Not Without Incident: Questioning Big Brother's Platitudes

“Trump is engaged in murder, plain and simple.”[i]– Chip Gibbons

In an interview with FOX News’ Bill O’Reilly, Donald Trump, when asked why he wanted to work with Vladimir Putin to eradicate ISIS, said in response to O’Reilly’s remark that he’s a killer, “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?”[ii] This angered the illiberal liberal class, and they saw it as moral relativism between Russia and America. Liz Cheney said that Trump’s statement was “deeply troubling and wrong.”, NYT columnist David French said “You won’t see many conservatives defend Trump’s Russia comment. They’ll be silent, but they’ll know they’d race to Fox to condemn a Dem.”[iii] Some in the conservative elite condemned the remarks, seeing them as an affront to American exceptionalism. The likes of Cheney, French, and Bill Kristol bristle when Trump makes such statements because it puts an ugly face on the exact type of policy that they have been supporting for decades now. Kristol and his imperialist rag, the Weekly Standard were integral to the Bush regime’s foreign policy. Trump refuses to put a soothing spin on what the US does. Dana E. Abizaid notes this when he writes that, “Trump’s brashness should force Americans to take a harder look at who they are and what is done in their name.”[iv] Who can argue with a straight face that America is not so innocent? Trump’s statement is not moral relativism; it is common sense. US foreign policy since the end of the second world war is a string of hapless, catastrophic military misadventures and war crimes.

From the rampant use of cluster munitions in Southeast Asia, tacit support for the Indonesian genocide in East Timor, support for military juntas across the globe, to training African mercenaries who went on to enact coups in their home countries, the US is routinely involved in acts of terror and murder. We are seeing a clear example of this right now through Trump’s killing of alleged Venezuelan drug boats. To date, the Trump regime has blown up 10 boats, and when asked by a reporter about whether he would seek congressional authorization for these attacks, Trump said, “Well, I don’t think we’re going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. OK? We’re going to kill them,”[v] This echoes Trump’s remarks to O’Reilly in that it is an overt admission that the US is not so innocent, and that it too has a lot of killers. One of these killers is Trump, however, he is not alone. There is Barrack Obama, whose regime, as revealed by analyst and whistleblower Daniel Hale, oversaw an assassination program that wreaked havoc in Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Iraq, and as the Intercept reported, the Obama regime kept a kill list of high profile targets to be assassinated by drone, as well as labelling unidentified people killed as “enemies killed in action” despite being unknown and thus unable to confirm them as enemies.[vi] There is also of course, George Bush, whose war in Iraq killed about 200,000 civilians, and his war in Afghanistan did depose the Taliban, but it resulted in a 20-year occupation that resulted in many deaths and war crimes committed in the name of liberation and democracy promotion.[vii]

We have long accepted that one of the president’s jobs is to kill people. As Vijay Prashad writes, “presidents of the United States inaugurate their terms not with bottles of champagne but with drone and missile strikes.”[viii] The difference between Trump and his predecessors is that Trump will say publicly that yes, he is killing people, and that his regime will just kill people. This may horrify the illiberal liberal class, but they supported such actions when it was Obama doing it, and Obama’s cronies avidly defended the drone program as a more effective and precise way to kill terrorists. Ben Rhodes said of drones that “It’s a better way to keep us safe.”[ix] Criticisms of Obama’s use of drones were largely ignored and dismissed by many of the same cretins who are now outraged that Trump is just indiscriminately vaporizing people in international waters. Thus, they are complicit in what Trump is doing through his attacks on boats and escalations with Venezuela.

In the case of Venezuela, the desire to overthrow Nicolas Maduro is shared by the Democratic and Republican elite. In Trump’s first term, pushed by John Bolton and Elliott Abrams, he imposed brutal sanctions on Venezuela that led to starvation and squalor, as well as a migrant crisis.[x] Although the Biden regime lifted some sanctions in 2023, they were reinstated following the “stolen election” in 2024.[xi] This year, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. According to the Nobel Committee, she received the prize “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”[xii] This is an interesting way to frame her work. Machado is an illiberal liberal. She speaks in the tongue of democracy and liberty, but she is a vile militarist who is adored by the permanent regime for her devotion to Western supremacy. In 2002, Machado helped lead a coup against the newly elected Chavez government and she then signed a decree that nullified the constitution, and she has openly called for the US to intervene in Venezuela.[xiii] In 2024, she published a letter in the Wall Street Journal arguing that she had definitive and concrete proof that Maduro stole the election, and she begged for international support to assist in removing Maduro from power as he is “illegitimate”.[xiv] Machado has long supported the US sanctions on Venezuela, despite their devastating impact on citizens. She is cheering Trump’s attacks on boats, and said that the killings are “saving lives, not only Venezuelan lives, but also life of American people”[xv] Machado, like the Trump regime, calls the Maduro regime a “narco-terrorist criminal complex” Machado is a goon, a puppet, a spook, and she might as well win the Nobel Peace Prize, as the likes of Henry Kissinger and Woodrow Wilson have won it.

In a ghastly but unsurprising turn of events, this award is being used in the corporate media’s propaganda campaign to push for deposing Maduro. The Washington Post editorial board argued in response to Machado’s award that the Venezuelan people would be better off with her as their leader, rather than Maduro.[xvi] Importantly, she would be a more “reliable American partner”[xvii] This is deep state speak for she would hand over rights to Venezuela’s natural resources on a silver platter. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board published a similar view, gushing over Machado’s decades long fight for democracy.[xviii] An issue like Venezuela reveals the true face of the illiberal liberal class. They do not fight for democracy, they fight for their own domination, and they see themselves as masters of the universe.

Those who argue regime change in Venezuela is necessary often refer to the Maduro regime as not a government, but a criminal enterprise. This apparently makes it a unique threat to US national security. For example, Oswaldo Silva writes in an op-ed for The Hill that “If Venezuela were a legitimate state corrupted by a few bad actors, the task would be simple: Identify them and neutralize them. But evidence shows the opposite.”[xix] Within this statement is a sinister notion, that if the Maduro regime were another run of the mill baddie, the mission would be simple, swoop in and eradicate him, swiftly replacing him with a puppet government, so even if the state were legitimate in the minds of these imperialists like Silva, then regime change would still be palatable, perhaps even necessary. They could be handily ‘neutralized’, a gross CIA euphemism for kill or assassinate, however, since the Maduro regime is apparently more than just despotic, it is a criminal enterprise, the job of removing him from power is made far more arduous. Further, the way Silva, just like many others in Trump’s orbit, describes the Maduro regime is the exact manner of governance that will be imposed, should he be ousted. Silva argues that in Maduro’s Venezuela, “Government agencies command the population, extract revenue and allocate territories and industries among loyalists. A seemingly functional foreign service enables trade, money laundering and diplomatic cover.”[xx] This is exactly what the US would impose on Venezuela if/when it deposes Maduro. They will extract oil and reap millions in profits from the state. This is their goal, as it was in the Middle East. It is not to liberate the Venezuelan people, and yet, we see little pushback from the anti-Trump brigade. Voices that are typically vehemently opposed to Trump’s every move, especially the former neoconservatives, agree with deposing Maduro. Even if they do not declare it publicly, they do not see Trump’s policy towards Venezuela for what it is, depraved and inhumane. The MAGA movement has been brainwashed to believe that Maduro is a source of drugs that flows directly to the US, contributing to the fentanyl crisis, and thus rather than being seen as antithetical to the America First platform, toppling the government of Venezuela is instead seen as necessary for US national security. This again proves that Trump’s worst crimes are not seen as crimes by the illiberal liberal class. The Democrats are mostly silent on Trump’s strikes of alleged drug boats, though some are starting to speak out, their primary concern is the lack of information about the strikes coming out of the White House. There is little concern about the news that Trump authorized CIA activity inside Venezuela, or the news that the Associated Press just broke, that the US attempted to persuade Maduro’s pilot to divert his plane to a location where American authorities could easily apprehend him.[xxi] Such obsessive plotting, inevitably stemming from the fantasies of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has long dreamed of regime change in Cuba and Venezuela, are reminiscent of the CIA’s schemes to overthrow and assassinate Fidel Castro during the Cold War.

It is true that the Maduro regime disappears and kills people, however, it is also true that South American dictators during the Cold War who enjoyed bountiful US support both in ascending to power and ruling did the same. Further, it is true and essential to not fall for the propaganda being pumped into our brains about how the US government behaves and why it must invade and meddle in other nations. One must not be deluded into believing that this is being done in the name of liberation. When the US kills people and deposes governments, it is not depraved, but if a bad country like Russia or China does it, it is evil. There is no equivocation between the Trump and Maduro regimes, but there are striking similarities that are hidden only by gross euphemisms and brainwashing.

Maduro is a killer, Putin is a killer, Xi Jinping is a killer, Kim Jong-Un is a killer, MBS is a killer, Khomeini is a killer, but guess what, so is the US president, whoever it is, but more importantly- so is the permanent regime, the president’s puppet masters.

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[i] Gibbons, Chip. “In Venezuela, Trump Is Engaged in Plain and Simple Murder.” Jacobin.com, September 16, 2025. https://jacobin.com/2025/09/venezuela-killings-war-terror-trump.

[ii] This line from Trump was moronically reported as him ‘defending Putin’, see Tatum, Sophie. “Trump Defends Putin: ‘You Think Our Country’s so Innocent?’” CNN, February 5, 2017. https://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/04/politics/donald-trump-vladimir-putin.

[iii] McGraw, Meridith. “Trump’s Comparing US to Putin’s Russia Draws Bipartisan Backlash.” ABC News, February 5, 2017. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-comparing-us-putins-russia-draws-outrage/story?id=45281386.

[iv] Abizaid, Dana E. “Are We as Innocent as We Think?” Truthout, February 9, 2017. https://truthout.org/articles/are-we-as-innocent-as-we-think/.

[v] Associated Press. “Trump Says ‘We’re Just Going to Kill People’ That Bring Drugs into US.” YouTube, October 23, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7m6vmx4nEs.

[vi] Scahill, Jeremy. “The Drone Papers.” The Intercept, October 2015. https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/.

[vii] Haghdoosti, Sara. “In Case You Forgot: George W. Bush Is a Horrific War Criminal.” jacobin.com, March 20, 2023. https://jacobin.com/2023/03/george-w-bush-iraq-war-crimes-lies-accountability-reparations-violence.

[viii] Prashad, Vijay. “Barack Obama’s First Drone Strike.” CounterPunch.org. CounterPunch, February 4, 2025. https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/02/04/barack-obamas-first-drone-strike/.

[ix] Tau, Byron. “Rhodes: Drones Save Lives.” POLITICO, October 9, 2012. https://www.politico.com/blogs/politico44/2012/10/rhodes-drones-save-lives-137973.

[x] De Los Santos, Manolo. “From Baghdad to Caracas: A Washington Manual on Sanctions and War.” Scheerpost.com, October 23, 2025. https://scheerpost.com/2025/10/23/from-baghdad-to-caracas-a-washington-manual-on-sanctions-and-war/. and Galant, Michael. “Trump’s Sanctions Are Still Hurting Everyday Venezuelans — and Fueling Migration.” The Hill, January 27, 2024. https://thehill.com/opinion/4433251-trumps-sanctions-are-still-hurting-everyday-venezuelans-and-fueling-migration/.

[xi] Seelke, Clare Ribando. “Venezuela: Overview of U.S. Sanctions Policy.” Congress.gov, 2025. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF10715.

[xii] Nobel Prize Outreach. “Nobel Peace Prize 2025.” NobelPrize.org, November 25, 2025. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2025/machado/facts/.

[xiii] Ellner, Michelle. “When Maria Corina Machado Wins the Nobel Peace Prize, ‘Peace’ Has Lost Its Meaning.” CounterPunch.org. CounterPunch, October 15, 2025. https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/10/15/when-maria-corina-machado-wins-the-nobel-peace-prize-peace-has-lost-its-meaning/.

[xiv] Machado, Maria Corina. “I Can Prove Maduro Got Trounced.” The Wall Street Journal, August 1, 2024. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/i-can-prove-maduro-got-trounced-venezuela-election-stolen-772d66a0.

[xv] Venkat, Surina. “Venezuela’s Peace Prize-Winning Opposition Leader Backs Trump’s Boat Strikes.” The Hill, October 31, 2025. https://thehill.com/policy/international/5582905-maria-corina-machado-venezuela-trump-boat-strikes/.

[xvi] The Editorial Board. “Good Cop, Bad Cop in Venezuela.” The Washington Post, October 10, 2025. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/10/10/venezuela-maduro-trump-machado-war-peaceprize/.

[xvii] The Editorial Board. “Good Cop, Bad Cop in Venezuela.”, also for insightful analysis on the propagandic move by mainstream outlets to use Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize as the basis for war, see Paz, Ricardo. “Western Media Use ‘Peace’ Prize to Fuel War Propaganda.” Scheerpost.com, October 25, 2025. https://scheerpost.com/2025/10/25/western-media-use-peace-prize-to-fuel-war-propaganda/.

[xviii] The Editorial Board. “A Nobel for Venezuela’s Iron Lady.” The Wall Street Journal, October 10, 2025. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-nobel-for-venezuelas-iron-lady-1e3b8b9a.

[xix] Silva, Oswaldo. “Venezuela Isn’t Just a Dictatorship — It’s a Criminal Threat to US Security.” The Hill, October 26, 2025. https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5572136-venezuela-threat-us-security/.

[xx] Silva. “Venezuela Isn’t Just a Dictatorship — It’s a Criminal Threat to US Security.”

[xxi] Goodman, Joshua. “A Federal Agent’s Plan: Recruit Maduro’s Pilot to Turn on the Venezuelan Leader.” AP News, October 28, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/dhs-plan-capture-maduro-pilot-planes-7915d5a0819ceb518a8ca2b47da8b2e5.

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References

Abizaid, Dana E. “Are We as Innocent as We Think?” Truthout, February 9, 2017. https://truthout.org/articles/are-we-as-innocent-as-we-think/.

Associated Press. “Trump Says ‘We’re Just Going to Kill People’ That Bring Drugs into US.” YouTube, October 23, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7m6vmx4nEs.

De Los Santos, Manolo. “From Baghdad to Caracas: A Washington Manual on Sanctions and War.” Scheerpost.com, October 23, 2025. https://scheerpost.com/2025/10/23/from-baghdad-to-caracas-a-washington-manual-on-sanctions-and-war/.

Ellner, Michelle. “When Maria Corina Machado Wins the Nobel Peace Prize, ‘Peace’ Has Lost Its Meaning.” CounterPunch.org. CounterPunch, October 15, 2025. https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/10/15/when-maria-corina-machado-wins-the-nobel-peace-prize-peace-has-lost-its-meaning/.

Galant, Michael. “Trump’s Sanctions Are Still Hurting Everyday Venezuelans — and Fueling Migration.” The Hill, January 27, 2024. https://thehill.com/opinion/4433251-trumps-sanctions-are-still-hurting-everyday-venezuelans-and-fueling-migration/.

Gibbons, Chip. “In Venezuela, Trump Is Engaged in Plain and Simple Murder.” Jacobin.com, September 16, 2025. https://jacobin.com/2025/09/venezuela-killings-war-terror-trump.

Goodman, Joshua. “A Federal Agent’s Plan: Recruit Maduro’s Pilot to Turn on the Venezuelan Leader.” AP News, October 28, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/dhs-plan-capture-maduro-pilot-planes-7915d5a0819ceb518a8ca2b47da8b2e5.

Haghdoosti, Sara. “In Case You Forgot: George W. Bush Is a Horrific War Criminal.” jacobin.com, March 20, 2023. https://jacobin.com/2023/03/george-w-bush-iraq-war-crimes-lies-accountability-reparations-violence.

Machado, Maria Corina. “I Can Prove Maduro Got Trounced.” The Wall Street Journal, August 1, 2024. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/i-can-prove-maduro-got-trounced-venezuela-election-stolen-772d66a0.

McGraw, Meridith. “Trump’s Comparing US to Putin’s Russia Draws Bipartisan Backlash.” ABC News, February 5, 2017. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-comparing-us-putins-russia-draws-outrage/story?id=45281386.

Nobel Prize Outreach. “Nobel Peace Prize 2025.” NobelPrize.org, November 25, 2025. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2025/machado/facts/.

Paz, Ricardo. “Western Media Use ‘Peace’ Prize to Fuel War Propaganda.” Scheerpost.com, October 25, 2025. https://scheerpost.com/2025/10/25/western-media-use-peace-prize-to-fuel-war-propaganda/.

Prashad, Vijay. “Barack Obama’s First Drone Strike.” CounterPunch.org. CounterPunch, February 4, 2025. https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/02/04/barack-obamas-first-drone-strike/.

Scahill, Jeremy. “The Drone Papers.” The Intercept, October 2015. https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/.

Seelke, Clare Ribando. “Venezuela: Overview of U.S. Sanctions Policy.” Congress.gov, 2025. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF10715.

Silva, Oswaldo. “Venezuela Isn’t Just a Dictatorship — It’s a Criminal Threat to US Security.” The Hill, October 26, 2025. https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5572136-venezuela-threat-us-security/.

Tatum, Sophie. “Trump Defends Putin: ‘You Think Our Country’s so Innocent?’” CNN, February 5, 2017. https://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/04/politics/donald-trump-vladimir-putin.

Tau, Byron. “Rhodes: Drones Save Lives.” POLITICO, October 9, 2012. https://www.politico.com/blogs/politico44/2012/10/rhodes-drones-save-lives-137973.

The Editorial Board. “A Nobel for Venezuela’s Iron Lady.” The Wall Street Journal, October 10, 2025. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-nobel-for-venezuelas-iron-lady-1e3b8b9a.

The Editorial Board. “Good Cop, Bad Cop in Venezuela.” The Washington Post, October 10, 2025. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/10/10/venezuela-maduro-trump-machado-war-peaceprize/.

Venkat, Surina. “Venezuela’s Peace Prize-Winning Opposition Leader Backs Trump’s Boat Strikes.” The Hill, October 31, 2025. https://thehill.com/policy/international/5582905-maria-corina-machado-venezuela-trump-boat-strikes/.