Fred, 55e Division d'Infanterie disrespecter
@thefred.bsky.social
Pinned
Gleichschaltung, coming to an institution near you. Faster than you can learn to spell "Gleichschaltung."
I'm sorry if you genuinely believed the brutal, corrupt dictator who loves every brutal, corrupt dictator on the planet was going to overthrow a brutal, corrupt, dictatorial regime.
January 4, 2026 at 1:38 AM
I'm sorry if you genuinely believed the brutal, corrupt dictator who loves every brutal, corrupt dictator on the planet was going to overthrow a brutal, corrupt, dictatorial regime.
How can there be a "transition" when the regime hasn't been removed?
January 4, 2026 at 12:55 AM
How can there be a "transition" when the regime hasn't been removed?
The position of the United States is that Westphalian states no longer exist.
January 3, 2026 at 11:29 PM
The position of the United States is that Westphalian states no longer exist.
The Noriega sovereign immunity case is easily distinguishable from the Maduro case. Noriega was not a de jure head of state. Maduro is. Half the heads of state in the world are not legitimate if Maduro is not. Nor is anyone Trump dislikes.
Not that I expect our courts to try.
Not that I expect our courts to try.
January 3, 2026 at 11:27 PM
The Noriega sovereign immunity case is easily distinguishable from the Maduro case. Noriega was not a de jure head of state. Maduro is. Half the heads of state in the world are not legitimate if Maduro is not. Nor is anyone Trump dislikes.
Not that I expect our courts to try.
Not that I expect our courts to try.
I bet those euros wish they had doubled defense spending nine years ago.
January 3, 2026 at 11:13 PM
I bet those euros wish they had doubled defense spending nine years ago.
It's actually not technically about the oil. It is about illegally plundering the oil by force.
January 3, 2026 at 10:35 PM
It's actually not technically about the oil. It is about illegally plundering the oil by force.
Are we sure Trump doesn't think Maduro is Saddam?
January 3, 2026 at 10:32 PM
Are we sure Trump doesn't think Maduro is Saddam?
What's the plan if this prosecution get dismissed for being a complete joke?
Let me remind everyone that this Maduro indictment was cooked up by the people who had spent a year claiming Juan Guaidó was the real president of Venezuela in a desperate attempt to force Maduro out. It was a show indictment never intended to be tested in court.
www.justice.gov/archives/opa...
www.justice.gov/archives/opa...
www.justice.gov
January 3, 2026 at 8:56 PM
What's the plan if this prosecution get dismissed for being a complete joke?
The only statement that hasn't yet been disproven is that Maduro is in custody, and if he does not appear in court on Monday, I am going to doubt that, too.
January 3, 2026 at 8:09 PM
The only statement that hasn't yet been disproven is that Maduro is in custody, and if he does not appear in court on Monday, I am going to doubt that, too.
I'd guess Rodriguez may have been fine with selling out Maduro but not with becoming the Venezuela Free State.
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 7:47 PM
I'd guess Rodriguez may have been fine with selling out Maduro but not with becoming the Venezuela Free State.
Note they could not get a picture of him awake.
Trump is posting a bunch of photos without captions, presumably of him watching the Maduro kidnapping.
Is this the inside of a SCIF at Mar-a-Lago or did they just toss up some pipe and drape?
Is this the inside of a SCIF at Mar-a-Lago or did they just toss up some pipe and drape?
January 3, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Note they could not get a picture of him awake.
And yet Jeffries couldn't wait an hour for this to turn into an obvious disaster before glazing Trump for it.
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 6:39 PM
And yet Jeffries couldn't wait an hour for this to turn into an obvious disaster before glazing Trump for it.
Taiwan is getting invaded this year.
January 3, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Taiwan is getting invaded this year.
Reposted by Fred, 55e Division d'Infanterie disrespecter
He's mad she won the Nobel Peace Prize and he didn't. That's it. That's what it's all about. Best part is she idiotically and sycophantically dedicated her prize to him and he still won't back her and prefers to publicly denigrate on a day like today.
Trump on María Corina Machado: "I think it'd be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn't have the support or the respect within the country. She's a very nice woman but she doesn't have the respect."
January 3, 2026 at 6:07 PM
He's mad she won the Nobel Peace Prize and he didn't. That's it. That's what it's all about. Best part is she idiotically and sycophantically dedicated her prize to him and he still won't back her and prefers to publicly denigrate on a day like today.
What's going to happen if anything happens is that an even worse regime with Rodriguez as the figurehead and Cabello or Padrino running things will get sanctions lifted so that US oil majors can be forced to lose a ton of money and Maduro goes to Dubai.
•Venezuela’s VP is still giving press conferences
•very unclear how much of the other leadership is hanging around
•not clear at all if there are US troops on the ground (which would, you know, constitute the occupation part)
•very unclear how much of the other leadership is hanging around
•not clear at all if there are US troops on the ground (which would, you know, constitute the occupation part)
January 3, 2026 at 5:23 PM
What's going to happen if anything happens is that an even worse regime with Rodriguez as the figurehead and Cabello or Padrino running things will get sanctions lifted so that US oil majors can be forced to lose a ton of money and Maduro goes to Dubai.
The Panamanian National Assembly, under Noriega's direction, famously and stupidly declared war on the United States, providing a legal pretext for a US invasion, even though everyone knew it wasn't a real threat.
January 3, 2026 at 4:39 PM
The Panamanian National Assembly, under Noriega's direction, famously and stupidly declared war on the United States, providing a legal pretext for a US invasion, even though everyone knew it wasn't a real threat.
Congratulations to the latest presidential pardon recipient, Nicolás Maduro Maro.
January 3, 2026 at 1:55 PM
Congratulations to the latest presidential pardon recipient, Nicolás Maduro Maro.
I would never say that HUR should assassinate Marco Rubio, but I would say that if they did, Trump would be impressed.
January 3, 2026 at 12:47 AM
I would never say that HUR should assassinate Marco Rubio, but I would say that if they did, Trump would be impressed.
There are ways to turn CBS News into an effective propaganda outlet, but they all involve never seeing or hearing from Bari Weiss.
January 3, 2026 at 12:40 AM
There are ways to turn CBS News into an effective propaganda outlet, but they all involve never seeing or hearing from Bari Weiss.
Bari Weiss is the dumbest person in the room but thinks she's the smartest person in the room.
January 3, 2026 at 12:29 AM
Bari Weiss is the dumbest person in the room but thinks she's the smartest person in the room.
They said if I voted for Kamala Harris, the bookstores would have giant gay hockey romance novel displays at the first table in the foyer. And they were right!
January 3, 2026 at 12:27 AM
They said if I voted for Kamala Harris, the bookstores would have giant gay hockey romance novel displays at the first table in the foyer. And they were right!
Only in America can "courtesan to billionaires with no discernible talent or ability" be a career choice.
January 2, 2026 at 9:43 PM
Only in America can "courtesan to billionaires with no discernible talent or ability" be a career choice.
how do i find a contemporary novel that is not "a generational journey through love, life, and loss"?
January 2, 2026 at 9:26 PM
how do i find a contemporary novel that is not "a generational journey through love, life, and loss"?
We are who we choose to be.
The split-screen here is unbelievable - first from yesterday, the others from 2017. Musk’s Twitter has truly driven us mad. People absorb far more of their beliefs from their social environment than they realize, and we’ve created an environment where being a gutter bigot is the baseline expectation
January 2, 2026 at 8:25 PM
We are who we choose to be.
I think there's a tendency in the US, and perhaps in the UK, too, to understate how powerful the UK was and how unrealistic it was for Germany to defeat even Britain alone. The UK was much richer and more scientifically productive than Germany, and was outproducing Germany in material until 1943.
I actually would disagree with this take - though he might not have known it, Hitler has essentially set the conditions to make eventual defeat and regime extinction very likely (and so his great power position very poor) by November 1940 at the latest, even with the success of Fall Gelb/Rot.
From a great power diplomacy perspective, Hitler had a good run until the twin idiocies of invading the Soviet Union and declaring on the US.
His luck might have run out with the invasion of Poland if the invasion of France hadn’t worked. However, he did have a de facto alliance with the Reds.
His luck might have run out with the invasion of Poland if the invasion of France hadn’t worked. However, he did have a de facto alliance with the Reds.
January 2, 2026 at 7:08 PM
I think there's a tendency in the US, and perhaps in the UK, too, to understate how powerful the UK was and how unrealistic it was for Germany to defeat even Britain alone. The UK was much richer and more scientifically productive than Germany, and was outproducing Germany in material until 1943.