Maduro Arrest Is 'America First' - Until We Start Painting George Floyd Murals

Ann Coulter; Substack  

Send all the Venezuelans who’ve fled to our country home. Every single bad thing that happens in the rest of the world has GOT to stop ending with us having to take in millions of third worlders — the very third worlders who caused the problem in the first place.

Thoughts on the military seizing Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife.

1. It’s about time. Maduro and his fellow cartel members top government officials have been indicted over and over and over again in the U.S. for drug trafficking. As I wrote recently, it’s pretty clear by now, we’re not going to indict our way out of this.

From Innocent Venezuelan Fishermen: ‘Hands Up! Don’t Shoot!’

"The entire government of Venezuela is a drug cartel. Their No. 1 export is cocaine. Their No. 2 export is cocaine boats. The national coat of arms is a coke spoon and two straws.

"Under President Barack Obama, U.S. attorneys in Miami and New York indicted some of that country’s top military and law enforcement officials, accusing them of working with Colombian drug kingpins to move drugs through Venezuela to the United States.

"Nothing changed. Venezuela continued working with the Colombian cartels, and virtually the same indictments were handed up during the first Trump administration, charging government officials with enriching themselves by flooding “the United States with cocaine and inflict[ing] the drug’s harmful and addictive effects on users in this country.”

2. Unlike, say, for example, off the top of my head, Iran, which poses exactly zero threat to any American, the drug cartel known as “the Maduro regime” is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of young Americans and will continue to kill them, unless we crush it.

3. Drop the horseshit about making Venezuela great again Other than Uruguay (88% White European), no Latin American country has ever achieved long-lasting peace. The rest are cauldrons of revolution, civil war, coups, military dictatorships etc. They did this to themselves. It’s what they like.. . . More...

Venezuelans celebrate -- and Trump-hating Democrats make fools of themselves  "As Venezuelans in their millions dance in the streets worldwide, Democrats have been left holding the bag on quite a few stupid statements, seemingly siding with dictator Nicolas Maduro amidst calls to let him continue as dictator of Venezuela.

"Kilmar Abrego champion Sen. Chris van Hollen was one of the first to step into the trap full of his own goo:Trump and his cronies can try to dress this up, but it is an illegal act of war to replace Maduro and grab Venezuela's oil for his billionaire buddies.

Shockwaves as US captures Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro

Venezuelans Rejoice! Celebrations Around the World After US Captures Maduro

 “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Swalwell to ICE agents: If you're going to wear a mask and not identify yourself, I'll take your driver's license away (Updated)

How is California so rich in nincompoopery?

 Real Clear Politics

Toon added by TD

UPDATED: Swalwell Pledges to Arrest ICE Agents and Take Away Their Driver’s Licenses – JONATHAN TURLEY  . . . "Democrats appear to be morphing into predecessors like Gov. George Wallace (D., Ala.), pledging to defy federal authority and bar federal agents from their states. Wallace also reportedly threatened to arrest federal officers (and then later backed down when he was threatened with court action).

"In an “age of rage,” the most irate and irrational reigns supreme.

"From demanding that any Democratic nominee pledge to demolish the new Trump ballroom to opposing parental rights in schools, Swalwell has struggled to find traction with far-left California voters.accused Donald Trump of doing: disregarding the Constitution when it suits his political agenda.  

"In case it matters to anyone left in California, he cannot do this. Seizing federal agents sort of went out of constitutional style after the Civil War. The “immense powers as governor of California” do not include dictating what federal officers can wear on their faces or bodies.

"The first tiny barrier to Swalwell’s antebellum policies is the Supremacy Clause, which prevents states from “interfering with or controlling the operations of the Federal Government.” United States v. Washington (2022). Since McCulloch v. Maryland in 1819, the Supreme Court has consistently struck down state laws that impede federal enforcement." . . .

From comments to the above Turley post: I live in California and once considered myself a progressive. The so called progressive Democrats in my state remind me of the Stalinists I used to read about in my history books. It’s depressing that California politics is not longer worth bothering about. This a a party state and no different than the PRI that ran Mexico for 70 years. 

 Democrats don’t remotely believe in Democracy. THey are about power. Period.  I live in California and once considered myself a progressive. The so called progressive Democrats in my state remind me of the Stalinists I used to read about in my history books. It’s depressing that California politics is not longer worth bothering about. This a a party state and no different than the PRI that ran Mexico for 70 years. Democrats don’t remotely believe in Democracy. THey are about power. Period.

California Lawmaker Scott Wiener Claims New Anti-Masking Law Targeting Federal Agents Has Gone ‘Into Effect’     "California State Senator Scott Wiener (D) celebrated his new anti-masking law on New Year’s Day, crowing on social media that as of January 1, 2026, federal law enforcement officers “can no longer hide behind face coverings” in the Golden State.

"Starting today, my new anti-masking law goes into effect,” Weiner claimed, although the state has agreed to postpone enforcement pending a court hearing on the matter." . . .

"Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, disputed Weiner’s post on X, saying it was inaccurate because the law has been put on hold. Essayli said the state’s anti-masking law violates the federal Supremacy Clause and “we have asked a federal judge to strike it down.”

"A hearing to determine the law’s fate has been scheduled for January 12 in California’s central U.S. District Court.

" 'In the meantime, California has agreed to put the law on hold and not enforce its unconstitutional mask ban, which is designed to allow radical leftists to dox federal agents enforcing immigration laws,” Essayli said.

" 'I’ve stood up to Trump and his reign of terror as your State Senator, and I will continue to do so as your future Congressman,” the far-left Democrat wrote on X."

Eric Swalwell supports new law banning masked federal agents   "Swalwell’s comments come as a new California law banning mask-wearing by ICE agents officially took effect. 

"Governor Gavin Newsom, who signed the bill in September, emphasized that the goal was to ensure federal officers would no longer be 'hidden from accountabiity.' 

However, the Department of Homeland Security has refused to comply, and the Trump administration has challenged the ban in court, claiming it violates the US Constitution. 

The U.S. Captures Maduro. What Comes Next?

If the regime falls, Trump is the liberator of the Americas.

"And this, hauled off by the DEA lawmen as the two-bit drug kingpin he is, along with his bank-robber wife."  Monica Showalter

Trump Announces Venezuelan Leader Nicolas Maduro and His Wife Captured Following ‘Large Scale’ US Strike 

Lee, in a follow-up post, suggested that Rubio indicated the capture of Maduro and his wife marks an end to further action in Venezuela.

Rubio has yet to issue an official statement as of the time of this posting. However, he did share a social media post from July in which he declared Maduro was "NOT the President of Venezuela."

"Maduro is the head of the Cartel de Los Soles, a narco-terror organization which has taken possession of a country," he had written, "and he is under indictment for pushing drugs into the United States."

 "President Trump announced early Saturday that the United States had successfully captured Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, following what he called a "large-scale strike."

"The news comes following numerous reports overnight of several explosions rocking Caracas and the surrounding areas. It also comes within 48 hours of Maduro saying he was "ready" to make a drug-trafficking deal with the President in the hopes that the United States would end its military pressure campaign.

"The wise option would appear to have been to try to make a deal long before kicking off 2026.

"The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolás Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country," Trump said on his Truth Social media platform. "This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement."

Trump also announced there will be a press conference from Mar-a-Lago later today to provide more details on the operation." . . . 

Maduro and His Wife Have Been Indicted in SDNY, Bondi Says: Here Are the Charges

The U.S. Captures Maduro. What Comes Next?   . . . "Then, in a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said the U.S. would “run” Venezuela “until such time that we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.”

"Why did Trump decide to act in Venezuela? Are the administration’s actions legal? What will happen to Maduro when he reaches American soil? And what will come next—both for Venezuela and for U.S. foreign policy?" . . .

Trump could use his own body to shield AOC from a bullet and the Democrats would still hate him. TD

It is tempting to think that the regime will implode without him, but the Venezuelan leaders who are left could make life even nastier.

Well, our record of regime change has not been overly successful. The Democrat / Rosie O'Donnell; Party is loving the thought of Trump failing. If you are a Trump-hater, stay tuned to MSNOW and CNN. TD

Seriously? Kathy Hochul Orders One World Trade Center Lit in Honor of Muslim American Heritage Month

I can visualize Trump doing this just to tweak Mamdani and his voters. TD

 RedState

"Governor Kathy Hochul directed One World Trade Center and other New York landmarks to be illuminated green to honor and celebrate Muslim American Heritage Month for the first time in January 2026." 

"Just hours after New York City’s first Muslim-American Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, was sworn in, Empire State Gov. Kathy Hochul declared January to be “Muslim American Heritage Month” and ordered One World Trade Center and 15 other state landmarks to be bathed in green light to celebrate “the heritage and culture of Muslim Americans."

Many on social media were quick to point out that we can’t illuminate the Twin Towers because they are no longer on the skyline after the horrific 9/11 al-Qaeda terrorist attacks, which took down the buildings and killed almost 3,000 innocents. September 11, as all Americans know, was carried out by 19 hijackers affiliated with the Islamist extremist group led by the late Osama bin Laden.

But 9/11 was evidently not on Hochul’s mind Friday evening:

             The resilience, compassion, and contributions of Muslim communities help make our state stronger.Tonight landmarks across the state are lit green as New York celebrates Muslim American Heritage Month. pic.twitter.com/5AFw9dsgof

— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) January 2, 2026

 More...

Brit Hume shared a post that explains just how dangerous what Mamdani said really is:

 Twitchy  

"Zohran Mamdani says they will get rid of rugged individualism and bring in the warmth of collectivism in New York City. Yikes, right? Oh sure, they pretend collectivism is a good thing but we assure you ... it is not."

Brit Hume shared a post that explains just how dangerous what Mamdani said really is:

Dominic Pino: "Dan Klein and I are editors of a new book of quotations from Edmund Burke. In his final years, Burke wrote with burning vitality in defense of liberty and against radicalism. He seems to be speaking directly to us today. Get a taste in this new piece:"

"The warmth of collectivism": 

"A hilariously bad metaphor, if you know how collectivist heating worked in the USSR. In Soviet Moscow, they had a centralized heating system for the whole city. Heat was centrally generated and then distributed through a network of pipes to houses and other buildings. The service was very, very cheap to the end users. Hooray! Workers of the world, unite! But people got what they paid for." . . .

"A thermostat in your house would be too individualist, so they didn't exist. The level of heat was set collectively by government administrators. "They had to base their decisions on weather forecasts because it would take about 12 hours for a temperature change to work its way through the system. So when the forecasts were wrong (which was often), the heat level was wrong too. "On top of that, every building is different. So no matter what heat level the government chose, some people would be too cold and others would be too warm (except for the times when the heat ran out due to shortages, then everyone was cold). "People in buildings that were too hot would open the windows, even in the middle of winter, wasting heat that could have been used by others. And because there were no price signals, they hardly faced any costs when they did so.

"The heating system didn't even have meters for individuals to measure their usage. Officials in post-Soviet Moscow estimated that the whole system used about as much natural gas per year as all of France. "The collectively owned underground pipes that carried the heat suffered from the classic problem: If everyone owns them, then nobody does." The pipes fell into disrepair and would be replaced by above-ground temporary pipes (which could go anywhere since nobody owned the land either). And they would stay that way for years. That is, if you were one of the lucky ones who got temporary pipes in the first place. Others were just left out in the cold." "So yeah, if I was trying to promote collectivism, I probably wouldn't use a heat metaphor in winter. There are a lot of people who lived in collectivist countries who would dispute its association with warmth.

Dave Barry: The Year in Review

 Substack

. . . " Technically Greenland belongs to Denmark, which doesn’t want to sell it to us, but the harsh military reality is that the entire Danish army has fewer weapons than the entourage of a mid-tier American rap artist."

. . . "In other Washington news, the hearings for Trump’s cabinet nominees produce the greatest oratorical moment in the history of the U.S. Senate, if not the world, when Bernie Sanders, questioning Robert F. Kennedy Jr., points to photographs of two infant garments with anti-vaccination slogans and demands to know “ARE YOU SUPPORTIVE OF THESE ONESIES?”

[During Trump's SOTU], "This message does not go unchallenged by the Democratic members of Congress, who, in a bold display of Resistance reminiscent of the civil-rights marches of the Sixties, take courageous high-impact action in the form of...Holding up little paddles." . . .

In June Trump launched the mission to end Iran's nuclear program: . . . "The bombing mission is called “Operation Midnight Hammer,” a name that was chosen over these candidates:

-- “Operation Big Stomping Boot of Consequences.”

-- “Operation FAFO.”

-- “Operation You Talkin’ To ME?”

-- “Operation We Have Come To Chew Bubblegum And Destroy Your Nuclear Facilities, And We Are All Out Of Bubblegum.”

-- “Operation Enrich THIS, Motherf****rs.”

In August: "But by far the biggest story in August, if not of all time, is that OMG OMG OMG Taylor Swift announces her engagement to the Future Mr. Taylor Swift, who presents her with an engagement ring believed to be the first piece of manmade jewelry visible from space."

Only a sampling; much, much more Barry here.  A serious mention is made about the murder of Charlie Kirk by Barry, but we will leave comments on that to numerous other posts, letting Dave Barry be Dave Barry. The Tunnel Dweller.

Will the next Jewish diaspora to America help us win another world war?

the Aspen beat  

"What that next wave of Jewish immigrants can do is to help us – help humanity – win another world war, this one against radical Islam. In the meantime, they can help us cure cancer or generate limitless electricity or put a man on Mars."

"Guess what these men have in common: Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, Hans Bethe, and Edward Teller.

"Everyone knows about Einstein. He won a Nobel Prize for his work on the photoelectric effect, did revolutionary work on the relativity of time and space (all in his mind without a laboratory), fled Nazi Germany in 1933, had wild hair in his later years, and, most importantly, co-authored a letter to President Roosevelt explaining the potential for a nuclear bomb.

"That letter is credited with persuading Roosevelt to launch the Manhattan Project. The ensuing nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki put an end to WWII. By avoiding a full-scale invasion, the bombs probably saved over a million Japanese, American, British, Australian and Chinese soldiers and civilians.

"Einstein became a U.S. citizen in 1944, a year before the bomb was first tested at Los Alamos.

"Leo Szilard was the other co-author of that letter. It was Szilard who conceptualized the notion in 1933 that incredible amounts of energy could be released in a nuclear chain reaction by splitting the uranium atom. It might have been the greatest Eureka! moment in science since the day Isaac Newton conceived of gravity when he was hit on the head with a falling apple. Szilard fled Europe in 1938 and became a U.S. citizen five years later.

"Hans Bethe was a prominent physicist of the early 20th century. He fled Germany in 1935 at age 29 and became a U.S. citizen in 1941. Like Szilard, he worked on the Manhattan Project. He won the Nobel Prize in 1967 for his work on nuclear reactions over the course of a prolific career, and died in 2005 at age 98.

"Edward Teller fled Germany in 1935 and became a U.S. citizen in 1941. He, too, worked on the Manhattan Project. He was later dubbed “the father of the hydrogen bomb.” (While the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs used nuclear fission, the hydrogen bomb uses fusion, which delivers much more bang for the buck. Hydrogen bombs have been successfully tested, but never used in warfare.)

"OK, one thing these men obviously have in common is that they were all great physicists." . . .

More...

Glenn K. Beaton is a writer and columnist living in Colorado. He has been a contributor to The Wall Street Journal, RealClearPolitics, Powerline, Instapundit, Citizen Free Press, American Thinker, Fox News, The Federalist, and numerous other print, radio and television outlets. His most recent book is "High Attitude — How Woke Liberals Ruined Aspen"

Mamdani on 9-11: would he have been "America's Mayor"?

I think, judging by the voices of those cheering Mamdani, they also support Hamas' invasion of Israel, Luigi Mangione's murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and keeping Jewish students from attending college classes. TD

Mamdani Names Al-Qaeda Defense Attorney As New York City’s Chief Counsel

. . . "New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino responded to the appointment, saying, “Less than 25 years after thousands of New Yorkers were killed on 9/11, the Chief Counsel of New York is going to be an Islamist lawyer who came to this country after 9/11 specifically to defend the very Al Qaeda terrorists we were fighting against. The fact that our immigration system post 9/11 even allowed him to step foot into the country is a monumental failure. Disgraceful isn’t a big enough word for what’s happening here. The federal government must get a LOT more involved in New York. We cannot allow these people to go unchecked.” . . .

Anxiously awaiting Mamdani's statement on Iran events

Iran reacts to Mamdani win: from Islam triumphant to democracy masterclass:   

Tehran lawmaker Abolghasem Jarareh declared in parliament: “Zohran Mamdani’s victory shows the strength of the slogan ‘Death to Israel!’”

 Mamdani's Chilling Inaugural Remarks Are a Harbinger of Trouble to Come

"Mamdani's words on Thursday are words of foreboding. New Yorkers had ample warning, but they chose to turn a blind eye to history. It isn't going to be pretty." 

What to know about Mamdani’s economic vision as he prepares to take office . . . "New York Apartment Association CEO Kenny Burgos said the policy could deter developers. "I don’t know any investor or builder who would want to build in a city where the mayor is threatening to cap revenues," Burgos told FOX Business.

"Ed Elson, a business analyst and co-host of the "Prof G Markets" podcast, echoed that concern, saying rent freezes undermine supply. "Paradoxically, they disincentivize construction, which causes rents elsewhere to rise," he said, calling the policy "too good to be true." . . . Economics 101: price controls result in shortages. TD

"But if his administration stumbles and the feeds keep promising more than he can deliver, it could harden a sense among young voters that 'even the internet's mayor couldn't change anything,'" Literat said.

"Collectivism" — he spoke the word, as if a wedding vow.

Ann Althouse 

. . . "The idea that a few bureaucrats know what’s best for all of society, or possess more information about human wants and needs than millions of free individuals interacting in a free market is both false and arrogant. It has guided collectivists for two centuries down the road to serfdom -- and the road is littered with their wrecked utopias.' " 

"Mamdani said it, he highlighted it: "We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism." He promised it. He attributed warmth to it.

"The link goes to my post yesterday with that quote as the title. In the comments, I wrote: "He's saying the words that have been left unsaid in the past. In that way, he's like Trump."

"Who are the other American politicians who might have said "collectivism" — in a positive way, not as a way of criticizing somebody else? Bernie Sanders, who swore in Mamdani, doesn't use that word.

"This blog has a 22-year archive, so I did a search to see how "collectivism" has figured into our discourse. I found 14 items, and I don't think any of them count as a positive use of the word in the style of Zoran Mamdami. 

"Here are all the past occurrences of "collectivism" on this blog, in chronological order:

"February 27, 2008: From the NYT obituary for William F. Buckley: "Mr. Buckley declared war on this liberal order, beginning with his blistering assault on Yale as a traitorous den of atheistic collectivism immediately after his graduation (with honors) from the university."

"August 12, 2008: David Brooks, watching the Olympics opening ceremony in China: "We’ve seen displays of mass conformity before, but this was collectivism of the present — a high-tech vision of the harmonious society performed in the context of China’s miraculous growth."

"December 7, 2008: Quoting someone: "[T]he pro-car lobby requires abstract arguments... From Hitler to Margaret Thatcher, car advocates have seen them as literal engines of change; vehicles by which to remake society, whether on the basis of individualism or collectivism."

"January 11, 2009: Quoting someone: "Sure, I am all for abominating racism like any other form of odious collectivism... but this hypersensitivity to any politically incorrect use of language is really annoying." . . . More...

All in the name of collectivism:

Holodomor Was A Man-Made Famine That Killed Millions

The "warmth" of collectivism

Videos on the effects of unfettered collectivism

BBC Host Claims Islam is Peaceful, Then FREEZES When Douglas Murray Asks This!

Daniel Schonbuch

"Well done Mr Murray. This man is a public treasure. One of the things about the Jihad is it always seem to be about Pakistani Moslem or Hamas Moslem but we never get the real take from the Arab People in Saudi Arabia who control the Islamic world. It is strange too that most of the people fighting in the Jihad are the appear to be descendants of conquered slaves rather than free born Arab Islamists. Somalians, Bangladesh, Pakistan and so on. More Islamic than their Arab masters."

Iran Protesters BURN DOWN Army Headquarters in Western Iran

Oneindia News

"Iran is witnessing a dramatic surge in unrest after protesters reportedly stormed and burned a Basij paramilitary headquarters in the city of Asadabad, Hamadan province. The Basij — a key arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard — is typically deployed to crush demonstrations, making the attack a serious escalation against the regime. Crowds were heard chanting “Death to Khamenei” as anti-government protests spread nationwide amid soaring inflation, currency collapse, and growing economic despair. Meanwhile, exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi is calling for nationwide strikes and international support, while Tehran officials blame foreign interference — including alleged Israeli involvement — as security forces warn of a “decisive response.”