Bruce Wilson
@brucewilson.bsky.social
Studying, writing on, & warning about the Christian Supremacist right since 2004. Before that, in late 90s I warned of global warming. Now, I'm hunkering down to weather the storm, & raising giant isopods in my basement, for fun and profit.
More or less what i wrote this AM:
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
Unlike Putin, Trump fails to realize that being an evil villain and global scourge requires *planning*. The utter lack of it really suggests Trump ordered the kidnapping of Maduro for purely surface reasons, such as for an EZ and cheap "win" comparable to Obama's assassination of Bin Laden, but...
Trump just said "all" of Venezuela's oil must be made accessible to US oil companies. Trump wants to emulate Putin's model: Authoritarian, expansionist rulers carving up their regions and distributing the spoils of conquest to friendly oligarchs. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2049...
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2049...
January 6, 2026 at 9:56 PM
More or less what i wrote this AM:
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
Trump & DOGE fired most of the experienced foreign policy experts who would have warned them about the possible pitfalls and drawbacks of the Venezuela gambit.
January 6, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Trump & DOGE fired most of the experienced foreign policy experts who would have warned them about the possible pitfalls and drawbacks of the Venezuela gambit.
Finest filtered water, from a Superfund site.
January 6, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Finest filtered water, from a Superfund site.
Send a strongly-worded letter.
January 6, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Send a strongly-worded letter.
I'm guessing this is a bean-counter's trick, that crude previously left out of the equation b/c mining & refining it would lose $ was moved from the "trash oil" side of the equation over to the "oil that'll make a $ profit" side.
January 6, 2026 at 1:44 PM
I'm guessing this is a bean-counter's trick, that crude previously left out of the equation b/c mining & refining it would lose $ was moved from the "trash oil" side of the equation over to the "oil that'll make a $ profit" side.
The 1st Gulf War, under George Bush senior, was a well-oiled plan. George W. Bush's invasion & occupation of Iraq was half-assed at best. And this latest escapade is no-assed.
January 6, 2026 at 1:30 PM
The 1st Gulf War, under George Bush senior, was a well-oiled plan. George W. Bush's invasion & occupation of Iraq was half-assed at best. And this latest escapade is no-assed.
..or maybe his pride will demand he sends in the Marines, for a nasty Iraq or Afghanistan 2.0. We'll see. But this clearly is not the implementation of some dark, well-oiled plan.
January 6, 2026 at 1:24 PM
..or maybe his pride will demand he sends in the Marines, for a nasty Iraq or Afghanistan 2.0. We'll see. But this clearly is not the implementation of some dark, well-oiled plan.
..painfully aware he just pardoned a drug kingpin who smuggled into the U.S. *hundreds of tons* of cocaine. It's possible Trump still has the residual wits to recognize that the (*alleged*) deal with Putin (Russia gets Ukraine, U.S. gets Venezuela) was an idiot's bargain, & tries to cut his losses..
January 6, 2026 at 1:22 PM
..painfully aware he just pardoned a drug kingpin who smuggled into the U.S. *hundreds of tons* of cocaine. It's possible Trump still has the residual wits to recognize that the (*alleged*) deal with Putin (Russia gets Ukraine, U.S. gets Venezuela) was an idiot's bargain, & tries to cut his losses..
..re-imposition of late 19th or early 20th Century American colonialism, but the reality is that Trump has just bought a shit sandwich. What he mainly has now is the prospect of staging a ridiculous show trial of Maduro for drug smuggling & machine gun possession (?!?!) while everybody is...
January 6, 2026 at 1:17 PM
..re-imposition of late 19th or early 20th Century American colonialism, but the reality is that Trump has just bought a shit sandwich. What he mainly has now is the prospect of staging a ridiculous show trial of Maduro for drug smuggling & machine gun possession (?!?!) while everybody is...
..and force them to accept in the U.S. oil companies, who will rebuild the oil infrastructure, then make LOADS of profit!" but he hadn't cleared this with the oil companies themselves. No doubt, Trump's people are now scurrying around in a frenzy to salvage some some semblance of control and...
January 6, 2026 at 1:12 PM
..and force them to accept in the U.S. oil companies, who will rebuild the oil infrastructure, then make LOADS of profit!" but he hadn't cleared this with the oil companies themselves. No doubt, Trump's people are now scurrying around in a frenzy to salvage some some semblance of control and...
...the clear idiocy of lots of boots on the ground (that would have provoked insurgency) but Trump nonetheless suggested, with his demented blather, that the U.S. somehow controlled Venezuela regardless of the fact that the Maduro government was still in place. His fallback was, "we'll twist arms..
January 6, 2026 at 1:09 PM
...the clear idiocy of lots of boots on the ground (that would have provoked insurgency) but Trump nonetheless suggested, with his demented blather, that the U.S. somehow controlled Venezuela regardless of the fact that the Maduro government was still in place. His fallback was, "we'll twist arms..
..on the U.S. foreign policy establishment, just that most of the experienced personnel who might have advised on actually implementing the plan had been fired. Trump & DOGE decapitated the brains. So, nobody was around to advise on the obvious, idiotic pitfalls. The Pentagon seems to have avoided..
January 6, 2026 at 1:05 PM
..on the U.S. foreign policy establishment, just that most of the experienced personnel who might have advised on actually implementing the plan had been fired. Trump & DOGE decapitated the brains. So, nobody was around to advise on the obvious, idiotic pitfalls. The Pentagon seems to have avoided..
...distributing weapons to his supporters. So the prospects of an extended insurgency look nightmarish. All of this doesn't mean that Trump's people didn't find a brief on the "Venezuela Plan" that they salvaged from the destruction & carnage that Elon Musk's criminal vandals inflicted...
January 6, 2026 at 12:59 PM
...distributing weapons to his supporters. So the prospects of an extended insurgency look nightmarish. All of this doesn't mean that Trump's people didn't find a brief on the "Venezuela Plan" that they salvaged from the destruction & carnage that Elon Musk's criminal vandals inflicted...
...Venezuela's oil that might have included conversations w/oil companies prior to announcing their willing participation. Not to mention the slight problem that Venezuela is 1 and 1/2 the size of Texas & has mountainous & rainforest terrain great for an insurgency, & early in 2025 Maduro began...
January 6, 2026 at 12:54 PM
...Venezuela's oil that might have included conversations w/oil companies prior to announcing their willing participation. Not to mention the slight problem that Venezuela is 1 and 1/2 the size of Texas & has mountainous & rainforest terrain great for an insurgency, & early in 2025 Maduro began...
...for the 100 or so Venezuelans murdered in the process. But hey, y'know, making an omelette and all that... In any case, the U.S. military got the job done, as commanded. Now, if this had been the implementation of a years'-old plan, we'd have to assume some sort of rational plan for...
January 6, 2026 at 12:51 PM
...for the 100 or so Venezuelans murdered in the process. But hey, y'know, making an omelette and all that... In any case, the U.S. military got the job done, as commanded. Now, if this had been the implementation of a years'-old plan, we'd have to assume some sort of rational plan for...
..implementation of a long-planned, grand scheme have to square that w/the apparent ridiculous & idiotic lack of planning. The *only* competent part of it seems to have been the Pentagon's seizure of Maduro. Trump, via Hegseth, ordered, "grab Maduro". And it was done quickly & neatly, except...
January 6, 2026 at 12:47 PM
..implementation of a long-planned, grand scheme have to square that w/the apparent ridiculous & idiotic lack of planning. The *only* competent part of it seems to have been the Pentagon's seizure of Maduro. Trump, via Hegseth, ordered, "grab Maduro". And it was done quickly & neatly, except...
..Trump grabbed Maduro & immediately started spouting off on how the U.S. had seized Venezuela's oil (which he claims was stolen from the U.S. [?1]) & so the oil companies were gonna go in & build up capacity. But the oil companies were like... NOPE.
People claiming this all was just...
People claiming this all was just...
January 6, 2026 at 12:44 PM
..Trump grabbed Maduro & immediately started spouting off on how the U.S. had seized Venezuela's oil (which he claims was stolen from the U.S. [?1]) & so the oil companies were gonna go in & build up capacity. But the oil companies were like... NOPE.
People claiming this all was just...
People claiming this all was just...
..even if that's true, it doesn't seem to have been conversations on how the oil companies might get involved in building up Venezuela's oil production capacity. Because if there had been, they would have told Trump's people that Venezuela's crude sucks (slim profit margins.) So...
January 6, 2026 at 12:40 PM
..even if that's true, it doesn't seem to have been conversations on how the oil companies might get involved in building up Venezuela's oil production capacity. Because if there had been, they would have told Trump's people that Venezuela's crude sucks (slim profit margins.) So...
Venezuela's oil & Saudi Arabia's oil (2nd biggest proven global oil reserves) are *very* different kinds of oil. Saudi Arabia's oil makes oilmen's eyes light up with $$$$$$ signs. Venezuela's oil, well, um...
Trump says his administration informed the oil companies about kidnapping Maduro, but...
Trump says his administration informed the oil companies about kidnapping Maduro, but...
January 6, 2026 at 12:36 PM
Venezuela's oil & Saudi Arabia's oil (2nd biggest proven global oil reserves) are *very* different kinds of oil. Saudi Arabia's oil makes oilmen's eyes light up with $$$$$$ signs. Venezuela's oil, well, um...
Trump says his administration informed the oil companies about kidnapping Maduro, but...
Trump says his administration informed the oil companies about kidnapping Maduro, but...