Brad Reed
@bwreed.bsky.social
Currently a staff writer at CommonDreams.org.
Pinned
Brad Reed
@bwreed.bsky.social
· 14d
They’re trying to establish a hereditary nobility. The founders themselves made issuing titles of nobility illegal.
We should mock these fools, who think a tiny drop of founders’ blood makes them better than other people.
We should mock these fools, who think a tiny drop of founders’ blood makes them better than other people.
If immigrating from England makes you a "heritage American" then I guess I'm one too.
Yo I'm a 'Heritage American' with relatives on the Mayflower and I say fuck these clowns. Every day I am thankful for immigrants coming here so I don't have to live in a nation populated solely by these fucking losers.
*Me reading '100 Years of Solitude'*
'I like this, but it's a little tiresome seeing people make the same mistakes over and over again for 500 pages. Is this realistic.'
*Me looking at the US engaging in yet another poorly planned regime change war*
'Aaaaaaaah I think I see now.'
'I like this, but it's a little tiresome seeing people make the same mistakes over and over again for 500 pages. Is this realistic.'
*Me looking at the US engaging in yet another poorly planned regime change war*
'Aaaaaaaah I think I see now.'
January 3, 2026 at 11:51 PM
*Me reading '100 Years of Solitude'*
'I like this, but it's a little tiresome seeing people make the same mistakes over and over again for 500 pages. Is this realistic.'
*Me looking at the US engaging in yet another poorly planned regime change war*
'Aaaaaaaah I think I see now.'
'I like this, but it's a little tiresome seeing people make the same mistakes over and over again for 500 pages. Is this realistic.'
*Me looking at the US engaging in yet another poorly planned regime change war*
'Aaaaaaaah I think I see now.'
Reposted by Brad Reed
Chilly night in Chicago, but protesters have shown up to confront Trump’s illegal war.
January 3, 2026 at 11:21 PM
Chilly night in Chicago, but protesters have shown up to confront Trump’s illegal war.
I never thought much of Alex Jones but I used to think he was sincerely nuts. Now he's out here doing regime change propaganda for the NWO.
January 3, 2026 at 11:03 PM
I never thought much of Alex Jones but I used to think he was sincerely nuts. Now he's out here doing regime change propaganda for the NWO.
Latin America is used to the US doing evil things, but less used to us doing flat-out insane things. This action today was flat-out insane.
The most disturbing presidential press conference I have ever seen.
fallows.substack.com/p/blind-into...
(First 3/4ths before paywall.)
fallows.substack.com/p/blind-into...
(First 3/4ths before paywall.)
‘Blind Into Caracas’
Less than 24 hours in, members of the Trump team are celebrating victory. None of them seem to have wondered what happens a day, a month, a decade from now.
fallows.substack.com
January 3, 2026 at 10:40 PM
Latin America is used to the US doing evil things, but less used to us doing flat-out insane things. This action today was flat-out insane.
Yep like I said -- we're transitional from an Augustus Cesar model to a Genghis Khan model. The rest of the world will figure it out at some point and act accordingly.
Trump didn't start the attack on int'l order, but he dealt mortal blows. Not dominos falling but smashing the domino table. With the US not just unwilling but unable to underwrite any order, it's Trumpian anarchy. 6/
@sdhyde.bsky.social @iojournal.bsky.social
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
@sdhyde.bsky.social @iojournal.bsky.social
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The Unconstrained Future of World Order: The Assault on Democratic Constraint and Implications for US Global Leadership | International Organization | Cambridge Core
The Unconstrained Future of World Order: The Assault on Democratic Constraint and Implications for US Global Leadership - Volume 79 Issue S1
www.cambridge.org
January 3, 2026 at 9:36 PM
Yep like I said -- we're transitional from an Augustus Cesar model to a Genghis Khan model. The rest of the world will figure it out at some point and act accordingly.
Smart empires are not run this way FWIW. Trump is turning America from an empire along the lines of the Roman Empire and turning it into a Genghis Khan-style horde of plunderers.
The world quickly tires of such regimes and finds a way to eliminate them.
The world quickly tires of such regimes and finds a way to eliminate them.
The kidnapping of Maduro inaugurates a highly dangerous era of U.S. empire that for perhaps the first time in an era of mass media is not pretending to be anything other than a violent, extractive enterprise of domination.
A Criminal Empire
The United States launches a conquest and occupation of Venezuela to extract its oil wealth. The neocon dream is the America First dream
www.forever-wars.com
January 3, 2026 at 9:25 PM
Smart empires are not run this way FWIW. Trump is turning America from an empire along the lines of the Roman Empire and turning it into a Genghis Khan-style horde of plunderers.
The world quickly tires of such regimes and finds a way to eliminate them.
The world quickly tires of such regimes and finds a way to eliminate them.
Give Marco Rubio credit. Years of humiliation have finally paid off for him. It's evil but I admire the strategic patience.
I don’t think it’s inaccurate to describe the last decade of politics as “Trump took over the GOP” but the Venezuela gets at something important about the dynamic: the old players are still there, they just have to find stupid, convoluted ways to push their priorities
January 3, 2026 at 8:48 PM
Give Marco Rubio credit. Years of humiliation have finally paid off for him. It's evil but I admire the strategic patience.
I am highly skeptical of 'humanitarian interventions' even when advocated by people whom I can plausibly believe have good intentions.
But if you think any intervention by Donald Fucking Trump will result in anything but robbery and plunder, then fuck off.
But if you think any intervention by Donald Fucking Trump will result in anything but robbery and plunder, then fuck off.
Blows my mind that some of the same journalists who see Trump as a want-to-be dictator at home are earnestly discussing the "challenges" for this same man to "bring democracy" to a country it just illegal invaded. Please grow up.
January 3, 2026 at 8:42 PM
I am highly skeptical of 'humanitarian interventions' even when advocated by people whom I can plausibly believe have good intentions.
But if you think any intervention by Donald Fucking Trump will result in anything but robbery and plunder, then fuck off.
But if you think any intervention by Donald Fucking Trump will result in anything but robbery and plunder, then fuck off.
The primary challenge can't come soon enough, @aoc.bsky.social
Asked about the possibility of impeachment, Schumer says "we hope that we can have support from our Republican colleagues to put a brake on this long before it gets that far"
January 3, 2026 at 8:37 PM
The primary challenge can't come soon enough, @aoc.bsky.social
You know... That doesn't sound bad at all.
I beg Americans to imagine an EU strike force -- stop laughing! -- abducts Trump only, and the next day Brussels is talking about how JD Vance will have to comply and an A350 full of CEOs from windmill, non-GMO cheese, and metric ruler firms is headed for Manhattan to discuss terms
And there ya have it…
Officials from top Wall Street firms will be traveling to Venezuela to investigate “investment prospects” of the country. “The trip will feature about 20 officials from the finance, energy and defense sectors.”
Officials from top Wall Street firms will be traveling to Venezuela to investigate “investment prospects” of the country. “The trip will feature about 20 officials from the finance, energy and defense sectors.”
January 3, 2026 at 8:28 PM
You know... That doesn't sound bad at all.
Like I say: Brasil, Mexico and Colombia need to start talking about developing a joint nuclear weapons program together. I wish I weren't being serious.
Hours after the U.S. invaded Venezuela to seize President Nicolás Maduro, President Trump sent a warning to the governments of Mexico, Cuba and Colombia that their countries could be next.
www.axios.com/2026/01/03/t...
www.axios.com/2026/01/03/t...
Trump signals more Latin American invasions could be next after capturing Maduro
"Something's going to have to be done with Mexico," Trump told Fox and Friends.
www.axios.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Like I say: Brasil, Mexico and Colombia need to start talking about developing a joint nuclear weapons program together. I wish I weren't being serious.
The fatal flaw in American foreign policy is not understanding that other nations also have a sense of national pride and have no wish to be US vassal states.
VP Delcy Rodriguez, whom Trump indicated earlier today was collaborating with the US government, is live on television right now.
Earlier reports that she's in Russia are false. She's in Caracas with the rest of the cabinet.
Rodriguez: "We will never again be a colony for any empire"
Earlier reports that she's in Russia are false. She's in Caracas with the rest of the cabinet.
Rodriguez: "We will never again be a colony for any empire"
January 3, 2026 at 7:55 PM
The fatal flaw in American foreign policy is not understanding that other nations also have a sense of national pride and have no wish to be US vassal states.
I remember when the Bushies sent a bunch of fucking dweebs from the Heritage Foundation to set up an Iraqi stock market. The looting is going to be far worse this time.
And there ya have it…
Officials from top Wall Street firms will be traveling to Venezuela to investigate “investment prospects” of the country. “The trip will feature about 20 officials from the finance, energy and defense sectors.”
Officials from top Wall Street firms will be traveling to Venezuela to investigate “investment prospects” of the country. “The trip will feature about 20 officials from the finance, energy and defense sectors.”
Finance Industry Eyes Investment Opportunities in Venezuela
Some on Wall Street are already considering possible investment opportunities in Venezuela following the capture of Nicolás Maduro, according to Charles Myers, chairman of consulting firm Signum Globa...
www.wsj.com
January 3, 2026 at 7:45 PM
I remember when the Bushies sent a bunch of fucking dweebs from the Heritage Foundation to set up an Iraqi stock market. The looting is going to be far worse this time.
Send Big Balls to occupy Venezuela.
January 3, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Send Big Balls to occupy Venezuela.
Reposted by Brad Reed
Illegal, Immoral, Dangerous: No One Voted for Trump's Attack on Venezuela | So much for his being a peace president, or focusing on improving economic and social conditions for Americans.
Illegal, Immoral, Dangerous: No One Voted for Trump's Attack on Venezuela
So much for his being a peace president, or focusing on improving economic and social conditions for Americans.
www.commondreams.org
January 3, 2026 at 6:52 PM
Illegal, Immoral, Dangerous: No One Voted for Trump's Attack on Venezuela | So much for his being a peace president, or focusing on improving economic and social conditions for Americans.
Reposted by Brad Reed
Spineless fear of the ghost of “objectively pro-Saddam” looms over the Democratic responses to this (a phrase for which the vapid totalitarian soul of Andrew Sullivan, apology or no, should burn in Hell forever).
/1
/1
January 3, 2026 at 6:51 PM
Spineless fear of the ghost of “objectively pro-Saddam” looms over the Democratic responses to this (a phrase for which the vapid totalitarian soul of Andrew Sullivan, apology or no, should burn in Hell forever).
/1
/1
Trump literally said we'd be rebuilding their oil infrastructure. If that isn't nation building what is.
GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks: "We don't want to have troops on the ground. Iowans don't want that, Americans don't want that. We do not want nation building. This is not what's going to occur."
January 3, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Trump literally said we'd be rebuilding their oil infrastructure. If that isn't nation building what is.
Credit where due: Some centrist Dems are reacting correctly. Not all are Hakeem Jeffriesing.
Rep. Seth Moulton: "This is insane. What the hell are we doing? ... this is illegal."
January 3, 2026 at 6:12 PM
Credit where due: Some centrist Dems are reacting correctly. Not all are Hakeem Jeffriesing.
If I were Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, I'd be talking about a team up to covertly start a joint nuclear weapons program.
I wish I were joking.
I wish I were joking.
January 3, 2026 at 6:03 PM
If I were Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, I'd be talking about a team up to covertly start a joint nuclear weapons program.
I wish I were joking.
I wish I were joking.
Reposted by Brad Reed
Just woke up even angrier. Impeach, convict, remove. Draft articles now. Either we have a representative government or we don’t. Do not shut up about this until there’s a vote.
January 3, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Just woke up even angrier. Impeach, convict, remove. Draft articles now. Either we have a representative government or we don’t. Do not shut up about this until there’s a vote.
Reposted by Brad Reed
Former Politico reporter Rachael Bade is the poster child for the DC media disconnect. Grinning with a mimosa in her avatar while treating politics like a game.
January 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Former Politico reporter Rachael Bade is the poster child for the DC media disconnect. Grinning with a mimosa in her avatar while treating politics like a game.
Impeach, convict, prosecute.
Donald Trump authorized a military attack on a foreign country, kidnapped the head of state, and claimed that he and his cronies now have the right to run that country as they see fit.
All in less than 24 hours.
All without congressional authorization.
All illegally and unconstitutionally.
All in less than 24 hours.
All without congressional authorization.
All illegally and unconstitutionally.
Reporter: Who would run Venezuela?
Trump: It is largely going to be the people standing right behind me. We are going to be running it
Trump: It is largely going to be the people standing right behind me. We are going to be running it
January 3, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Impeach, convict, prosecute.
These guys are the useful idiots of MAGA imperialism.
I saw a Venezuela opposition politician on BBC say that Venezuela was not like countries in the Middle East and therefore the U.S. will likely not consider occupying the country because it shares a culture and a religion because it's a "Western Christian nation" just like the U.S....
January 3, 2026 at 5:24 PM
These guys are the useful idiots of MAGA imperialism.
Good statement. Now draw up articles of impeachment
Trump illegally started a war so his billionaire cronies could access Venezuela’s oil.
Now he's sending even more of our taxpayer dollars + men and women in uniform to “run the country”?!?
I ran for Congress to make sure we learned the lessons of Iraq. Trump is repeating them.
Now he's sending even more of our taxpayer dollars + men and women in uniform to “run the country”?!?
I ran for Congress to make sure we learned the lessons of Iraq. Trump is repeating them.
Trump: "We're there now, but we're going to stay until such time as the pop -- proper transition can take place. So we're gonna stay until such time as -- we're gonna run it essentially."
January 3, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Good statement. Now draw up articles of impeachment