Scott, I think there are multiple reasons for Trump’s illegal invasion of Venezuela. Although the obvious one is their oil reserves, I believe their supply of rare earth minerals may be the primary one. However, we can’t ignore that Trump’s insane quest for global dominance may be a further explanation for the very expensive military attack. It was just announced that Tim Waltz has just dropped his campaign for the Minnesota Governorship due to the false allegations that he ignored the fraud in a Somali run day care. Another MAGA lie!
I think that the reason trump is attacking Tim Walz is, he has a shot at beating trump or vance in 2028!
I don’t believe Walz is guilty of anything illegal! trump, however, has never spent one day behind bars, for his lifetime of crime!
trump has left a trail of victims, behind every endeavor…now the USA is his biggest victimization of all!
Whether you want to believe it or not…Congress has fallen prey to the dictatorship! Where the hell are they? Shame on public servants who feel entitled to their excessive days off..so much so, that trump can catapult us into WW3 illegally!
We need a third political party…..but no one has the money to finance one, except the bad guys!
It is past time for us to realize we will get no help from the DNC they prove it with their silence with
every escalating crime!
Resisters…don’t just attack fascism…attack Congress who are willing participants as long as the money keeps rolling in!
Indivisible is advocating for primarying the establishment Democrats that are treating the Trump Regime as business as usual.
I would not tar the entire Democratic Party - there are people stepping up and we need to make sure we are praising them. Indivisible co-founders Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg have pointed out that we will need to "refresh" the House and Senate (either with literally younger candidates or just people with fresh new ideas who are willing to buck the establishment). There needs to be change in the "rank and file" in order to get the leadership we need!
Also, I think you are conflating elected Democrats (like Chuck Schumer) with the DNC. They are not the same thing at all. The purpose of the DNC is to elect Democrats NOT govern as the opposition party to Trump.
I definitely have my beefs with the DNC, but it mostly comes down to putting too much emphasis on swing districts and writing off rural districts as unwinnable! As well as the fact that they come in too late in the election cycle and mostly do a poor job of leveraging their grassroots volunteers. There are exceptions to this at the state party level - Wisconsin Dem's under Ben Wikler and our current NC Dems under Anderson Clayton.
Andra Watkins highlights in P2025 how Venezuela was all part of the plan… “I’m here to remind readers that taking Venezuela for its resources was always part of the Project 2025 plan. Invading Venezuela isn’t a distraction; IT WAS THE PLAN. The regime isn’t trying to distract for Epstein/Jack Smith/bruised hands/public sleeping and slurring/corruption/White House destruction/lawsuits or any other litany of abominations. IT IS CARRYING OUT ITS PROJECT 2025 PLAN.”
The war in Venezuela is part of Donny’s lunatic obsession with ruling the whole world, and of course to grab all the oil and further enrich himself. It’s also to distract our attention from 1) the Epstein files; 2) the recent release of Jack Smith’s testimony; and 3) tomorrow’s 5-year anniversary of Jan. 6, 2021. What he doesn’t understand is that we’re onto his games and can focus on more than one thing at a time.
Trump knows we are on to his games. Not sure whether we can focus on more than one thing, however. We are not onto his games enough to stop his treasonous activity.
Trump does just throw shit at the wall at random (but always for self-serving reasons) - you’re right, there’s more shit than wall now and it’s hard to track. I just resist any and everything he says, does, declares - all of it. And since I don’t get the news from mainstream sources (they’re pathetic), I know more than the mainstream about what those things are… it’s very depressing and exhausting. Thank God for fellow Substack readers and for fantastic Substack writers!
⬆️"What he doesn’t understand is that we’re onto his games and can focus on more than one thing at a time."
I agree if you are talking about the people who ARE paying attention (like readers of this Substack). But there are huge swaths of people NOT paying attention and I don't think legacy media is capable of focusing on more than one story at a time. Trump has succeeded in flooding the zone and relegating important stories to the back burner - if they make it to the stove at all!!
I just got around to watching this, but I highly recommend this YouTube Video from Politics Girl, Leigh McGowan:
- Devin Nunes and others linked to Trump Media became officers of a company soon after it made an unsuccessful $10 billion bid for Venezuelan-state-owned Citgo Petroleum’s U.S. assets -Wendy Sieglman on NewsTRACS
- Venezuela raid enriches MAGA billionaire - Judd Legum - Popular Info
- Corporations Invested In Lawsuits Before Venezuela Invasion - Lever News
- Trump Wants Venezuelan Oil For Himself - Narativ
Every day that man shows his incompetence and his warped idea of his own abilities. I have never “hated” anyone so much in my life. And I mourn the loss of the country I thought I lived in
Gov Walz is a good decent man and everything I’ve read about the state tells me it is a good place to live and raise a family, although I admit I’ve never been there. To me the attacks on the state are just another attempt to destroy the unity but Gov Walz has decided it’s better for the state if he doesn’t run again. I disagree! The Venezuela attack is textbook “change the subject” “forget Epstein”. Do the Repugs really want to be responsible for another war?? And he’s threatening our Allie’s, are they really ok with that?? I’m so disgusted that I would welcome a member of The Hague to come and get him and take Rubio with him. Rubio was the one cabinet member that had any credentials but he has joined the cult!
I've been to Minnesota. It's a great place to raise a family and settle for the long haul. If we didn't have kids and grandkids here in MO, we'd either be there or Wisconsin.
I was born in Minneapolis and have lots of family on my mother's side still living there.
I am curious who will run for Governor now. I thought I had read the the current Lt. Governor, Peggy Flanigan, was going to run (or at least was thinking about running) for the open Senate seat. I wonder if she'll run for Governor now.
Moderate Democrat, Rep. Angie Craig, is running for the Senate seat and is Chuck Schumer's favored candidate in the race.
Horrific is the word. I am calling all of our us senators; thanking the Dems and asking them to influence their republican partners to stand up and impeach trump. It's time. I am giving the reps hell. We are the home of the brave. We all need to get out and do more. Thanks to all who are subscribing here, protesting, signing petitions, etc. Evil always roars loudest before it falls. Keep standing!
If we don’t remove him before the midterms,he will steal the elections. He has already ignored the Constitution and rule of law, and international law. He must be stopped.
Please stop saying "He will steal the election". That is both giving up in advance, and telling voters that their votes don't matter! As Robert Hubbell likes to say "we are NOT potted plants" and we have agency!
It is certainly true that Trump will try and cheat - like his mid-decade redistricting plans. But if sentiment continues to support Democrats having an advantage in the generic poll and if the eye-popping Democratic overperformance in special elections continues in 2026, the redistricting could backfire spectacularly.
Rather than spreading doom and gloom, find something that YOU can do to increase voter turnout in the midterms. I have posted a lot of suggestions recently on how to make an impact - here are links to two of of my recent posts:
Our local grassroots activists from our Indivisible chapter and our county Democratic party again teamed up to launch our postcard effort for 2026.
This year we have 17 pick up points (i.e., bins with bundles of postcards and a sign up sheet located on front porches or beside garages) around the county. Our volunteer writers can pick them up from wherever site is most convenient for them. We manage the logistics by moving postcards around if one location runs out.
Since NC is one of the states included in Postcards to Swing States' "news boosting" campaigns** we started much earlier this year, ordering 10K postcards last month. (The mail date is mid February, since we got the 2nd of five postcards in the series). We will continue with GOTV postcards from Postcards to Swing States as well as postcards for candidates running for state house and senate and possibly for the NC Supreme Court race.
Our "official launch" was this past Saturday with an email blast to everyone who responded positively to a member survey about postcards. I picked up my postcards and got them bundled before Christmas, so I got a bit of a head start by reaching out to people I knew who had written postcards in 2024 or for a city council race in 2025. I blew through my initial allotment, of 10 bundles of 50 postcards, so I got extra postcards before the launch this past weekend.
And then I blew through those on Saturday and "borrowed" some from another volunteer acting as a pick up point. All the volunteer "hosts" reported their "numbers" last night to the woman in charge. The` postcards have been flying out of the bins! The upshot is that we have already ordered MORE postcards - 2 days after the initial launch!!
I was shocked last night hearing the Venezuela invasion, I am old enough to have lived through (with great pain) many wars, invasions and various other inhumane actions. A few minutes later came the hints Trump and his circle made about taking Greenland! Isn't there ANYBODY to stop this lunatic maniac?!?
AOC nails it: "It's not about drugs... It's to distract from Epstein + skyrocketing healthcare costs."
The pattern sucks—manufacture military spectacle, weaponize conspiracy theories, bury the actual devastation. Congressional theater over Epstein files while healthcare access collapses. Venezuela invasion while AI chokes rivers and queer sanctuaries become dust.
They're excellent at distraction. We're fucking better at documentation. Keep cutting through the noise.
When I heard what Trump was doing in Venezuela my first thought was that he is trying to bury the Epstein affair under the absolutely absurd and surely illegal arrest of a sitting president of any country……in this case, Venezuela. He is beneath contempt!
If the Venezuela actions by this administration aren’t evidence of a despot deciding this is Step 1 of his intention to take over the world, I don’t know what is.
NEW: Demand Congress stop Trump’s illegal Venezuela military action: https://tinyurl.com/e4jar8y3
And these four other actions:
Demand AG Bondi release ALL of the Epstein files now: https://tinyurl.com/yzm32ams
Demand Congress vote on ACA subsidies: https://tinyurl.com/sv7ddnm3
Pass bill on unmasking ICE and displaying clear ID: https://tinyurl.com/bp8cau82
Demand answers about Trump’s visibly deteriorating health: https://tinyurl.com/sk9xm38v
Sign up to volunteer for our Watchdog Coalition: https://tinyurl.com/4afyy2bs
Can't even run a Pez Dispenser! 😂
Is Pez still a thing? There was a huge Pez fad when I was in 5th grade—many decades ago.
It is indeed!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cMNV2c7CvTGSDfaR7
Scott, I think there are multiple reasons for Trump’s illegal invasion of Venezuela. Although the obvious one is their oil reserves, I believe their supply of rare earth minerals may be the primary one. However, we can’t ignore that Trump’s insane quest for global dominance may be a further explanation for the very expensive military attack. It was just announced that Tim Waltz has just dropped his campaign for the Minnesota Governorship due to the false allegations that he ignored the fraud in a Somali run day care. Another MAGA lie!
I think that the reason trump is attacking Tim Walz is, he has a shot at beating trump or vance in 2028!
I don’t believe Walz is guilty of anything illegal! trump, however, has never spent one day behind bars, for his lifetime of crime!
trump has left a trail of victims, behind every endeavor…now the USA is his biggest victimization of all!
Whether you want to believe it or not…Congress has fallen prey to the dictatorship! Where the hell are they? Shame on public servants who feel entitled to their excessive days off..so much so, that trump can catapult us into WW3 illegally!
We need a third political party…..but no one has the money to finance one, except the bad guys!
It is past time for us to realize we will get no help from the DNC they prove it with their silence with
every escalating crime!
Resisters…don’t just attack fascism…attack Congress who are willing participants as long as the money keeps rolling in!
Indivisible is advocating for primarying the establishment Democrats that are treating the Trump Regime as business as usual.
I would not tar the entire Democratic Party - there are people stepping up and we need to make sure we are praising them. Indivisible co-founders Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg have pointed out that we will need to "refresh" the House and Senate (either with literally younger candidates or just people with fresh new ideas who are willing to buck the establishment). There needs to be change in the "rank and file" in order to get the leadership we need!
Also, I think you are conflating elected Democrats (like Chuck Schumer) with the DNC. They are not the same thing at all. The purpose of the DNC is to elect Democrats NOT govern as the opposition party to Trump.
I definitely have my beefs with the DNC, but it mostly comes down to putting too much emphasis on swing districts and writing off rural districts as unwinnable! As well as the fact that they come in too late in the election cycle and mostly do a poor job of leveraging their grassroots volunteers. There are exceptions to this at the state party level - Wisconsin Dem's under Ben Wikler and our current NC Dems under Anderson Clayton.
He's trying to emulate Putin too, whose praise he craves.
Andra Watkins highlights in P2025 how Venezuela was all part of the plan… “I’m here to remind readers that taking Venezuela for its resources was always part of the Project 2025 plan. Invading Venezuela isn’t a distraction; IT WAS THE PLAN. The regime isn’t trying to distract for Epstein/Jack Smith/bruised hands/public sleeping and slurring/corruption/White House destruction/lawsuits or any other litany of abominations. IT IS CARRYING OUT ITS PROJECT 2025 PLAN.”
https://open.substack.com/pub/andrawatkins/p/venezuela-is-not-a-distraction-its?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Actually it's accomplishing all 3.
OMG
Some think it’s mostly for not getting the Nobel Prize.
The war in Venezuela is part of Donny’s lunatic obsession with ruling the whole world, and of course to grab all the oil and further enrich himself. It’s also to distract our attention from 1) the Epstein files; 2) the recent release of Jack Smith’s testimony; and 3) tomorrow’s 5-year anniversary of Jan. 6, 2021. What he doesn’t understand is that we’re onto his games and can focus on more than one thing at a time.
We can run and chew gum while spinning plates :)
Well, speak for yourself, Scott! 😎
Trump knows we are on to his games. Not sure whether we can focus on more than one thing, however. We are not onto his games enough to stop his treasonous activity.
Trump does just throw shit at the wall at random (but always for self-serving reasons) - you’re right, there’s more shit than wall now and it’s hard to track. I just resist any and everything he says, does, declares - all of it. And since I don’t get the news from mainstream sources (they’re pathetic), I know more than the mainstream about what those things are… it’s very depressing and exhausting. Thank God for fellow Substack readers and for fantastic Substack writers!
Thank you, Scott and fellow Dworkinites!
⬆️"What he doesn’t understand is that we’re onto his games and can focus on more than one thing at a time."
I agree if you are talking about the people who ARE paying attention (like readers of this Substack). But there are huge swaths of people NOT paying attention and I don't think legacy media is capable of focusing on more than one story at a time. Trump has succeeded in flooding the zone and relegating important stories to the back burner - if they make it to the stove at all!!
I just got around to watching this, but I highly recommend this YouTube Video from Politics Girl, Leigh McGowan:
We Have To Do THIS for Another Year?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHF52LMaLdA
AOC is so right!
Trump is a Mob boss, running his own Criminal Enterprise. The Gop is Corrupt, Complicit in the Destroying of America.
For sure Kathy!
My reaction is one of disgust. Trump is desperate to detract us from his wickedness and incompetence. He needs to go NOW!
He sure does Julie!
Love this! ♥️
Blood, barrels and billions for MAGA donors from Trump's oil raid: Follow the money
https://thedemlabs.org/2026/01/05/trump-venezuela-oil-raid-maga-donors/
This interactive map incorporates research by:
- Devin Nunes and others linked to Trump Media became officers of a company soon after it made an unsuccessful $10 billion bid for Venezuelan-state-owned Citgo Petroleum’s U.S. assets -Wendy Sieglman on NewsTRACS
- Venezuela raid enriches MAGA billionaire - Judd Legum - Popular Info
- Corporations Invested In Lawsuits Before Venezuela Invasion - Lever News
- Trump Wants Venezuelan Oil For Himself - Narativ
Every day that man shows his incompetence and his warped idea of his own abilities. I have never “hated” anyone so much in my life. And I mourn the loss of the country I thought I lived in
Right there with you, Sally!
💯agreed
I agree wholeheartedly!!
So do I!😢 I am praying 🙏 that we the People will be able to take that monster and his regime down!
Gov Walz is a good decent man and everything I’ve read about the state tells me it is a good place to live and raise a family, although I admit I’ve never been there. To me the attacks on the state are just another attempt to destroy the unity but Gov Walz has decided it’s better for the state if he doesn’t run again. I disagree! The Venezuela attack is textbook “change the subject” “forget Epstein”. Do the Repugs really want to be responsible for another war?? And he’s threatening our Allie’s, are they really ok with that?? I’m so disgusted that I would welcome a member of The Hague to come and get him and take Rubio with him. Rubio was the one cabinet member that had any credentials but he has joined the cult!
I've been to Minnesota. It's a great place to raise a family and settle for the long haul. If we didn't have kids and grandkids here in MO, we'd either be there or Wisconsin.
Spent all my summer vacations there!
Yep. Putin too.
Thanks Patti
I was born in Minneapolis and have lots of family on my mother's side still living there.
I am curious who will run for Governor now. I thought I had read the the current Lt. Governor, Peggy Flanigan, was going to run (or at least was thinking about running) for the open Senate seat. I wonder if she'll run for Governor now.
Moderate Democrat, Rep. Angie Craig, is running for the Senate seat and is Chuck Schumer's favored candidate in the race.
Horrific is the word. I am calling all of our us senators; thanking the Dems and asking them to influence their republican partners to stand up and impeach trump. It's time. I am giving the reps hell. We are the home of the brave. We all need to get out and do more. Thanks to all who are subscribing here, protesting, signing petitions, etc. Evil always roars loudest before it falls. Keep standing!
If we don’t remove him before the midterms,he will steal the elections. He has already ignored the Constitution and rule of law, and international law. He must be stopped.
Please stop saying "He will steal the election". That is both giving up in advance, and telling voters that their votes don't matter! As Robert Hubbell likes to say "we are NOT potted plants" and we have agency!
It is certainly true that Trump will try and cheat - like his mid-decade redistricting plans. But if sentiment continues to support Democrats having an advantage in the generic poll and if the eye-popping Democratic overperformance in special elections continues in 2026, the redistricting could backfire spectacularly.
Rather than spreading doom and gloom, find something that YOU can do to increase voter turnout in the midterms. I have posted a lot of suggestions recently on how to make an impact - here are links to two of of my recent posts:
https://substack.com/@cj277/note/c-195211095
https://substack.com/@cj277/note/c-194068527
Thank you for these suggestions ❤️
You are very welcome!
I have a hypothesis that more people would take action if they knew of concrete actions that they could take.
Some encouraging news on the activism front:
Our local grassroots activists from our Indivisible chapter and our county Democratic party again teamed up to launch our postcard effort for 2026.
This year we have 17 pick up points (i.e., bins with bundles of postcards and a sign up sheet located on front porches or beside garages) around the county. Our volunteer writers can pick them up from wherever site is most convenient for them. We manage the logistics by moving postcards around if one location runs out.
Since NC is one of the states included in Postcards to Swing States' "news boosting" campaigns** we started much earlier this year, ordering 10K postcards last month. (The mail date is mid February, since we got the 2nd of five postcards in the series). We will continue with GOTV postcards from Postcards to Swing States as well as postcards for candidates running for state house and senate and possibly for the NC Supreme Court race.
Our "official launch" was this past Saturday with an email blast to everyone who responded positively to a member survey about postcards. I picked up my postcards and got them bundled before Christmas, so I got a bit of a head start by reaching out to people I knew who had written postcards in 2024 or for a city council race in 2025. I blew through my initial allotment, of 10 bundles of 50 postcards, so I got extra postcards before the launch this past weekend.
And then I blew through those on Saturday and "borrowed" some from another volunteer acting as a pick up point. All the volunteer "hosts" reported their "numbers" last night to the woman in charge. The` postcards have been flying out of the bins! The upshot is that we have already ordered MORE postcards - 2 days after the initial launch!!
** For more info on these campaigns see: https://turnoutpac.org/postcards/
Thank you Madeleine!
Already did this by phone and email! IMPEACH CONVICT AND REMOVE!
I was shocked last night hearing the Venezuela invasion, I am old enough to have lived through (with great pain) many wars, invasions and various other inhumane actions. A few minutes later came the hints Trump and his circle made about taking Greenland! Isn't there ANYBODY to stop this lunatic maniac?!?
We gotta keep pushing Veronika!
AOC nails it: "It's not about drugs... It's to distract from Epstein + skyrocketing healthcare costs."
The pattern sucks—manufacture military spectacle, weaponize conspiracy theories, bury the actual devastation. Congressional theater over Epstein files while healthcare access collapses. Venezuela invasion while AI chokes rivers and queer sanctuaries become dust.
They're excellent at distraction. We're fucking better at documentation. Keep cutting through the noise.
https://thistleandmoss.com/p/the-daily-gathering-this-week-still-sucks-january-5th-2026
Peter Singer, a HUGE Donor & Oil Guy owns Oil Companies that clean the kind of oil that comes from Venezuela. It's Big Corruption.
She left out 🛢 oil
When I heard what Trump was doing in Venezuela my first thought was that he is trying to bury the Epstein affair under the absolutely absurd and surely illegal arrest of a sitting president of any country……in this case, Venezuela. He is beneath contempt!
He sure is Eve!
If the Venezuela actions by this administration aren’t evidence of a despot deciding this is Step 1 of his intention to take over the world, I don’t know what is.