Congressman Tom McClintock’s “Rejoice at fruits of Venezuela action” guest opinion piece in the Jan. 29 Gazette rang familiar to me. It reminded me of George W. Bush’s assembled photo-op and speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in 2003 after six weeks of bombing Iraq.
Spread across that aircraft carrier was a huge banner that pronounced “Mission Accomplished” in all caps. This photo-op speech celebrating the end of the Iraq War read in part, “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed … because the regime (dictator Saddam Hussein) is no more.”
The downside? U.S. troops fought in Iraq for eight more years! There were massive casualties on both sides, including our allies. The war brought rise to the terrorist group ISIS and the conflict of who would control Iraq.
These days, the phrase “Mission Accomplished” is used as a joke, suggesting that a person declared a win way too early. This is exactly what McClintock is doing with his expressed delight at the removal of Maduro without any long-term plan for Venezuela in place. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated in late January that the U.S. may need to plant “boots on the ground” within six months. Mission Accomplished, Tom!
President Trump has no announced plan in place for Venezuela other than taking their oil and other minerals. Maria Machado is the leader of the opposition party to Maduro. She is the Venezuelan peoples’ choice to run the country.
The other potential Maduro replacement is current Vice President Delcy Rodríguez who is part of that same authoritarian regime. Most of you have heard about how Maria Machado gave Trump her Nobel Peace Prize to butter him up! Trump loves medals! And of course, he accepted the award that he did not win because he has no honor, no shame and no bar too low to go.
The Nobel Committee actually had to explain to the entire world for the very first time that the Nobel Prize is not transferable by gifting or by sale. Donald Trump? He doesn’t care about established mores or common decency, so there ya go. It’s his now.
By the way, the U.S. citizen that was “vaporized by Obama” according to McClintock, was Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born Muslim cleric and a leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). He was killed in a CIA drone strike in Yemen on Sept. 30, 2011.
Anwar al-Awlaki is a far cry from Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti who were murdered in cold blood by Trump’s gestapo raid in MN. So far, no mention from Mr. McClintock about them.
Tom McClintock also interjected a misguided definition of socialism by inferring that Venezuela’s dictator, Maduro, is a socialist. Like Chavez, Trump, Hitler and other authoritarians, they begin their campaigns as populists by promising socialist ideas like lowering taxes and food costs, and making healthcare and housing more affordable.
Their actual goal is to expand executive power, enrich themselves, and lower taxes for their wealthy counterparts. We have seen this time and time again. Right-wing authoritarianism in not socialism. Look it up.
Democratic-Socialist nations, like most of Scandinavia, rate as the happiest people on earth year after year. They have excellent schools, healthcare, and affordable housing, with social safety nets that are not under constant threat as they are here in the U.S..
I’ll end with this fact. According to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (Ind.), 1 percent of the wealthiest in the U.S. control as much wealth as the lower 93 percent. I’ll repeat that, the richest 1 percent control as much wealth as the lower 93 percent.
Yahoo Finance and other sources state that the top 1 percent wealth equals the lowest 90 percent. And we wonder why we can’t afford a hospital stay, home ownership, a decent college education or to raise a family.
Victor Krag is a resident of Mariposa County.
Responses (0)