Update no.1253

 Update from the Heartland

No.1253

12.1.26 – 18.1.26

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

 

To all,

 

On Thursday, Venezuelan opposition leader and properly elected president María Corina Machado made a blatant and unabashed visit to the White House. She had decided to genuflect to the wannabe emperor to present a gilded (of course), framed set of documents plus her Nobel Peace Prize medal. The title and captions read:

To President Donald J. Trump,

In Gratitude for Your Extraordinary Leadership in Promoting Peace through Strength, Advancing Diplomacy, and Defending Liberty and Prosperity.

The Machado Nobel Peace Prize Medal

Presented as a Personal Symbol of Gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan People in Recognition of President Trump's Principled and Decisive Action to Secure a Free Venezuela.

The Courage of America, and its President Donald J. Trump, will Never be Forgotten by the Venezuelan people.

Ms. Machado went on to say that the plaque was given in “recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”

Ms. Machado, unfortunately, you do not have much history by which to judge the sincerity of [the person who shall no longer be named]. Here is a news flash, Ms. Machado, that man is an accomplished con-man; he sells worthless knick-knacks to his believers who see his snake-oil elixir as a genuine cure-all for anything.

Here is another news flash, Ms Machado. That man, the orange one, whom I refer to as [no name], because he is an absolute disgrace to his family name, and even worse to his oath as president of this once grand republic. Further, he does not care a twit about freedom of the Venezuelan people. He only cares about self-aggrandizement and money for the oil beneath your territory.

Machado was clearly trying to curry favor with [no name], which is not likely to work. I am afraid she is going to be terribly disappointed when she realizes the genuine waste her gesture will be. He will throw her away like a piece of used tape when he feels she no longer serves his purposes. She joins a very long list of discards who thought they were the exception to break the paradigm. Ms. Machado, I am truly sorry that you fell victim to the con-man’s Siren Song. We live and learn. This too shall pass.

 

The United States has absolutely NO authority whatsoever over the sovereignty of Greenland. So far and to date, the public accusations that Denmark has approached Russia and/or China are just hot air—no substance. As I have stated previously, I have seen no (nada, niente, zilch) evidence to substantiate such a claim, and we have absolutely no reason whatsoever to believe a single word spewed by any means by any of these ‘official’ characters. The breaking up of the Arctic ice cap is adding significant complexity to the Greenland security situation, making accessibility by foreign adversaries less difficult. To me, this is a classic ‘just because you can does not mean you should’ situation. If Greenland security was so important and critical, why is [no name] and his MAGAts not negotiating agreements with Denmark and Greenland to station appropriate military and intelligence assets at bases in Northern Greenland or elsewhere? This saber-rattling nonsense is counter-productive in every possible way. And now, after his foolish chest-thumping, [no name] has poisoned the well. He could have gone to NATO and negotiated a joint security agreement, but no, he has to beat on his chest like a silverback mountain gorilla in an attempt to intimidate an important ally. OMG, he is attempting a de factoisolationism—alienate all of our friends and allies. He is doing Putin’s heavy lifting—disintegrating NATO. I ask you, seriously, what is different between Putin’s demands on Ukraine and [no name]’s demands on Greenland? The political world as we have known it may well be irreparably changing due to one man and his sycophant minions.

 

Immigration control and enforcement are a necessary part of national sovereignty. Millennia ago, there were no boundaries, no borders, only tribal frontiers taken and defended by force-of-arms. Borders came in existence in an attempt to reduce armed conflict between nations. The issue I have with the immigration control we witness today is the manner by which the current administration is enforcing those laws. They are ignoring established law to take an overtly aggressive process to detain and deport peaceful individuals and families. I have long advocated for immigration control in depth. What we see today is NOT that. What we see today is politically biased, retributive, aggressive enforcement by a blinded administration. I say blinded, because they are incapable of seeing beyond the vengeance of ihr Anführer. What they are doing is wrong and anti-American!

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1252:

“I agree that Cadet Bone Spurs’ claim to be limited only by his own morality translates to his being unlimited because he has no morality. His being limited by “my own mind” is more apt because his mind is quite limited.

“Based on history, our nation will survive this episode with some level of damage. We’ll need to change the conditions that enabled this, though. I’ll note that parliamentary governments generally avoid concentrating as much power in the hands of a single person as the American way. Also, the advanced nations have some way of keeping big money out of politics.”

My response:

Exactly as I see it. Hitler was only limited by his morality as well, and we know how that turned out. Yes, his mind and cognitive capacity are indeed quite limited. And tragically, the MAGAt bunch stand behind the orange one is doing exactly what they want him to be doing. I admit that I never imagined such a substantial part of our citizenry would seek the disassembly of the Republic. It is truly sad and extraordinarily disappointing that so many Americans want the orange one doing what he is doing.

I sure hope you are correct. The resiliency of the Republic and our representative democracy is far more fragile than I ever imagined. A new president (if s/he is other than a MAGAt or Republican) is going to spend years restoring the government as it was and as Congress intended by law.

Your observations regarding parliamentary governments are worthy of consideration. After all, the Declaration states:

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

We are headed toward (if not already there) ‘absolute Despotism.’ The thought of convening a constitutional convention to alter our form of governance is mind-boggling to me. In our current political state, such an initiative would likely result in the dissolution of the Republic, which would substantially weaken the United States of America.

“That’s just my opinion, but I could be wrong.”

 . . . follow-up comment:

“There has been a quiet effort underway to convene a Constitutional Convention for the far right. Whether that could be made to backfire or is simply too big a step remains to be seen.”

 . . . my follow-up response:

I have not heard any serious undercurrents regarding a constitutional convention. Once opened, a convention is absolutely unpredictable. Turning this country toward the right and isolationism is not a solution to my thinking. We made a dreadful mistake in electing the orange one and his MAGAts to gain control of government. I would rather sweep out the riffraff and repair the damage done.

 

Another contribution:

“Cap. Good day to you across the ocean. As always good to hear from you, indeed what miserable and demanding times we live in. We are cautious when we hear or see the current news broadcasts, one particular name that I will not mention regrettably dominates our news. The urge to ‘turn it off’ is overwhelming. Where does the future lie my friend?”

My reply:

[No name] is simply a fact of governance today. He is a con-man selling worthless snake-oil. To him, any publicity is good publicity; it keeps his name in front of the public. He desperately wants to dominate the Press and Media coverage. The best we can hope for is enough of the complacent electorate turn out for the mid-term elections this Fall and turn Congress to a more responsible organization to check his unilateral dictatorial actions. Repairing the damage he has done to our allies and friends will take much longer to restore.

 

My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)

Update no.1252

 Update from the Heartland

No.1252

5.1.26 – 11.1.26

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

 

To all,

 

Days after [the person who shall no longer be named], who has been pretending to be president, executed a raid to capture President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela [1251], a journalist asked the pretender if there were limits to his power?  [No name] answered:

“Yeah, there is one thing.

My own morality.

My own mind.

It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

There is one major problem with his answer. He has no discernible morality, which in turn, means he has no boundaries, no limits, no constraints. The man went on to declare, "I don't need international law. I'm not looking to hurt people." I wonder what happened to the 80 plus people in those boats he blew up in the Caribbean Sea without due process of law? The last time I checked, smuggling was not a death sentence. Without due process of law, killing is murder, which is punishable. If that is not bad enough, he continues to rattle the saber at Denmark, a NATO ally, and Greenland, stating, “We’ll take it one way or another.” Then, the MAGA sycophants and ihr Anführer started spewing misinformation that Denmark has approached Russia and China about buying Greenland. The orange one sacrificed his credibility and integrity many years ago with his grotesque penchant for making false statements on a myriad of topics. We cannot believe any of them—not a single one of them, from top to bottom.

The decent, moral, experienced president would have answered: ‘Yes, the Constitution, established law, precedence, and common sense.’ Unfortunately, the orange one does not recognize, nor does he demonstrate any of those constraints. The Founders and Framers of the Constitution recognized they needed a strong but not autonomous president. They made a critical assumption that the electoral process would eliminate those candidates with less than acceptable moral values. Unfortunately, with all the collective wisdom of the Framers, no one ever considered an immoral person would make it through even the first few steps of the electoral process. Even worse, the Framers would have said the checks and balances in the tripartite governmental structure would stop any aberrant conduct. In our contemporary instance, the last and final check on any rogue president has been removed—impeachment, conviction, and permanent banishment. I know and acknowledge that there are good, moral, responsible Republican members of the House and the Senate. Regrettably, the MAGAts have figured out how to cower even good people into compliance. The consequence is, there are no checks & balances to stop this particular rogue president. Our system of governance has failed!

If anyone is looking for an epitaph on the tombstone of the orange one, it is his words noted above. He has declared himself dictator . . . and perhaps even dictator for life.

Lastly, I am compelled to reiterate that the current version of the United States of America is NOT and NEVER WILL BE what the principles that founded the Republic intended. Whether this Republic can survive and recover from the damage [no name] and his MAGAt supporters have done is yet to be seen. This is not the United States I defended, and I know and love. This is an ugly aberration. To quote very famous words, “Forgive them, Lord! They know not what they do.”

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1251:

Comment to the Blog:

“Cadet Bone Spurs cares nothing about any law. It’s utterly ridiculous to charge a foreign official with a U.S. crime over unrelated foreign internal policy. Nationalizing Venezuela’s oil reserves is Venezuela’s option. (Drugs aren’t a real part of this.) The problem is that Bone Spurs occupies the White House for now and only knows aggression as a strategy.

“Why aren’t we listening to Epstein’s many survivors? What about the millions losing health insurance?”

My response to the Blog:

I agree for the most part. I can find very little to debate. He has consistently and persistently demonstrated his paucity of any respect for the law. If both chambers of Congress change hands, his tune might change.

Good Q. I suppose the answer is, people do not want to listen, so the Press does not report. I have noted that every time we hear from the victims, we do not hear names. I would encourage the survivors to tell us what they experienced and especially by whom. We are not there yet.

 . . . with a follow-up comment:

“Were I an Epstein victim, I'd hide my identity. People have already died. I'm not sure who the people are who don't want to listen. We've had plenty of discussion of the Epstein ‘files;’ why not witnesses?”

 . . . my follow-up response:

The perpetrators are the ones who do not want to listen. They are rich, influential friends of Jeffrey Epstein. They do not fear prosecution, but they do fear the public humiliation that would surely come with disclosure.

Witnesses are going to be few and far between. At that kind of gathering, there were victims and perpetrators, very few witnesses.

What I want to see is the list of perpetrators (with or without the victim’s identity. I imagine part of the allure Epstein used was the identity of his customers.

 

My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)

Update no.1251

 Update from the Heartland

No.1251

29.12.25 – 4.1.26

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

 

To all,

 

At 02:01 [Q] Atlantic Standard Time (AST), Saturday, 3.January.2026, U.S. Special Forces, presumably and initially reported as a unit of Delta Force, executed Operation ABSOLUTE RESOLVE, a ‘snatch & grab’ action within the presidential compound in Caracas, Venezuela. By 04:29 [Q], U.S. forces departed Venezuela with Maduro President Nicolás Maduro Moros and his second wife, Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro, in custody under an arrest warrant, charging drug and weapons violations of U.S. law. They took the captured president offshore to the USS Iwo Jima. In support of the capture operation, other U.S. forces hit and disabled various air defense and command & control facilities in and around Caracas. No U.S. casualties were reported in Operation ABSOLUTE RESOLVE. An estimated 50 Venezuelan government and civilian were killed or injured. A full damage assessment has not been made public.

I do not know the validity of the arrest warrant issued for Maduro and Flores. That will be up to the courts to decide.

I will confess my confliction on this one. There is little question that Maduro, and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, ruined Venezuela, forcing many of the nation’s intellectual brain trust to flee the country. Venezuela would be far better off using the Gulf States as a model for distributing oil revenue wealth rather than the Cuban or Russian model, rampant with corruption. However, that is for the Venezuelan people to decide, not Chavez/Maduro. As a consequence, I am encouraged to see Maduro removed. However, what I do not see is the justification for the United States to violate the sovereignty of another nation because we do not like their leader.

The worst aspect of it all, our president has a long, sordid history of lying, exaggeration, misinformation, and otherwise obfuscating everything from small to big, simple to complex. We cannot trust a word he says. If he is speaking, he is probably lying. And, as if that is not bad enough, he chose and the Republican sycophants in Congress confirmed a bevy of cabinet officers, who do nothing but say, ‘yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full.’ We have no basis to trust a word any of them say or do. We cannot trust anything coming from this administration, which means another nation and people must pay a heavy price I would not be surprised if they are making everything up as they go. Until we see the legal basis for this kidnapping tested in court before a federal judge, we do not know whether Operation ABSOLUTE RESOLVE was (is) a legal action.

If Maduro/Flores are guilty as accused, and the charges are validated in a proper court of law with a conviction, then I will say good-on the administration for bringing a criminal to justice. What diminishes the validity of this action is the president’s unilateral “full and complete pardon” to former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been convicted and imprisoned on drug trafficking charges. The message to us—John Q Citizen—this president only cares about those people who support him or give him money.

As other contributors to this humble forum have written, the U.S. actions against Venezuela were not about drugs, but all about oil. The orange one and his minions see money in the oil reserves of Venezuela. Now, the orange one is claiming Venezuelan oil production capacity belongs to us, and we are taking it back. He is apparently referring to the days when the “Seven Sisters” dominated oil production around the world until the mid-1970s, when oil producing countries nationalized their oil production. Venezuela was among those nations; their indigenous oil fields were nationalized on 1.January.1976. The obvious question is, does the Felon-in-Chief intend to depose all governments that nationalized oil production owned by U.S. companies?

All that put together . . . a different, disturbing picture emerges. The use of extra-judicial murder on the high seas was simply an excuse, a prelude, to the real reason for this string of USG actions against Venezuela. It appears there was only one actual reason—money. Does anyone want to take a bet that the orange one will not try to put his name on his new acquisition?

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1250:

Comment to the Blog:

“CBS News is a real loss to ethical journalism. While the Sharyn Alfonsi’s story on the CECOT prison showed up immediately via multiple sources, Agent Orange’s soldier, Bari Weiss, will find ways to prevent good journalists from doing their jobs in the future. Losing the 60 Minutes program harms all of American journalism.

“I’m sad to see the West Coast devastated by these atmospheric rivers, as I was to see the wildfires the scars of which now make the rains’ effects worst. Climate change proceeds apace.

“Agent Orange uses social media, which really is ‘something new under the sun.’ He seems not to realize that the multitude of us can use it to force the truth on (relatively) traditional media. Prior dictators’ mouthpieces had far less feedback from ordinary people, and Agent Orange doesn’t like it one bit. Besides his personality issues, he probably fears we’ll force media attention on the victims of his violent crimes. People will be more outraged by that than by the theft of their own money.”

My response to the Blog:

Oh my, you got that right! Tragic actually. They used to be the standard for broadcast journalism. I absolutely agree. Terrible loss . . . and all to serve the orange one’s ego.

I am with you on that one. On the positive side, all this precipitation is putting a good dent in the drought that has choked California’s agriculture.

Good observation about social media and the orange one. The blade cuts both ways. I would like to see more generals speaking out, but they would be subject to the same processes as Senator Mark Kelly is facing—recall and court-martial to satisfy the orange one’s sense of vengeance.

. . . and, we are not even to the one-year mark.

 . . . Round two:

“I need to look up the level of Lake Mead. The rains might have given them a reprieve for a year or two.”

 . . . my response to round two:

I did look up Lake Mead’s water level. It has come up but is currently 166 feet below full pool. My comment was not about Lake Mead. It was about California’s drought situation. If you look at the national drought map. The current map shows the whole of California to be drought free now. The state’s reservoirs are apparently full. Whatever the current situation is, one thing is certain—it is not permanent.

 . . . Round three:

“Now I get your point. California produces a great deal of food; drought there is a concern for all of us. I hope they can maintain good water levels, but I also doubt they will. Lake Mead is a related issue. I noticed that Ohio has more and more serious drought than California at the moment. It's in some of our best agricultural land, too. Water is more and more of an issue as the climate changes.”

 . . . my response to round three:

Regardless of the internal California water supply, the southern part of the state is a major consumer of water from the Colorado River—Lakes Mead and Powell. Water will remain an issue for all of us regardless of the reservoir levels. Climate change will only exacerbate any local situation. We all need to pay attention to protect our water and food supply.

 

My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)