Donald Trump and maga Republicans must end illegal attacks on Veneuelan boats and oil tankers Murder and piracy happening with video to prove guilt

We Didn’t Have to Kill Any of Them an echo essay by William Kristol, Andrew Egger and Jim Swift published in The Bulwark "Morning Shots".

"Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accused the U.S. of "criminal naval piracy" after American forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude near Grenada, calling it theft and an attack on international law" (BBC story link here)

If we can seize an oil tanker, why did eighty people have to die❓

Trump;s administration released a new video of the U.S. military (illegally) engaging a vessel off the coast of Venezuela. 

It wasn’t footage of the September 2nd killing of two shipwrecked survivors of a missile attack on an alleged drug-smuggling boat.¹ 

Rather, it was of a new military action in support of U.S. law enforcement agencies: seizing an oil tanker involved in illicit activities. This action was apparently taken pursuant to a warrant issued by a federal judge, as the ship had been put under sanctions by the Treasury Department in 2022, for illegal activities linked to the smuggling of Iranian oil.

Many questions remain about the operation and its justification, and the government should provide clear answers to them. Still, here’s what we’ve been reminded of by yesterday’s action: The U.S. government has the ability to seize boats, sailors, and cargo without killing anyone. 

In fact, the US Coast Guard does this routinely and has for years. The military is able to coordinate with and support law enforcement in such efforts. 

Steps can be taken ahead of time to ensure such efforts are legal.

But the Trump administration has chosen to do none of these things as, over the past three months, it has conducted strikes against at least 22 vessels, killing more than 80 helpless civilians. The administration has provided no evidence to support its claims about the boats and those aboard, and in fact, the original rationale that they were smuggling fentanyl to the United States seems to have been abandoned.

What’s more, the administration has chosen in one case to kill shipwrecked survivors and to try to cover up the fact there were such survivors, and in another instance to return survivors to their home countries rather than risking legal proceedings in the United States that might force the administration to provide a justification for its actions.

And so, now the Trumpzi administration is stonewalling about releasing the full video of the September 2 strike, despite Donald Trump’s statement last week he’d be happy to do so. 

House Intelligence Committee chair and Trump ally Rep. Rick Crawford—installed in that position at the beginning of this year in place of the independent-minded Rep. Mike Turner to ensure congressional acquiescence rather than oversight—said yesterday that he doesn’t want video of the second strike released. His rationale? “What the trained eye can detect from these videos may reveal sources and methods that would imperil troops.” This is implausible on its face. But it becomes a risible excuse for a cover-up when one recalls that the administration was perfectly happy to release the first part of the September 2, video—and then many subsequent videos—for “trained eyes” to inspect.

As Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) noted, “This administration, since they started striking these boats illegally, has been very happy to show their snuff films every time they took out one of these boats. Now suddenly they’re willing to show the first hit but not the second. Why is that?”

We know why. Because, the second strike in particular is horrifying and indefensible.😠💥❗

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is bored by the whole matter. He was asked yesterday, “Has Hegseth told you why he hasn’t released the video of the second strike?” His answer: “No, he hasn’t told me. I thought that issue was dead.”

No, that issue isn’t dead. But, unbelievably, more than 80 people are now dead. Their deaths seem to have been unnecessary, unjustified, and unlawful. Donald Trump obviously does not care. We should.

Donald Trump and his chicken in every pot

When Super Tuesday March 1st elections were called, we saw Donald Trump take center stage on a made for TV comedy routine to answer questions from the media. During his chaperoned comments, the Humpty Dumpty Governor Chris Christie was the bouncer behind the "chicken in every pot" bravado.  I listened to Trump bully the Speaker of the House Paul Ryan about how they might get along, or not. Moreover, a litany was recited about how the anti-immigration wall would be paid for by Mexico, the crumbling infrastructure of the US would magically be fixed while taxes would be cut and, oh yes, somehow, Obamacare would be replaced with something better. 

Oh paaaaleeeze! Will Donald Trump be using his personal wealth to fund all of the above? Of course not! In fact, the Donald Trump plan for America's greatness must be tax dependent. Trump will have to raise taxes to support these chicken in every pot promises. Honestly? I'm not opposed to raising taxes when value is attached to the bill. But, Donald Trump isn't being truthful when he promises the chicken in every pot, without saying anything about how he'll pay for his delusional plans.

Donald Trump is making delusional promises without a plan about how to pay for them

In fact, Republican establishment conservatives are finally calling for Trump's accountability. Unfortunately, they've waited a long time, before finally swinging.

George Will is even calling Trump a "coward".

TUESDAY, MAR 1, 2016 01:37 PM EST
George Will unloads on “coward” Trump: Conservative icon calls him “a presidential aspirant who would flunk an eighth-grade civics exam”
Take a moment to appreciate some catty conservative infighting as GOP inches toward nominating a neo-fascistBRENDAN GAUTHIER

Conservative columnist George Will on Tuesday body-slammed GOP frontrunner Donald Trump in an essay for the Hartford Courant. And though Will’s critique can be added to the pile of too-little-too-late efforts to stop the neo-fascist from steamrolling Super Tuesday, it’s actually quite funny.

Likening Trump’s “distinctive rhetorical style” to “a drunk with a bullhorn reading aloud James Joyce’s ‘Finnegans Wake’ under water,” Will goes on to call Donald a “thin-skinned tough guy,” who “resembles a campus crybaby who has wandered out of his ‘safe space'” — the ultimate conservative chirp.

And, “(l)ike all bullies,” Will adds, “Trump is a coward, and like all those who feel the need to boast about being strong and tough, he is neither.”

Citing Trump’s purported plan to “loosen up those libel laws” to easier sue the pants off publications whose reporting doesn’t meet his standards of niceness, Will claims Trump “has neither respect for nor knowledge of the Constitution.” A claim bolstered by Trump’s weirdly inept (even for Trump) understanding of the judicial process during last’s week’s debate:  “Trump, during the Houston debate, said that his sister, a federal judge, ‘signed a certain bill’ and that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito also ‘signed that bill.’ So, the leading Republican candidate, the breadth of whose ignorance is the eighth wonder of the world, actually thinks that judges ‘sign bills.’ Trump is a presidential aspirant who would flunk an eighth-grade civics exam.”

George Will and even the conservative rubber stamp William Kristol are now trying to bring down Donald Trump, because he is erratic and emotionally labile.  

Obviously, the personal attacks against Trump are failing to change minds, but if Trumponian supporters knew the cost of their delusional icon's plans, it might be like giving them political narcan.