import cocaine). Many have opined that it is impossible to differentiate the govt from the cartels.
An Attempted Overthrow of the U.S. Government: The CFR/Wall Street made an overt attempt to install a dictatorship by force.
General Butler: In 1934 General Smedley D. Butler went public after he was approached by Wall Street and offered up to 300 million dollars to lead an army of 500,00 veterans equipped with munitions from Remington Arms Company to Washington D.C., in order to overthrow the U.S. Government by force.
The plot was investigated by the McCormack-Dickstein committee, which found General Butler to be telling the truth.(*)
During his 35 years of service in the Marine Corps, General Butler received the Congressional Medal of Honor twice. The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor against an enemy force, which can be given to an individual serving in the Armed Forces of the United States.
Jules Archer's book, The Plot to Seize the White House, was written with the cooperation of senators, reporters, former Speaker of the House of Representatives John W. McCormack, former editors of the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Philadelphia Record, and the immediate family of General Smedley Butler who provided military records, scrapbooks, memorabilia, recordings, etc. In his book Archer states, "School texts... are uniquely silent about the powerful Americans who plotted to seize the White House with a private army, hold President Franklin D. Roosevelt prisoner, and get rid of him if he refused to serve as their puppet in a dictatorship they planned to impose and control."
The backing of the revolution reportedly came from the American Liberty League, which was headed by Morgan and DuPont. "Heavy contributors," says Archer, also included, "the Pitcairn family (Pittsburgh Plate Glass), Andrew W. Mellon Associates, Rockefeller Associates, E. F. Hutton Associates, William S. Knudsen (General Motors), and the Pew family (Sun Oil Associates)." The online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, added, "General Butler claimed that the American Liberty League was the primary means of funding the plot. The main backers were the DuPont family, as well as leaders of U.S. Steel, General Motors, Standard Oil, Chase National Bank, and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company."
In his book, Facts and Fascism, investigative reporter, and author George Seldes wrote, "Most papers suppressed the whole story or threw it down by ridiculing it. Nor did the press later publish the McCormack-Dickstein report which stated that every charge Butler made... had been proven true." Archer commented, "Press coverage of what was obviously a startling story of utmost importance to the security of the nation was largely one of distortion, suppression, and omission."
So, as expected, the mainstream press was called upon to discredit General Butler. "On November 22 the Associated Press struck a low blow at Butler by getting Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, of New York, to express an opinion of the conspiracy based on what he had read about it in the press," wrote Archer.
The AP ran this news item under the headline Cocktail Putsch. Explaining the contents of the article, Archer continued, "Mayor LaGuardia of New York laughingly described today the charges of General Smedley D. Butler that New York brokers suggested he lead an army of 500,000 ex-service men on Washington as 'a cocktail putsch.' The Mayor indicated he believed that some one at a party had suggested the idea to the ex-marine as a joke."
According to this information, the CFR/Wall Street made an overt attempt to install a dictatorship by force. This plot was investigated by congress and found to be authentic. It is strikingly similar to the Communist Revolution which Wall Street is known to have funded, where an entire country was communized after a few major cities were seized.
"The Communists came to power by seizing a mere handful of key cities," wrote Allen. "In fact, practically the whole Bolshevik Revolution took place in one city - Petrograd. It was as if the whole United States became Communist because a communist-led mob seized Washington D.C."
"The CIA handsomely paid off his security apparatus to stand down so that a Delta Force team could waltz into his palace and grab him without suffering a single casualty."
Since there were many casualties, mostly Cuban mercenaries, at the Maduro compound, and throughout the area's AA and radar installations, I'm not so confident in your "logical inference".
Even as Canadians, it’s difficult not to feel a warm, vicarious pride in all the winning our American neighbours managed to rack up—watching, from a safe distance, as President Trump, acting conspicuously in alignment with Israeli strategic interests, allegedly green-lit the CIA to remind the world that national sovereignty is less a rule than a flexible suggestion.
In one decisive flourish, a foreign president and his wife were removed for safekeeping, a regime change pencilled neatly into the schedule, and an oil-rich nation’s resources politely earmarked for redistribution under a more agreeable leadership—one reliably aligned with U.S. and Israeli regional priorities.
The $1 billion cost of the operation, of course, will be graciously covered by American taxpayers. A trivial inconvenience, really—especially in a country that somehow never seems to have that same $1 billion available for healthcare, education, or addressing domestic crises. But priorities must be respected.
More impressive still is the efficiency of it all: a government that can bypass Congress to apprehend a foreign head of state halfway across the globe, yet remains curiously powerless to pursue well-documented figures on the Epstein list at home. Sovereignty abroad, paralysis at home—a truly remarkable balance.
And how comforting it is to know the estimated $17 trillion in newly liberated oil wealth will be shared so equitably with the public—by which we naturally mean the billionaires, who will now enjoy the rare honour of graduating into the exalted ranks of multi-billionaires.
Yes. The winning. So much winning. One almost forgets to ask who’s paying for it—and who’s cashing in.
#sarcasm
eliminating the hundreds of billions lost to fraud in blue states will more than pay for this opportunity to do some good and make the world a safer place
Were you not in the least concerned about Iran, China and others gaining footholds? It was carried out as a law enforcement action with military protection as allowed under Article II of the Constitution. That’s why the law enforcement team led the way. All legal. Regime change was not the stated goal, but hopefully the end result. The people of that once great country have endured unmentionable oppression and hardship. As for the oil, restructuring that asset is essential to the recovery of the country, and it will be structured in a way that benefits both countries (and actually the world; huge globalist impact).
Here are a few of the violations committed by the US when they kidnapped the President and his wife of a sovereign country, brought them back to the United States and are forcing a regime change while simultaneously admitting they are going to steal all their oil.
1. UN Charter
* Article 2(4): Prohibition on the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of a state
* Article 2(7): Non-intervention in the domestic affairs of another state
2. Principle of State Sovereignty
* Customary international law (sovereign equality of states)
3. Prohibition on Acts of Aggression
* UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 (Definition of Aggression)
4. Hague Regulations (1907)
* Article 23: Restrictions on means and methods of warfare causing suffering
* Article 25: Prohibition on attacks or bombardment of undefended towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings
* Article 28: Prohibition on pillage and unlawful seizure of property
* Article 43: Obligation to respect and maintain existing laws and governance where authority is exercised
* Article 46: Protection of private property, family rights, and livelihoods
5. Collective Punishment
* Prohibition under international humanitarian law
6. Geneva Convention IV (1949)
* Article 33: Prohibition of collective penalties and measures of intimidation against civilian populations
7. Head-of-State Immunity
* Customary international law (immunity ratione personae for sitting heads of state)
8. Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
* Principles reflecting personal inviolability and immunity of senior state officials
9. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
* Article 9: Protection against arbitrary arrest or detention
* Article 14: Due process and fair trial guarantees
10. Extradition Law and Treaty Obligations
* Requirement to use lawful extradition and judicial processes
11. Prohibition on Extraordinary Rendition
* Customary international law and international human rights law
12. Organization of American States (OAS) Charter
* Principles of non-intervention and respect for sovereignty of member states
13. Customary International Law of Non-Intervention
* Prohibition on coercive interference in another state’s political system
So when is the United States required to follow UN or Hague resolutions? Notice that Russia broke all of those by invading Ukraine, and the UN yawned.
So it’s OK when United States breaks laws because Israel commanded them to even though it doesn’t benefit any US citizens, yes, I get it your hopeless.
Meanwhile, the citizens of Venezuela are aggressively protesting, demanding the return of their president. Guess he wasn’t the dictator mainstream news clean he was.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/01/liberation-day-venezuelans-worldwide-erupt-celebration-after-u/? utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=3578 https://twitchy.com/grateful-calvin/2026/01/03/while-the-left-cries-actual-venezuelans-take-to-the-streets-to-cheer-maduros-capture-n2423491
The expense of arresting criminals is never considered a factor for the excuse to not arrest them. If the arrest helps shut down the drug trade, then American lives are saved, a worthy investment. Then the bonus of damaging China, Russia, Iran, is incalculable. As commander in chief Trump can bypass Congress, the notion of conferring with Congress on every arrest and military action would be ludicrous. So since none of the rest of us, or the FBI even know, please list the "well documented figures on the Epstein list" that remain at large. Maybe you'll perform a public service by releasing all these "well documented names", along with the irrefutable evidence that they committed any crimes. I don't know why you're critical of the prospect of Venezuela pumping oil like it should again, at one time that made the Venezuelan people wealthy, if the oil companies get rich by doing this, then they deserve a profit for their efforts and service. Compare that to Russia, where they spend their oil riches engaging in a illegal war killing tens of thousands for the ego of that homicidal maniac Putin. The average Russian doesn't see a ruble of those oil riches.
At first Trump said there was fentanyl coming from Venezuela then everyone on his team said no sir it doesn’t come from there. There’s zero fentanyl in Venezuela in fact so then he changed it to cocaine. That’s an important fact we can never forget and never let others forget either!
Here are some more facts, only 1% of cocaine comes from Venezuela!!!
If America wanted to end the war on drugs decisively, all they have to do is completely closed the southern border and they would cut down 99% of drugs coming into the United States! The price would climb so high for the little scraps that got through that only billionaires could afford it.
You also need to read up on a little bit of history so that you would understand that the CIA used the military to bring cocaine into the United States at one time, believe me the last thing they care about is American citizens.
Here's what the intelligence says, Cocaine and Fentanyl both https://share.google/aimode/Nq7MrXAksrVEo2Eig
Oh, so the government agencies involved in fraud, subversion, and propaganda said it’s true that there is fentanyl in Venezuela even though everyone knows there isn’t, got it. Thanks for clearing that up. At least you provided proof 🤦🏻♂️
"Sovereignty abroad, paralysis at home", embarrassingly true.
hmmm. It seems the multiple oil tankers' stopped from their Russian and Chinese and Iranian buyers will fund this operation about 10 times over; so, there is that.
Epstein and his corruption is coming out. Be patient while they redact and note why? on the millions of pages forthcoming.
AND, hope that the Fraud endemic in YOUR own country does not approach that of ours. Yes, our kettle IS black. . .
I read both sides of the (spin) news, and see the left urging others to keep screaming “Epstein.” If there was anything, anything at all in the files implicating Trump, the Dem’s would have revealed it during the many years they had full control of the government and the files. It has always puzzled me why the Dems seemingly want more of Clinton’s involvement revealed.
There's isn't one single Democrat who gives a damn about any of Epstein's victims. They only went wild on Epstein since they just knew that they really have Trump this time. If Trump was never associated with Epstein ever, the entire Epstein story wouldn't have been in the news period.
Russia is not the enemy, Israel is the greatest enemy to all of mankind, and they control the US government, our banks, media, search engines, immigration, policies, more than half of big Pharma, and they hold sway over the judiciary
Go on Twitter and look up The AIPAC Tracker, then type in the name of any member of Congress and you will find out how much bribery they took from this foreign special interest group and you should know that 90% of Congress have committed treason!
Russia is not the enemy, Russians are not controlling anything in my country yet Israel is controlling almost everything
There are over two dozen NGO groups responsible for flooding us with Weaponized culturally incompatible immigration, but the worst one is HIAS. Do a deep dive, and you will be sick to your stomach.
The main Takeaway is that the US government is working on behalf of Israel‘s best interest and not American citizens, we have long been justified to act upon the principles of the second amendment, but they know how to just take away a little bit of freedom amount of time keeping us Subdued with subversive propaganda so that we won’t revolt
Don’t you find it strange that every year our lives get worse, all the government corruption, and none of them are held to account?
At some point, we have to blame ourselves for not taking matters into our own hands. The establishment will never allow us to regain rights, sovereignty, freedom, prosperity or our economy through an election because governments create 90% of our problems and they control our government.
Yup, Israhell call the "shots" We are living in a real "Truman Show"
But has Mr Trump made the trains run on time yet?
You Canadians may be getting a huge profit out of the misery of Cuban people by supporting the criminals that have been oppressing it. Killing, torturing, jailing them whilst the infamous Trudeau claps and laughs what his father Fidel does.
I'll take the racket of war for oil over the suicide of solar panels any day.
Sounds like someone who's never been in a war.
Anyone who lived through Warp Speed is a veteran of a world war, even if they don't realize it.
Exactly! As long as he doesn't have to fight in it.
You unfairly neglect that Smedley would approve of this NON-WAR, especially the part about CIA bucks instead of bloody non-wars.... ttyl
The solar power industry helps to destroy the environment…
You are not paying the price anyway..not a drop of your blood will be spilled I wager.
You don't know anything about me or what prices I've 'paid' trying to save this dying nation about to be overrun.
That's very true, I apologise. But saying perpetual war over oil beating territory is preferable to solar energy usage, in my mind, comes damned close to Madelaine Albright saying the death of half a million kids in Iraq was " A price worth paying".
Easy to say for some people, when they have no skin in the game.
You missed my point. I was being deliberately sardonic/hyperbolic because the global warming lockdowns will dwarf the Covid lockdowns.
I have Gen Smedley Butler's book and have read it. I am the grand-daughter of a WW1 veteran, the daughter of a WW2 veteran, the niece of 7 other WW2 veterans; two of those were in the Korean War, plus my oldest first cousin, whom I never met, was blown to bits in Korea. I always say they did NOT fight for my freedom, because I have steadily lost freedom over the course of my lifetime. Woodrow Wilson was coup d'etat #1. The USA should never have been in WW1 (He's also responsible for the un-Constitutional Federal Reserve, which is A private banking cartel, the income tax, re-segregation of the US Civil Service). Vietnam & Korea-undeclared wars. Loads of people love war because of the $$$$$$$$$$$$ they make from it. Hard to seed how Venezuela will turn out, but they had MASSIVE ELECTION FRAUD FACILITATED BY PROPRIETARY ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES, WHICH ARE STILL IN USE IN THE USA. 2020 ELECTION WAS MASSIVE FRAUD.
Same type of pedigree. Granddaughter of WW1 vet, grand niece of 5 WW1 vets, daughter of 2 WW2 and Korea war vets, niece of 3 WW2 vets, cousin of 4 Vietnam war vets, and my first husband was a Vietnam vet who died. I think it is about the voter fraud and dismantling the CIA and foreign actors there, at least as much as it's about the oil.
Agreed. My father said Korea was a conflict not a war, he would say that with a smirk, he was Navy veteran in the Korean war. When Vietnam came along same thing, he would correct people and say "Conflict" which he meant WAR but he was trying to ridicule our leaders who called the butchering of our many thousands of young men simple a conflict.
Ans I agree that NO war has ever been fought to keep me free.
I am just about 65 years of age.
War is more than a racket, it is bankers getting money while the common man suffers Hell
I am a physician. JFK was a war hero. His boat was destroyed and some were killed. He had to swim to an island, dragging a wounded man thru the water. He was rescued off the island. George Bush was also a war hero. His plane was shot down by the Japanese. He had to be picked up by the US Navy. But here's what I say. The men I've taken care of (and as I write this, I have in view a photo of the 82nd Airborne dropping in on June 6th. I've never been able to accurately count all the parachutes.) weren't in the water for a day, on an island for a few days, and then they had a life of ease and wealth. They slept in the snow in their clothes, not for one night, but for many. They were in the middle of no place, with smoke and fire, noise and horror. They did what they had to do. Our men went down to the Normandy shore and cut up the Belgian gates the Nazis put there and welded them to their tanks to cut through the berms around the fields in Normandy. They thought, and made decisions. I once said to a patient of mine as I greeted him "It's a lovely day today, isn't it?" He burst into tears. It was the anniversary of the day when, as a 19-year-old, he drove his tank into Dachau and discovered its horrors. No, my patients went through the heat and horror in the PTO, the cold and horror in the ETO; those are the real heroes. But it should never have happened. FDR could not wait to get the USA into the war. He's coup d'etat #2. Also, the Veterans' Administration hospitals were the worst I ever experienced. Very little privacy. I did the best I could for my patients, including listening.
Bankers always get rich... getting rich has nothing to do with 'war''... ttyl
Yep, international bankers do, they love war.
War is one good way to get rich. That's what it has to do with getting rich.
No kidding but the point of war-defining interest is ''the disparity'' in results, not just the side of the equation measuring banker outcomes... ttyl
Here we go. The use of the word butt-hurt by Leake is particularly telling. He is employing the same sort of half-truths and emotionally charged language that the mainstream media uses in order to push his narrative about Venezuela. Unfortunately for him, up until he bans my account and others like it for pushing back with critique and facts, it is relatively trivial to give good counterpoints to his editorials.
Firstly, let's just address a another elephants in the room beyond my opening paragraph. Leake makes the claim that "Venezuelan oil is heavy, basically asphalt" and implies it is barely worth the effort to extract it unless oil prices are high (and kept high through artificial means). He tries to give himself credibility on this matter by citing his Texas roots. This is a disingenuous attempt at credibility and is like someone saying that because they lived in Detroit they are a qualified expert on the entire car industry.
To anyone with any real understanding of the oil industry in the United States you would know that America has been refining Venezuelan oil for over half a century. Refineries all along the Gulf Coast were redesigned and upgraded to efficiently and effectively implement desulpherization and to remove contaminants (that also have material value, btw) and handle low-API gravity crude.
Also understand that there is a serious international interplay with oil, especially Canadian crude. Canadian crude is also very heavy and sulpher rich. Did Mr. Leake mention this? Did he mention that after the U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan crude in 2019 that Canadian oil made up the difference? Canada exports about 90% of its crude to the US and the Gulf Coast receives about 19% of that. If you haven't been paying attention to Canada, it is a shit show just like Europe, heavily influenced by globalists with a bunch of woke nuts at the helm and a very anti-capitalist, anti-freedom leader by the name of Mark Carney. By going into Venezuela and getting oil exports ramped up again into the US, more economic pressure can be put on the nuts north of the border.
I've said it before and I will say it again. People like Mr. Leake are idealists the same as those on the left. Leake is a good guy but lives in a fantasyland. Pre-Trump, the coordination of American economic, political and military power was used to empower globalists and the notion of a one-world government, i.e. global communism. In my opinion, Trump is now using those same levers of coordinated power to fight the tyrannical interests. He has no choice. This is how power works. When you seize the guns that are pointed at you, you do not take a hammer and blowtorch to them. You turn them around and begin firing them in the other direction.
I can't agree with this assessment as John Leake is and was a crime writer. He is not looking to white wash crimes or cover up terrible atrocities in my opinion. He is a realist and not an idealist who has stared mass murder in the face and did not flinch. We are contemplating murder of the worst and most inhumane type. "Idealists" are not prepared for viewings of that genre. Cold blooded murder is a description of the covid crimes. Actually genocide is the correct term. Large corporations such as oil companies and drug makers have notoriously avoided calculating harm into their equations--look at Vioux.
Invading other countries is a crime. In the near future other sources of energy could become cost effective and available.....for example harnessing the ocean tides etc.
I don't think you understand the direction I am pointing my criticism when I call him an idealist.
People need to understand that, in practical terms, Trump is the closest we are ever going to get to someone who has the business expertise to manage the colossal corporation that is the USA. Look at all of the past presidents going back to Nixon, the last person who had any tacit understanding of international finance. Is Trump perfect? Far from it. However, what we are faced with in this country is a very smart, very well-funded and very violent enemy (Marxists) who have infiltrated the universities, healthcare, energy, insurance, the military, the judiciary...everything. Now we have someone who is capable of fighting back in a meaningful way. And what are conservatives doing? Fracturing along idealistic lines that are essentially the mirror image of left-wing virtue signaling. "Mah Constitution! Mah Constitution!" they scream.
This is destructive. We are not THERE yet to deal with perceived Constitutional issues, many of which are figments in the mind of the classical liberal elites, the group that Mr. Leake hails from. We first need to destroy our enemies in as lawful a way possible but not necessarily limited by the kind of subjective interpretations of "law" that our motivated reasoners in the Supreme Court, past and present, turn against us whenever they feel like it. No, first we need to cover the house with a giant tent and fumigate it as much as possible and if a few birds get trapped inside and succumb to the poison that is unfortunate. Otherwise, these martinets are going to end up convincing enough conservatives to go along with impeaching Trump that the whole train gets circled back to the gas chambers.
Well said Ruth.
There is a practical side to draining the swamp. It ain't pretty, but the swamp didn't get that way overnight and not by being nice. It is time to fight the swamp fire with a backdraft.
"We first need to destroy our enemies in as lawful a way possible"
Ruth Gordon....Do you consider genocide a lawful method? That was "covid and the 'vaccines'.....Was that lawful and just because we weren't put in jail?
I'm not sure what you are asking or suggesting. It sounds like you are arguing an eye for an eye, old testament style justice. Here is what I would say to that in reference to genocide:
First off, it was not a genocide. The effects and the intent were to make as much money as possible. The causes that allowed this to happen were numerous but primarily it was the capture of media institutions (censorship) and the capture of medical licensing boards. Otherwise, the word would have gotten out and the shot would have collapsed immediately.
Second, if we can get enough people together to gather up Fauci, Bourla, most of the world's doctors, nurses, hospital administrators. board members, judges and other conspirators such as media personalities like Piers Morgan, paid actors, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, etc. and they can be put against the wall with a blindfold and a cigarette then I am all for it.
Third, no, it was not lawful what they did. But it shows the use of force, how it works and why you simply cannot fight people like that in the courts that they already own.
Leake's a good guy, but his sportsman's ethic has too much grip on his judgment. It's as though his superego shot his id and bought off his ego.
The world needs a strong but healthy USA. It's not good to be absolute to a fault in ethics and adherence to law when dealing with treacherous characters. When the court officials get bought off, do court rulings hold full value in law? If so, why? If not, then who makes the call?
It would be interesting to hear John answer that conundrum with an effective and legal plan to claw out of that trap. Trump is punching through the paper bag we've been imprisoned in, and he's showing how straightforward it should have been for his predecessors to have done.
It's a terrible mess and we are on our own, Ruth. I am wanting to keep on living just to see what happens...
Besides if I died no one would be around to care for my blind and vaccine injured husband of more than 5O years. Since his two "covid shots" he has balance issues and --though he used to read brail-- is having problems even doing that since the shots--- as Guillaine Barre syndrome make it almost impossible. That is a common "side effect" from the shots.
I think making people die and getting money for it is an absolutely wretched "career choice" but that seems to be what our government does best.
You can put all sorts of nice names on it....but the "covid program" WAS a genocide elaborately planned in advance at event 2O1. I do not believe the real goal was money....I think it was getting rid of the useless eaters....old people who worked their whole lives.....small children.....autistic people...you know the rap.
Trump is the only "businessman" who has ever bankrupted gambling casinos....a business that has never failed to make money for the owner.
His three casinos went belly up...
Business acumen ....really?????
From Google Search:
Donald Trump was involved in several casinos in Atlantic City, including the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza, and Trump Castle, but faced multiple bankruptcies and financial struggles. He no longer owns any casinos in the U.S., as all his properties have been sold or closed.
Now you are just revealing yourself to be lazy, have a severe anti-Trump bias and to not be arguing in good faith or from any sense of knowledge.
Anyone with any understanding of big business knows that every conglomerate has had to file for bankruptcy on certain businesses when they amass too much debt or encounter better competition. Let me educate you since you seem to be engaging in the same sort of left-wing motivated reasoning and deceit through omission that, frankly, got us into the mess we are in right now. Thanks for being such a clear example of how dishonest reporting leads to conflict.
1990s Bankruptcies
Donald Trump's Atlantic City casinos filed for bankruptcy multiple times: the Trump Taj Mahal in 1991, Trump Plaza and Trump Castle in 1992, and Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. in 2004. Yahoo Finance These filings resulted from a combination of high-interest debt and competition from newly legalized gambling in other states that eroded Atlantic City's market dominance.
Trump's competitors in New Jersey did not fare any better. Several of his major competitors in the Atlantic City market also had to file for bankruptcy.
Caesars Entertainment was probably the most significant case. Caesars Entertainment filed for bankruptcy earlier in 2015 to implement a restructuring that would cut its debt by $10 billion. Yahoo Finance The company owned multiple Atlantic City properties including Caesars Atlantic City, Bally's Atlantic City, and Harrah's Resort Atlantic City.
Tropicana Entertainment also struggled during this period. Tropicana was sold back to Tropicana Entertainment after the former owner was ousted.
Other Atlantic City properties also filed for bankruptcy around the same time as Trump's casinos, indicating that the problem was more systemic than specific to Trump. The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, Revel Casino, and Showboat all closed or filed for bankruptcy between 2013 and 2014.
2000s Bankruptcies
The Aladdin casino filed a $1.2 billion bankruptcy in 2001 Easy Vegas, eventually becoming Planet Hollywood. The Stardust was imploded in 2007 after accumulating approximately $1 billion in debt within seven years of opening in 1980.
Financial Crisis Era (2008-2012)
Station Casinos emerged from bankruptcy in summer 2012 after two years in bankruptcy court, while Hooters Hotel was bought at auction by its main lender. ABC News Station Casinos carried $5.4 billion in debt much of it from a November 2007 management-led buyout.
Recent Bankruptcies
Caesars Entertainment filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2015 to eliminate about $16 billion in debt, emerging in October 2017.
The Revel Casino Hotel filed for bankruptcy twice during its brief two-year lifespan from 2012 to 2014 before closing. The Chinese-themed Lucky Dragon Casino, which opened in 2016, filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2018. Most recently, Maverick Gaming filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2025.
The common underlying factors across these bankruptcies include excessive debt from leveraged buyouts, high operational costs, competitive pressures from expanding gaming jurisdictions, and in some cases, management or strategic missteps.
Bankers: 'We bailed Trump out because he could be useful'
https://youtu.be/Lfgg8Vv-O_I?t=198
ha ha ha----everyone knows casinos are a good income and very easy to run. Trump is a bad business man and also pushed the death shots on an unsuspecting public with his "warp speed" campaign. He's a player and working for the big boys...
I never call people I have never met and know nothing about names otherwise I might return your silly tirade. Personal attacks on bloggers etc are beneath me--
Have a nice day, Ruth.
Well, you've been educated now by ''Ruth' on business models, economics and competition, so I'll only need to insist that -- tho Warp Speed was a pharma challenge -- TRUMP gave Americans THREE ALTERNATIVES in EARLY TREATMENT
-- IVERMECTIN/horse paste, chlorine dioxide/BLEACH, and even HCQ+zinc --
that would have
1-- SAVED MILLIONS during COVID and
2-- even DESTROYED the EUAuthorzation possibility,
if YOUR FOOL leftists and TDS FOOLS hadn't declared him stupid...
And finally...
at least be momentarily sane enough to admit that
TRUMP NEVER MANDATED that ''vax'''.... ttyl
So much more to the story. We don’t need their oil, at least not right now. From what I read it’s more about getting China out of Venezuela and preserving dollar denominated oil. A Rothschild family member is already on record congratulating us on this raid. Central banks love it.
The US homeland has long been crawling with a Chinese real estate, investors, academics, and agents of the the Chinese state. The US transferred cutting edge, biotech technology, developed at the university of North Carolina, to the Wuhan lab. Eventually, one needs to cease being such a sucker for US war propaganda.
Exactly it’s not about oil or drugs as we are being told.
You got something against WINNING for a change....?
Does it spoil your handy black pill list of cardboard anti-war bullet-points?
THIS was NOT a WAR.
And next time, don't forget to include Hezbollah in South and Latin America... all the way to Mexico... PLUS the CCP's grasping hands on the market in rare-earths... ttyl
America has a Banana Republic, if we can keep it.
I've been watching this unfold and have been disappointed in some of my favorite journalists phoning it in from the cheap seats, as they say. I am eight books in on the CIA and of course they meddle on behalf of Sullivan & Cromwell clients - remember United Fruit in Guatemala? So, my question is this: If Chevron, Exxon and ConocoPhillips (under different names like Rockefeller et al - all Sullivan & Cromwell clients - think Allen and John Foster Dulles) had invested in oil drilling and refineries in Venezuela, since what, 1908, and by the 60's, US companies were the largest investors in Venezuelan oil, do they have a right to protect their investments? And, can the US government be enlisted to help - military, CIA et al?
During 2007, under Chavez, Venezuela expropriated the assets of Exxon, ConocoPhillips and Chevron (Chevron did agree to keep a minority interest) and then the US (under Obama) sanctioned Venezuela - probably driving them into the cozy arms of China, and to a lesser extent, Russia.
Oil is a funny thing, like a necessity, maybe, probably, is. So, the US has relied on Venezuelan oil for a century, at least, and then the faucet gets turned off after 2007. And funny, Obama, Trump 1.0 and Biden, do nothing about it other than raising the bounty on Maduro to $25 million during 2024 and $50 million during 2025. Hmmm. Now, Trump 2.0 calls bullshit and snatches Maduro to face federal drug charges that have been outstanding since 2020. This story is much more complicated and deserves a hard look.
Guess I don't mind your criticism of Trump, but you managed to throw in an additional item that torpedos your credibility: "...Trump’s childish sycophant supporters...".
I see the snatching away of Maduro as a set back for the Chinese Communist Party, John Leake, and a hindrance to the aspirations of the Chinese to dominate the world. Let's be clear: the Chinese cannot be trusted... ever, and for that matter, neither can a Muslim nation be trusted. It is a necessary mandate for the President of the United States to hinder the progress of unfriendly nations when deemed appropriate, timely, and expedient. I think it was expedient to remove the great drug dealer Maduro from his country, and try him in America. That being said, it is my opinion that the W.E.F. and the W.H.O., along with the public/private cartels GAVI, CEPI and PAHO are easily as or more dangerous than Maduro. Covid 19 is Exhibit "A".
"I knew that Venezuela’s vaunted oil reserves were heavy and sulfurous, but until this morning, I didn’t realize that most Venezuelan oil has the consistency of asphalt and requires enormous volumes of diluents just to get it flowing."
You missed the point. While it's true that the super heavy asphalt like stuff is a majority of Venzuela's 1st in the world massive oil "reserves," those resources have never been more than a small bit player in oil PRODUCTION thoughout Venezuela's history. Heavy, but still conventionally producible oil has always been its dominant source of production. The reason that Venezuela's economy sputtered in the 80's and 90's was due to oil PRICE. Production remained very strong until Chavez and Maduro raped and pillaged the industry and most of the technical expertise and all of the capital left the country.
Anybody who's been in the business knows that it's production that matters and reserves are highly illusory and usually highly biased value.
It's fair to debate Trump's actions on constitutionality, etc. But dismissing Venezuela's oil potential is ignorant, I'm afraid.
That’s why it was carried out as a law enforcement action with military protection as allowed under Article II of the Constitution. That’s why the law enforcement team led the way. All legal. A bit sneaky perhaps. 😁 Regime change was not the stated goal, but hopefully the end result.
Could you cite the exact language of Article II you refer to? I didn't find it on a quick read.
Per a smart friend, the part about protecting Americans from perceived or imminent threat. LE would have been under threat. Not saying that it wasn’t a bending of the law, but explains why they made sure to emphasize that LE went in first.
Obama was right to sanction Venezuela when they stole our oil companies infrastructure. They had the option to reverse that or pay us the $10 billion they stole. https://share.google/aimode/wTRU5Q8OlApJ0FY8Q
I read that the kidnapping was not an especially smooth event.
Thirty-nine Cuban security guards were killed before they secured Madero and his wife. And it is still not clear who killed them, whether it was it Venezulan military traitors or US mercs.
The 39 deaths are in addition to 40 or possible more kiled in the bombings and related activity.
Yes & there are reports that they broke the president's wife's ribs & you could visibly see the bruises when she appeared in the courtroom. Savages. The US & Israel are mirror-images of each other. The two most rotten states on planet Earth.
How horrible! And she would probably have seen the murder of their 39 guards as well. Speaking of rotten….
There is a massive buildup of US, UK and German troops underway in Europe. Israel has pulled ALL of its troops and equipment even down to the barriers out of the West bank. I believe a major attack on Iranis imminent.
My worry now is, that the way we are going with our Nero wannabe, we may not have midterm elections.
Could you cite some sources? I haven't heard any of this & I follow geopolitics very closely. I love what Pepe Escobar calls Trump: neo-Caligula, very fitting indeed.
Happy to, it came up in this interview between the former Saudi Ambassador and Judge Napolitano, link below.
It's a tough call, Caligula is certainly a fair analogy, but Nero oversaw the burning of Rome.....
https://rumble.com/v73y8d0-judgingfreedom.html?e9s=src_v1_cbl%2Csrc_v1_ucp_a
Thank you, watching now. I always watch when Max Blumenthal & Aaron Mate are on Napolitano.
I watch most of his programs, really enjoy his choice of guests.
re sources:
Here is an update on Venezuela that gets into some of the issues. Really recommend this blogger.
https://geopolitiq.substack.com/p/crucial-days-in-venezuela-and-between?
gee, I wonder how many of her fellow Venezualans she oversaw the torture and murders of?
I hav no reason to assume she ever saw any. The charges against her are still sealed I think.
The Judge and Max Blumenthal of the greyzone did a great critique of the charges against Madero, you might find the program of interest.
https://thegrayzone.substack.com/p/max-blumenthal-trump-and-rubios-gusano?
hmmmm.
IF what is being said is true, it appears Trump et al have no jurisdiction and thus, no way to progress forward. Could they be so outright stupid as to risk such a ruling?
It should not take long to tell. . .
Regardless, based on listening to part of this only, and only slightly understanding all the intrigue and complications and HISTORY, it is virtually impossible to discern any truth from anything.
This operation could be a feint displacing attention from a REAL motivation and event we may never know of.
Certainly, you have forced me to think harder on this. Thanks Frances.
You're most welcome!
And here is another piece of the puzzle for you, IMO the real beneficiary of the assault on Venezuela is...(drumroll).... Israel.
Trump has been pushing something called the Issac Accords, it's an Abraham Accords 2.0 for South America (SA). He has already lined up Panama, Guatamala, Argentina (thats what the $20 million to Mieli helped secure), and has targeted Venezuela for the same Israel First deal (You may have noticed he just sold Venezula's state oil company to a top dual citizen Jewish donor for a perposterous price).
To pull his SA version of Israel First off he had to get rid of Madero, why? Because Madero has been a consistently outspoken critic of Israel, especially on it's ongoing Gaza genocide. My guess is he will now turn his sights on Columbia, another strong critic of Israel. Trump IMO is a minion of Israel, probably blackmailed as well as bribed.
Compounding that is his clearly diminished mental state which has the world holding its breath. That's why neither Russia nor China are pushing back; they see the danger, they are dealing with a runaway clown car...and its armed with nukes.
diminished mental state.
please detail that for me.
He rambles on a lot, repeats stuff. . . either will not or can not stick to a speech script. Is this what you point to?
Is there any truth to the rumor that the regime killed those who were thought to have cooperated with the USA? Wouldn’t surprise me.
Yes, I read that at least one was immediately killed.
I also read that a close Maderos supporter was sent to Cuba when this all began. Probably because he would also have been a target. He is a staunch nationalist, well respected by the Venezulan intel and military.*
Given his arrival, the new President may not be long for the role. She was bought off according to this interview.
https://rumble.com/v73y8d0-judgingfreedom.html?e9s=src_v1_cbl%2Csrc_v1_ucp_a
*This info on the Madero ally was in a print article, not a video, would take me some time to find it.
sounds pretty dang smooth to me!
No US guys were killed.
Don't confuse,"smooth" with absent.
From what I read the CIA bought off the top Venezulan miliary; they are the ones who killed Madero's Cuban security forces. They may have suffered losses, and may be included in the 40 other related deaths.
The traitors then handed Maderos and his wife over to the US troops.
Venezuela was wealthy and prosperous, but lower oil prices hurt, and they were too dependent on oil, so their economy went down, Chavez made a bad situation worse.
No one said it was going to be easy, and there are plenty of ways that this can end badly. I remain hopeful, as our enemies were gaining footholds in the country that would have led to global unrest. This action is far, far more consequential than drugs and oil.
I didn’t write the following, but believe it’s worth consideration:
1. The Venezuelan regime nationalized and expropriated, without compensation, oil facilities belonging to American companies, and later refused to pay the billions of dollars in compensation awarded against it in World Bank arbitration.
2. Transferring management of Venezuela’s oil industry from private hands to the government triggered the collapse of the country’s economy even before U.S. sanctions, which merely accelerated the process.
3. In order to cope with the catastrophe it created, the Chávez–Maduro regime found a new ally: Iran.
4. Venezuela and Iran cooperate in the military sphere (including the development of drones) and in circumventing the international and American sanctions imposed on both.
5. Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro’s leadership is an active player in flooding the United States with hard drugs. Each year, more than 100,000 Americans die from drug overdoses.
6. According to the international community, Maduro lost the elections held in Venezuela and falsified his victory. (I believe that, and that the influence may have extended to other countries.)
7. Maduro’s regime is a Bolshevik dictatorship that violently suppresses all opposition.
I will add that Maduro was abusing diplomatic immunity (using relatives in private planes to import cocaine). Many have opined that it is impossible to differentiate the govt from the cartels.
An Attempted Overthrow of the U.S. Government: The CFR/Wall Street made an overt attempt to install a dictatorship by force.
General Butler: In 1934 General Smedley D. Butler went public after he was approached by Wall Street and offered up to 300 million dollars to lead an army of 500,00 veterans equipped with munitions from Remington Arms Company to Washington D.C., in order to overthrow the U.S. Government by force.
The plot was investigated by the McCormack-Dickstein committee, which found General Butler to be telling the truth.(*)
During his 35 years of service in the Marine Corps, General Butler received the Congressional Medal of Honor twice. The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor against an enemy force, which can be given to an individual serving in the Armed Forces of the United States.
Jules Archer's book, The Plot to Seize the White House, was written with the cooperation of senators, reporters, former Speaker of the House of Representatives John W. McCormack, former editors of the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Philadelphia Record, and the immediate family of General Smedley Butler who provided military records, scrapbooks, memorabilia, recordings, etc. In his book Archer states, "School texts... are uniquely silent about the powerful Americans who plotted to seize the White House with a private army, hold President Franklin D. Roosevelt prisoner, and get rid of him if he refused to serve as their puppet in a dictatorship they planned to impose and control."
The backing of the revolution reportedly came from the American Liberty League, which was headed by Morgan and DuPont. "Heavy contributors," says Archer, also included, "the Pitcairn family (Pittsburgh Plate Glass), Andrew W. Mellon Associates, Rockefeller Associates, E. F. Hutton Associates, William S. Knudsen (General Motors), and the Pew family (Sun Oil Associates)." The online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, added, "General Butler claimed that the American Liberty League was the primary means of funding the plot. The main backers were the DuPont family, as well as leaders of U.S. Steel, General Motors, Standard Oil, Chase National Bank, and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company."
In his book, Facts and Fascism, investigative reporter, and author George Seldes wrote, "Most papers suppressed the whole story or threw it down by ridiculing it. Nor did the press later publish the McCormack-Dickstein report which stated that every charge Butler made... had been proven true." Archer commented, "Press coverage of what was obviously a startling story of utmost importance to the security of the nation was largely one of distortion, suppression, and omission."
So, as expected, the mainstream press was called upon to discredit General Butler. "On November 22 the Associated Press struck a low blow at Butler by getting Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, of New York, to express an opinion of the conspiracy based on what he had read about it in the press," wrote Archer.
The AP ran this news item under the headline Cocktail Putsch. Explaining the contents of the article, Archer continued, "Mayor LaGuardia of New York laughingly described today the charges of General Smedley D. Butler that New York brokers suggested he lead an army of 500,000 ex-service men on Washington as 'a cocktail putsch.' The Mayor indicated he believed that some one at a party had suggested the idea to the ex-marine as a joke."
https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/hiddenevil/hiddenevil14.htm
Summary
According to this information, the CFR/Wall Street made an overt attempt to install a dictatorship by force. This plot was investigated by congress and found to be authentic. It is strikingly similar to the Communist Revolution which Wall Street is known to have funded, where an entire country was communized after a few major cities were seized.
"The Communists came to power by seizing a mere handful of key cities," wrote Allen. "In fact, practically the whole Bolshevik Revolution took place in one city - Petrograd. It was as if the whole United States became Communist because a communist-led mob seized Washington D.C."
"The CIA handsomely paid off his security apparatus to stand down so that a Delta Force team could waltz into his palace and grab him without suffering a single casualty."
Is this factually known, or an assumption?
A logical inference based on past, well-known practice and lots of circumstantial evidence
Hmm, thanks for clarifying.
Since there were many casualties, mostly Cuban mercenaries, at the Maduro compound, and throughout the area's AA and radar installations, I'm not so confident in your "logical inference".
Encountering some Cuban mercenaries isn't exactly stiff resistance, is it?
I’m not sure that we can trust any reports coming from Venezuela (not that I believe everything coming from this side either).
Doesn't sound to me like the "security apparatus" stood down since we killed 32 Cubans protecting Maduro
I’m not at all certain that we “know that.”
Do you believe Maduro is in NY?
Haven’t seen the news in days, but didn’t he appear in a NYC courtroom? That’s where the indictment was filed.