The Rugged Individualists Strike Back

Just a few days removed from the General Secretary of New York City saying he’d move New York into the “warmth of collectivism” away from rugged individualism, the rugged individualists have ousted the collectivist dictator of Venezuela.

The President of the United States, just after a Chinese delegation visited the Maduro Regime to solidify their South American partnership, has arrested Maduro and his wife via the might of the United States military and the Central Intelligence Agency. Maduro will be tried for his crimes in the Southern District of New York, just down the street from General Secretary Mamdani’s house.

This is a stunning military success — so stunningly successful that we woke up to people arguing over what should have been, not what should be, because the operation was over before anyone knew it was happening.

For precedent, Ronald Reagan secured Grenada, George H. W. Bush secured Panama, and Bill Clinton secured Haiti without authorizations of force from Congress.

President Trump does not listen to podcasters, it seems, in particular Tucker Carlson who has been trying to rehabilitate Maduro’s image. Watch the Code Pink activists, funded by China, rally for Maduro.

For those interested, Nicolas Maduro lost his election in Venezuela and refused to give up power. In so doing, he invited Iranian militants and Hezbollah operatives into Venezuela and gave them land to set up shop. He also invited in the Chinese, Iranian, and Russian navies to train his navy for a planned military operation into neighboring Guyana to capture American oil fields. Previously, Hugo Chavez invited in American oil companies to Venezuela, had them build up Venezuela’s oil production capacity, then promptly took over the oil fields, threw out the foreigners, and forced the locals to keep working.

Maduro kept the policy and used the money to help fund Cuba, Iran, and provide China with oil, all while funding global narco-trafficking operations. He is not the legitimate leader of Venezuela and, this morning, the Canadian Prime Minister, Argentinian President, and most of the leaders in Europe are all commending Donald Trump for a successful operation.

For much of the American elite, we are in Jenn Rubin territory this morning. She famously favored the assassination of Qasem Soleimani and moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem, but opposed Trump doing both the things she wanted because it was Trump who did them. Today, the elite are screaming about the legitimacy of an operation that was actually the logical consequence of policies put in place by Joe Biden — who also refused to recognize Maduro.

The progressives, like Ben “Hamas” Rhodes, can complain now, but were fine with Obama going into Libya. Unlike that, no Americans died this morning.

It is also notable that the Maduro regime, just a few weeks ago, noted Iranian military equipment had been brought in to protect Maduro from an American incursion (Update: Russian air defense systems were already in place). The Axis powers of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba should be on notice today that the supplier of all their secondary oil streams is out of power and both Iran and Russia have had their output capacities reduced.

President Trump and the United States military did a good thing today. One day, I suspect the elite will look back and marvel at all the things Trump did they long wanted. And the growing isolationist right has, again, lost today. That is a good thing too. Zombie Dick Cheney FTW!

Also: