Thinking in Public
@bruceduggan.bsky.social
Anyone can post. Anyone can reply. Civility required.
As a Canadian, I feel sympathy for the many, many Americans who did not want this war.
Whether you voted for Trump or for Harris, I know virtually none of you voted for this warmongering & violence.
Virtually everyone who voted were trying to vote for peace.
Whether you voted for Trump or for Harris, I know virtually none of you voted for this warmongering & violence.
Virtually everyone who voted were trying to vote for peace.
This is absolutely true, but worth noting: historically, wars wear on presidencies when they drag on for months/years and involve lots of soldiers from across America who are wounded/killed.
Trump has gone out of his way to make most of his military actions shots fired from a distance (or a drone).
Trump has gone out of his way to make most of his military actions shots fired from a distance (or a drone).
After a year in which Trump has bombed ...
- Venezuela
- Nigeria
- Iran
- Yemen
- Syria
- Somalia
- and civilian boats in international waters
... I’m thinking about the voters who convinced themselves that Trump was the candidate of foreign policy restraint.
- Venezuela
- Nigeria
- Iran
- Yemen
- Syria
- Somalia
- and civilian boats in international waters
... I’m thinking about the voters who convinced themselves that Trump was the candidate of foreign policy restraint.
January 3, 2026 at 9:17 PM
As a Canadian, I feel sympathy for the many, many Americans who did not want this war.
Whether you voted for Trump or for Harris, I know virtually none of you voted for this warmongering & violence.
Virtually everyone who voted were trying to vote for peace.
Whether you voted for Trump or for Harris, I know virtually none of you voted for this warmongering & violence.
Virtually everyone who voted were trying to vote for peace.
Reposted by Thinking in Public
This all seems pretty unbecoming of a FIFA Peace Prize winner
January 3, 2026 at 2:42 PM
This all seems pretty unbecoming of a FIFA Peace Prize winner
I suppose he could always invade Sweden & pick up a Nobel Peace Prize directly. They probably keep them in a drawer somewhere.
Because the surest way to get that coveted Nobel Peace Prize is to bomb a foreign nation and seize its leader.
January 3, 2026 at 5:35 PM
I suppose he could always invade Sweden & pick up a Nobel Peace Prize directly. They probably keep them in a drawer somewhere.
Let’s hope so.
He can depose him—& ask for his tax records & all his medical records, starting with the bone spurs diagnoses.
He can depose him—& ask for his tax records & all his medical records, starting with the bone spurs diagnoses.
John Fogerty is going to sue him now.
January 3, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Let’s hope so.
He can depose him—& ask for his tax records & all his medical records, starting with the bone spurs diagnoses.
He can depose him—& ask for his tax records & all his medical records, starting with the bone spurs diagnoses.
"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.”
Perhaps the UN could make this offer to the US.
Or maybe the US Congress could offer to do it.
Perhaps the UN could make this offer to the US.
Or maybe the US Congress could offer to do it.
Trump on Venezuela: "We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition"
January 3, 2026 at 5:14 PM
"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.”
Perhaps the UN could make this offer to the US.
Or maybe the US Congress could offer to do it.
Perhaps the UN could make this offer to the US.
Or maybe the US Congress could offer to do it.
I wonder:
1: Does the Venezuelan constitution allow someone not born in Venezuela to be President?
2: If not: How hard is that to change?
3: It would be bad for Venezuela, but:
3a: Wouldn’t Trump be happier running Venezuela instead of (not in addition to) the US?
3b: Wouldn’t the US be better off?
1: Does the Venezuelan constitution allow someone not born in Venezuela to be President?
2: If not: How hard is that to change?
3: It would be bad for Venezuela, but:
3a: Wouldn’t Trump be happier running Venezuela instead of (not in addition to) the US?
3b: Wouldn’t the US be better off?
This is the most extreme, irresponsible, and un-Constitutional sentence Trump has yet uttered in office.
"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition."
WE'RE GOING TO RUN THE COUNTRY.
"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition."
WE'RE GOING TO RUN THE COUNTRY.
January 3, 2026 at 5:11 PM
I wonder:
1: Does the Venezuelan constitution allow someone not born in Venezuela to be President?
2: If not: How hard is that to change?
3: It would be bad for Venezuela, but:
3a: Wouldn’t Trump be happier running Venezuela instead of (not in addition to) the US?
3b: Wouldn’t the US be better off?
1: Does the Venezuelan constitution allow someone not born in Venezuela to be President?
2: If not: How hard is that to change?
3: It would be bad for Venezuela, but:
3a: Wouldn’t Trump be happier running Venezuela instead of (not in addition to) the US?
3b: Wouldn’t the US be better off?
Excellent point
The USA will gain very little from fossil fuels. Solar is the cheapest form of energy, and everyone wants solar, not fossil fuels.
Solar PV was found to be 41% cheaper on average than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternatives.
Solar PV was found to be 41% cheaper on average than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternatives.
January 3, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Excellent point
www.cnn.com/world/live-n...
“Bondi says Maduro will face ‘full wrath’ of US justice on American soil”
Why on American soil? Is Guantanamo Bay full?
“Bondi says Maduro will face ‘full wrath’ of US justice on American soil”
Why on American soil? Is Guantanamo Bay full?
Live updates: Multiple explosions rock Venezuelan capital Caracas | CNN
A CNN team witnessed several explosions on Saturday night in Caracas, and reported that some areas of the city were without electricity. Follow for live updates.
www.cnn.com
January 3, 2026 at 12:56 PM
www.cnn.com/world/live-n...
“Bondi says Maduro will face ‘full wrath’ of US justice on American soil”
Why on American soil? Is Guantanamo Bay full?
“Bondi says Maduro will face ‘full wrath’ of US justice on American soil”
Why on American soil? Is Guantanamo Bay full?
Perhaps Trump could officially declare Putin his National Security Advisor, rather than just de facto.
Right im sure kidnapping another countrys head of state is going to have no consequences whatsoever.
Putin must be beside himself with glee..
Putin must be beside himself with glee..
January 3, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Perhaps Trump could officially declare Putin his National Security Advisor, rather than just de facto.
This war isn’t “abroad”, it’s in the “near abroad”.
Good morning to all the "I voted for Trump because I wanted America out of all those wars abroad" people.
January 3, 2026 at 12:48 PM
This war isn’t “abroad”, it’s in the “near abroad”.
I disagree.
Top 10 reasons US is at war with Venezuela:
1: Trump’s insatiable need for dominance
2: US military leaders won’t disobey illegal orders
3: Congress won’t do its job
4: McConnell chickened out
5: Monroe Doctrine Redux
6: Wag the Dog, Epstein Files Variant
7: Marco Rubio
…
10: Oil
Top 10 reasons US is at war with Venezuela:
1: Trump’s insatiable need for dominance
2: US military leaders won’t disobey illegal orders
3: Congress won’t do its job
4: McConnell chickened out
5: Monroe Doctrine Redux
6: Wag the Dog, Epstein Files Variant
7: Marco Rubio
…
10: Oil
Happy new year, we’re at war with Venezuela for no reason.
January 3, 2026 at 12:46 PM
I disagree.
Top 10 reasons US is at war with Venezuela:
1: Trump’s insatiable need for dominance
2: US military leaders won’t disobey illegal orders
3: Congress won’t do its job
4: McConnell chickened out
5: Monroe Doctrine Redux
6: Wag the Dog, Epstein Files Variant
7: Marco Rubio
…
10: Oil
Top 10 reasons US is at war with Venezuela:
1: Trump’s insatiable need for dominance
2: US military leaders won’t disobey illegal orders
3: Congress won’t do its job
4: McConnell chickened out
5: Monroe Doctrine Redux
6: Wag the Dog, Epstein Files Variant
7: Marco Rubio
…
10: Oil
The US is now responsible for the governance of Venezuela. Toppling the regime of a smaller country is always the easy part. The hard part is what comes after. Neo-cons always expect a pro-US nirvana. It rarely works out. But I suppose the oil companies can seize some assets.
January 3, 2026 at 12:32 PM
apnews.com/live/trump-u...
I know it’s early days, but i hereby nominate the Associated Press headline
“Legal authority for US strike on Venezuela is unclear”
as frontrunner for the
“Understatement Of The Year (Media Category) Award”
#UnderstatementOfTheYearAwards
I know it’s early days, but i hereby nominate the Associated Press headline
“Legal authority for US strike on Venezuela is unclear”
as frontrunner for the
“Understatement Of The Year (Media Category) Award”
#UnderstatementOfTheYearAwards
Live updates: US strikes Venezuela and says its leader, Maduro, has been captured
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been captured by the United States and flown out of the country, according to an announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump.
apnews.com
January 3, 2026 at 12:22 PM
apnews.com/live/trump-u...
I know it’s early days, but i hereby nominate the Associated Press headline
“Legal authority for US strike on Venezuela is unclear”
as frontrunner for the
“Understatement Of The Year (Media Category) Award”
#UnderstatementOfTheYearAwards
I know it’s early days, but i hereby nominate the Associated Press headline
“Legal authority for US strike on Venezuela is unclear”
as frontrunner for the
“Understatement Of The Year (Media Category) Award”
#UnderstatementOfTheYearAwards
You may be too trusting.
I trust the American people will LOUDLY voice their opposition to this idiotic and plainly illegal venture and that we'll be demonstrating against it, and our cowboy president,, beginning today. This stuff cannot go without being widely condemned.
January 3, 2026 at 11:21 AM
You may be too trusting.
Reposted by Thinking in Public
Among the many reasons you don’t kidnap a foreign head of state at gunpoint even if you have the capability, is that it sparks consequences you can neither control nor anticipate.
January 3, 2026 at 11:17 AM
President Trump is about to experience the Pottery Barn Rule.
Remember that there is a legitimately elected president of Venezuela: Edmundo Gonzalez. He won the election in 2024.
January 3, 2026 at 11:15 AM
President Trump is about to experience the Pottery Barn Rule.
Bishop Barron’s claim that Catholic social teaching condemns socialism is immediately followed by an even more blatant distortion—that it “has embraced the market economy”.
The Bishop must be imagining his readers have not read Evangelii Gaudium—& hoping that Pope Leo does not read this tweet.
The Bishop must be imagining his readers have not read Evangelii Gaudium—& hoping that Pope Leo does not read this tweet.
The claim by the bishop of an obscure diocese in Minnesota that Catholic social teaching condemns socialism will come as a surprise to many Catholics in Europe
January 3, 2026 at 11:09 AM
Bishop Barron’s claim that Catholic social teaching condemns socialism is immediately followed by an even more blatant distortion—that it “has embraced the market economy”.
The Bishop must be imagining his readers have not read Evangelii Gaudium—& hoping that Pope Leo does not read this tweet.
The Bishop must be imagining his readers have not read Evangelii Gaudium—& hoping that Pope Leo does not read this tweet.
Trump is not naive.
His instinct is always to root for the overdog.
And he always follows his instincts.
His instinct is always to root for the overdog.
And he always follows his instincts.
The idea that Trump was naive about Putin is silly, because Trump is not making the decisions..
and nobody was naive when they wanted Ukraine to suffer.
and nobody was naive when they wanted Ukraine to suffer.
January 3, 2026 at 2:55 AM
Trump is not naive.
His instinct is always to root for the overdog.
And he always follows his instincts.
His instinct is always to root for the overdog.
And he always follows his instincts.
Here’s the conversation I imagine between his doctors:
Doc 1: “Didya notice the last time he took this test he couldn’t tell the difference between an elephant & a walrus?”
Doc 2: “Yeah. What’ll we do?”
Doc 3: “We have to make the animals less alike.”
Doc 1: “How about a cow & a flea?”
Doc 1: “Didya notice the last time he took this test he couldn’t tell the difference between an elephant & a walrus?”
Doc 2: “Yeah. What’ll we do?”
Doc 3: “We have to make the animals less alike.”
Doc 1: “How about a cow & a flea?”
"Several times a year, doctors ask me if I can tell the difference between a giraffe and a whale because they are so sure I am not in cognitive decline!"
He is so stupid he doesn't realize that the *only* reason he is asked to take this test (repeatedly) is that his doctors note cognitive decline.
He is so stupid he doesn't realize that the *only* reason he is asked to take this test (repeatedly) is that his doctors note cognitive decline.
January 3, 2026 at 2:39 AM
Here’s the conversation I imagine between his doctors:
Doc 1: “Didya notice the last time he took this test he couldn’t tell the difference between an elephant & a walrus?”
Doc 2: “Yeah. What’ll we do?”
Doc 3: “We have to make the animals less alike.”
Doc 1: “How about a cow & a flea?”
Doc 1: “Didya notice the last time he took this test he couldn’t tell the difference between an elephant & a walrus?”
Doc 2: “Yeah. What’ll we do?”
Doc 3: “We have to make the animals less alike.”
Doc 1: “How about a cow & a flea?”
January 3, 2026 at 1:29 AM
From Merck website:
The most common symptoms of gradual aspirin poisoning are:
- drowsiness
- subtle confusion
- hallucinations
Remind you of anyone?
(OK, everything except the “subtle” bit).
www.merckmanuals.com/home/injurie...
The most common symptoms of gradual aspirin poisoning are:
- drowsiness
- subtle confusion
- hallucinations
Remind you of anyone?
(OK, everything except the “subtle” bit).
www.merckmanuals.com/home/injurie...
January 2, 2026 at 4:39 AM
From Merck website:
The most common symptoms of gradual aspirin poisoning are:
- drowsiness
- subtle confusion
- hallucinations
Remind you of anyone?
(OK, everything except the “subtle” bit).
www.merckmanuals.com/home/injurie...
The most common symptoms of gradual aspirin poisoning are:
- drowsiness
- subtle confusion
- hallucinations
Remind you of anyone?
(OK, everything except the “subtle” bit).
www.merckmanuals.com/home/injurie...
Time for a discharge petition to raise the minimum wage, Dems.
Make the GIP vote against it. Run on it all year.
It’s one ox the plants that will hand you a majority.
Make the GIP vote against it. Run on it all year.
It’s one ox the plants that will hand you a majority.
January 2, 2026 at 4:19 AM
Time for a discharge petition to raise the minimum wage, Dems.
Make the GIP vote against it. Run on it all year.
It’s one ox the plants that will hand you a majority.
Make the GIP vote against it. Run on it all year.
It’s one ox the plants that will hand you a majority.
www.huffpost.com/entry/doj-ep...
If I was a White House aide, I’d be urging President Trump to sleep more at public events, not less.
Perhaps that’s why I’ve never been hired as a WH aide by this administration. (That, plus the fact that I’ve never applied.)
If I was a White House aide, I’d be urging President Trump to sleep more at public events, not less.
Perhaps that’s why I’ve never been hired as a WH aide by this administration. (That, plus the fact that I’ve never applied.)
W.H. Aides Urged Trump To Seem Less Unconscious At Public Events: WSJ
www.huffpost.com
January 1, 2026 at 7:58 PM
www.huffpost.com/entry/doj-ep...
If I was a White House aide, I’d be urging President Trump to sleep more at public events, not less.
Perhaps that’s why I’ve never been hired as a WH aide by this administration. (That, plus the fact that I’ve never applied.)
If I was a White House aide, I’d be urging President Trump to sleep more at public events, not less.
Perhaps that’s why I’ve never been hired as a WH aide by this administration. (That, plus the fact that I’ve never applied.)
As we start this new year, let us commit to supporting Iranians’ palpable desire to live without the weight of state oppression on them.
Iran is an original signatory to Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 3 reads: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Iran is an original signatory to Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 3 reads: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Big protests going in Iran, and the state is trying to put them down with force, already killing 3.
I don't know where this is going, and the Iranian government has survived big protests before. But whatever happens, it's admirably brave when people take on violently repressive regimes.
I don't know where this is going, and the Iranian government has survived big protests before. But whatever happens, it's admirably brave when people take on violently repressive regimes.
At least 3 reported killed during widening protests in Iran sparked by ailing economy
Protests over Iran's struggling economy have spread into rural areas, with at least three people killed.
apnews.com
January 1, 2026 at 7:51 PM
As we start this new year, let us commit to supporting Iranians’ palpable desire to live without the weight of state oppression on them.
Iran is an original signatory to Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 3 reads: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Iran is an original signatory to Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 3 reads: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.