Josh Manning
@joshmanning.bsky.social
Iraq War vet. Former intelligence community Russia then counterterrorism analyst. Now: middling flak.
MI —> MT —> WA. Warren-Occupy core. Social justice warrior.
Opinions, quirks mine.
Words: LA Times, Foreign Policy, Newsweek. Face: MSNBC, Al Jazeera
MI —> MT —> WA. Warren-Occupy core. Social justice warrior.
Opinions, quirks mine.
Words: LA Times, Foreign Policy, Newsweek. Face: MSNBC, Al Jazeera
Pinned
Josh Manning
@joshmanning.bsky.social
· Sep 15
Personnel from a U.S. warship boarded a Venezuelan tuna boat with nine fishermen while it was sailing in Venezuelan waters, Venezuela’s foreign minister said on Saturday, underlining strained relations with the United States.
https://to.pbs.org/46hft5R
https://to.pbs.org/46hft5R
Venezuela says U.S. warship raided a tuna boat as tensions rise in the Caribbean
Personnel from a U.S. warship boarded a Venezuelan tuna boat with nine fishermen while it was sailing in Venezuelan waters, Venezuela’s foreign minister said on Saturday, underlining strained relation...
www.pbs.org
So here is what I think is happening, because I had a front row seat to Mike Flynn doing this sort of thing at DIA … The agencies are collecting intelligence from bad sources or dictating what they want their sources to say so it ends up in raw reporting. They can then weaponize this intel.
Reposted by Josh Manning
January 4, 2026 at 10:14 PM
It only gets worse for them from here.
Frantic backpedaling from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to AP: the US *won’t* govern Venezuela, but will press changes through an oil blockade.
Already finding it harder than they imagined.
Already finding it harder than they imagined.
January 4, 2026 at 7:59 PM
It only gets worse for them from here.
They’ll be handing out turkeys like Nino Brown! Such selfless criminals!
January 4, 2026 at 6:28 PM
They’ll be handing out turkeys like Nino Brown! Such selfless criminals!
Reposted by Josh Manning
It would be so cool if the United States Congress still existed.
January 4, 2026 at 5:04 AM
It would be so cool if the United States Congress still existed.
![Screen shot from the show Andor. Someone says to Mon Mothma “They [meaning the Empire] don’t even bother to lie badly anymore.” Mon replies “I suppose that’s the final humiliation.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ny5w2k6brb2kdubxnevke6li/bafkreibrxbmhwrnkwo2ztnczubpnzpup3uf6dpyhs7mk2uxpeoeynhjo2q@jpeg)
Reposted by Josh Manning
Not wrong.
Colombian President Petro commenting on the US;
“A clan of pedophiles wants to destroy our democracy. To keep Epstein's list from coming out, they send warships to kill fishermen & threaten our neighbor with invasion for their oil."
“A clan of pedophiles wants to destroy our democracy. To keep Epstein's list from coming out, they send warships to kill fishermen & threaten our neighbor with invasion for their oil."
January 4, 2026 at 5:35 AM
Not wrong.
Reposted by Josh Manning
Hey, national Dems on this here b”site, I see a lot of you are having trouble describing objective reality. Here’s a freebie:
“Donald Trump is an adjudicated crook, rapist, and now a war criminal. We will stand against everything he tries to do, and will hold EVERYONE who enables him accountable.”
“Donald Trump is an adjudicated crook, rapist, and now a war criminal. We will stand against everything he tries to do, and will hold EVERYONE who enables him accountable.”
January 4, 2026 at 4:30 AM
Hey, national Dems on this here b”site, I see a lot of you are having trouble describing objective reality. Here’s a freebie:
“Donald Trump is an adjudicated crook, rapist, and now a war criminal. We will stand against everything he tries to do, and will hold EVERYONE who enables him accountable.”
“Donald Trump is an adjudicated crook, rapist, and now a war criminal. We will stand against everything he tries to do, and will hold EVERYONE who enables him accountable.”
Reposted by Josh Manning
"They use us to avoid addressing their own problems."
Colombian President Petro commenting on the US;
“A clan of pedophiles wants to destroy our democracy. To keep Epstein's list from coming out, they send warships to kill fishermen & threaten our neighbor with invasion for their oil."
“A clan of pedophiles wants to destroy our democracy. To keep Epstein's list from coming out, they send warships to kill fishermen & threaten our neighbor with invasion for their oil."
January 4, 2026 at 4:53 AM
"They use us to avoid addressing their own problems."
Reposted by Josh Manning
dumbest motherfucker in the game
I was wondering how this might all turn out to have been my fault
January 4, 2026 at 3:41 AM
dumbest motherfucker in the game
Reposted by Josh Manning
It’s been clear for many hours now that Trump isn’t and won’t be “running” Venezuela. But because he said it, the elite media headlines it anyway.
How long before Trump aides start walking this back?
Don’t print lies in the newspaper
January 4, 2026 at 3:34 AM
It’s been clear for many hours now that Trump isn’t and won’t be “running” Venezuela. But because he said it, the elite media headlines it anyway.
Little boys stuck in the late 1800s
January 4, 2026 at 3:36 AM
Little boys stuck in the late 1800s
Reposted by Josh Manning
Nothing about these guys is subtle, I’ll give them that
January 4, 2026 at 12:24 AM
Nothing about these guys is subtle, I’ll give them that
Reposted by Josh Manning
The WH is gloating that they own CBS now. And they do. CBS News is now a fully functioning extension of the Right's largest propaganda network in human history.
January 4, 2026 at 12:05 AM
The WH is gloating that they own CBS now. And they do. CBS News is now a fully functioning extension of the Right's largest propaganda network in human history.
Reposted by Josh Manning
Hey, a statement with actual substance.
January 4, 2026 at 1:03 AM
Hey, a statement with actual substance.
So our commander-in-chief has killed at least 150 Venezuelans, or other nationalities, in the last couple months for a conflict no one campaigned on or asked for, and that Congress has abdicated. And there is no end in sight.
At least 40 people were killed in the U.S. attack on Venezuela early Saturday, including military personnel and civilians, according to a senior Venezuelan official.
Venezuelan Official Says at Least 40 People Were Killed in U.S. Attack
The official said the dead included civilians and military personnel. At least one of the civilians was killed in a U.S. airstrike outside of Caracas, according to her family.
nyti.ms
January 4, 2026 at 12:48 AM
So our commander-in-chief has killed at least 150 Venezuelans, or other nationalities, in the last couple months for a conflict no one campaigned on or asked for, and that Congress has abdicated. And there is no end in sight.
Reposted by Josh Manning
Schumer still does not understand that those private conversations aren’t what GOP Senators really think. Their public support for Trump is what they really think. The private comments are performative, designed to lull Senate Democrats into complacency and inaction.
Schumer says Republican senators have "expressed a lot of troublesome comments about what Trump is doing and the way he is doing it" in conversations with Democratic senators today ...
January 3, 2026 at 10:52 PM
Schumer still does not understand that those private conversations aren’t what GOP Senators really think. Their public support for Trump is what they really think. The private comments are performative, designed to lull Senate Democrats into complacency and inaction.
Reposted by Josh Manning
There is no plan
"State Department did not immediately respond to questions about how the U.S. would run Venezuela, what authority it would use to administer it or whether it would involve any American personnel — either civilian or military — on the ground in Caracas or other areas of Venezuela."
"State Department did not immediately respond to questions about how the U.S. would run Venezuela, what authority it would use to administer it or whether it would involve any American personnel — either civilian or military — on the ground in Caracas or other areas of Venezuela."
January 4, 2026 at 12:14 AM
There is no plan
"State Department did not immediately respond to questions about how the U.S. would run Venezuela, what authority it would use to administer it or whether it would involve any American personnel — either civilian or military — on the ground in Caracas or other areas of Venezuela."
"State Department did not immediately respond to questions about how the U.S. would run Venezuela, what authority it would use to administer it or whether it would involve any American personnel — either civilian or military — on the ground in Caracas or other areas of Venezuela."
Reposted by Josh Manning
it's like Iraq, only stupider. in Iraq you had McKinsey people eating it, these guys are just thinking they are the blues brothers in the chase scene except they are plowing through elderly people on the cross walk before hitting a wall.
"My strong assumption is that they now seem to be totally winging it," writes @joshtpm.bsky.social about Trump's assertion that the U.S. will now "run" Venezuela.
First Thoughts on Trump’s Excellent Venezuela Adventure
Let me share a few thoughts about the U.S. action overnight in...
talkingpointsmemo.com
January 3, 2026 at 10:33 PM
it's like Iraq, only stupider. in Iraq you had McKinsey people eating it, these guys are just thinking they are the blues brothers in the chase scene except they are plowing through elderly people on the cross walk before hitting a wall.
Reposted by Josh Manning
I keep saying it but chopping down the Presidency’s unilateral powers needs to be the #1 priority of the next real Congress.
January 3, 2026 at 9:08 PM
I keep saying it but chopping down the Presidency’s unilateral powers needs to be the #1 priority of the next real Congress.
Reposted by Josh Manning
Once again.
No Blood For Oil vs. Exactly How Much Oil Are We Talking About?
Contrary to what he would have you believe, President Bush’s plans to invade Iraq have nothing to do with such high-minded goals as liberating the Iraqi people or saving the world from terrorism. His ...
theonion.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Once again.
Reposted by Josh Manning
Trump: hello?
YO WHAT THE FUCK MAN
YO WHAT THE FUCK MAN
NYT gonna NYT: "Both Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Maduro identify as socialists, though they have no relationship.” — would be funny if they did this every time you write about two capitalists.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/w...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/w...
Mamdani Called Trump to Criticize Venezuela Strikes
www.nytimes.com
January 3, 2026 at 10:01 PM
Trump: hello?
YO WHAT THE FUCK MAN
YO WHAT THE FUCK MAN
So he just called Susan Collins?
Press call with Chuck Schumer says he has been talking with his caucus "I've been talking to so many members of my caucus today. Everybody is very, very just totally, totally, totally troubled."
January 3, 2026 at 10:13 PM
So he just called Susan Collins?
What Founding Fathers?
January 3, 2026 at 10:12 PM
What Founding Fathers?
Why is there a rewards system for people who gamble on world chaos? (Rhetorical question.)
“What appears to be a newly created account appeared to invest $30,000 Friday in Maduro's exit. After Maduro went into custody Saturday morning, that same investor netted $436,759.61.”
Someone made $400K by predicting Maduro's capture. Here's what happened
The winnings come as the rules governing prediction markets are still evolving.
www.axios.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:06 PM
Why is there a rewards system for people who gamble on world chaos? (Rhetorical question.)
Reposted by Josh Manning
just like Gaza
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 7:55 PM
just like Gaza