For those confused about the decision to strike Venezuela, capture Nicolás Maduro, and bring him to New York City: This is actually an important phase of Donald Trump’s immigration policy.
Phase 1 (ongoing) has been to remove all law-abiding immigrants who have been living in the country waiting for their asylum claims to be processed, hoping that America could be a place for them to have a better life. They now must be kidnapped, separated from their families, denied anything remotely resembling due process, and subjected to grotesquely inhumane conditions. Phase 2 is to replace them with (alleged!) brutal autocrat drug criminals from abroad who will be brought in individually (also, as a bonus, in violation of international law). That is the phase we are entering now. Phase 3, of course, is profit. With Maduro in U.S. custody, Trump will now “run” Venezuela and has promised to send in corporations to take care of its oil. Rest assured, this is not the bad kind of oil-involved regime change, where America gets mired endlessly in a war whose wafer-thin justification could barely pass Congress. This time, Congress has not been consulted at all!
The president was going to ask Congress. But then he checked his phone and by the time he looked up from Truth Social, he had completely forgotten what he was supposed to be doing. The president was going to ask but he was worried about information securi—sorry, just remembered that Pete Hegseth is the secretary of defense. Never mind. The president was going to ask, but Congress begged him not to. Please, Mr. President, Congress said, if we ever go to war, that’s something I want to be informed about by my wife after the fact. Just do what you think is best, my liege!
Look, the president was absolutely going to ask but then he thought, What if they say no? He thought, There are 435 people in Congress and that seems like a lot of people to have to get permission from before doing things. Next he’d hear that a just government is derived from the consent of the governed and that’s, like, 350 million people—way too many to consult before doing something like attacking Venezuela.
The Constitution does say that war powers belong to Congress. But there are important exceptions, like if the president really, really wants to go to war. Or it’s the weekend. Or it’s January. Or he thought he saw a spider. Or he’s destroyed the East Wing of the White House to build an elaborate ballroom and has a lot on his plate.
And anyway, the president didn’t want to bother Congress. He has been noticing that Congress doesn’t seem to be using its authority the way it used to. Congress has the power of the purse, but instead of using that to pass spending bills, it just gets stressed and shuts the government down every three months. Congress has the power to impeach the president, but it doesn’t even try to do that. Individual members try, here and there, but otherwise Congress just lies there. Worrisome! Maybe Congress is depressed! The last thing it needs is someone to remind it of all the things it is supposed to be doing. No, better not ask. Better that we Americans have exactly as much say in how this happened as the people of Venezuela.
Besides, keep in mind that, if I’m reading Trump’s math correctly, the only alternative to this plan was for the entire population of the United States to perish from drug overdoses. Is that what you want? Do you want us all to perish? If not, hush.
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