Trump says U.S. operation captured Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro

Boat nonsense aside, if Trump has actually pulled this off while mostly striking military targets, that's (a) impressive and (b) possibly–possibly!–worth celebrating.

The caveat is what happens next. If a stable government emerges, that's okay. If a stable government emerges that holds free and fair elections, that's brilliant. If, on the other hand, the power vacuum prompts a civil war and refugee crisis because nobody–again–planned for what happens after regime decapitation, well fuck.

(We really need to repeal the War Powers Act [1].)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Powers_Resolution

Re: Trump says U.S. operation captured Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro

#5

Post by blob17 » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 10:56 AM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #4

Boat nonsense aside, if Trump has actually pulled this off while mostly striking military targets, that's (a) impressive and (b) possibly–possibly!–worth celebrating. The caveat is what happens next. If a stable government emerges, that's okay. If a stable government emerges that holds free and fair elections, that's brilliant. If, on the other hand, the power vacuum prompts a civil war and refugee crisis because nob…

Are you sure your government is attacking because of free elections?

Re: Trump says U.S. operation captured Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro

#6

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 10:57 AM UTC

blob17 wrote: post #5

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #4

Boat nonsense aside, if Trump has actually pulled this off while mostly striking military targets, that's (a) impressive and (b) possibly–possibly!–worth celebrating. The caveat is what happens next. If a stable government emerges, that's okay. If a stable government emerges that holds free and fair elections, that's brilliant. If, on the other hand, the power vacuum prompts a civil war and refugee crisis because nob…

Are you sure your government is attacking because of free elections?

> Are you sure your government is attacking because of free elections?

Never said that. I said this could wind up being net good if that's the outcome. Doesn't make the way we would have gotten there okay. And it doesn't mean that was a primary or even proximate goal for the people who called the shots.

Re: Trump says U.S. operation captured Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro

#7

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 10:57 AM UTC

lostlogin wrote: post #2

Going back a little it’s the signs. Local-to-the-pentagon pizza orders are up. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46474859

How many times has it spiked in the last decade?

Re: Trump says U.S. operation captured Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro

#8

Post by blob17 » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 11:02 AM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #6

blob17 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure your government is attacking because of free elections?

> Are you sure your government is attacking because of free elections? Never said that. I said this could wind up being net good if that's the outcome. Doesn't make the way we would have gotten there okay. And it doesn't mean that was a primary or even proximate goal for the people who called the shots.

are you saying this as a local to the area or as an american living in america projecting your vision of "net good" lmao.

Re: Trump says U.S. operation captured Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro

#9

Post by defterGoose » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 11:02 AM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #4

Boat nonsense aside, if Trump has actually pulled this off while mostly striking military targets, that's (a) impressive and (b) possibly–possibly!–worth celebrating. The caveat is what happens next. If a stable government emerges, that's okay. If a stable government emerges that holds free and fair elections, that's brilliant. If, on the other hand, the power vacuum prompts a civil war and refugee crisis because nob…

I see it's still the season of perpetual hope wherever you are...

Re: Trump says U.S. operation captured Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro

#10

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 11:05 AM UTC

defterGoose wrote: post #9

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #4

Boat nonsense aside, if Trump has actually pulled this off while mostly striking military targets, that's (a) impressive and (b) possibly–possibly!–worth celebrating. The caveat is what happens next. If a stable government emerges, that's okay. If a stable government emerges that holds free and fair elections, that's brilliant. If, on the other hand, the power vacuum prompts a civil war and refugee crisis because nob…

I see it's still the season of perpetual hope wherever you are...

> it's still the season of perpetual hope wherever you are

At this moment in time, the President has bombed Caracas (presumably under the War Powers Act [1]) and claims to have captured Maduro.

From here, there are paths that wind up marginally good and many that end up somewhat catastrophically. Few wind up great. Few wind up as total shitshows (the risk in this being a Venezuelan civil war).

Seeing that there are positive possible outcomes isn't an expression of naive hope. It's identifying possible futures. I have no clue, personally, how to prevent a civil war in Venezuela–I'm neither hopeful nor on the edge of my seat.

And again, none of this justifies the actions. A gambler may win big betting his house. That doesn’t make it a good call, even if we can recognise that the outcome wound up favourably.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Powers_Resolution#Provisio...