Hey, Matt Rothschild here with another episode of the Wisconsin Forward podcast on the Civic
Media Radio Network.
This one's a little different than the previous ones I've done since I don't have any guests
this time around.
It's just me talking to you about Trump's overthrow of Maduro in Venezuela, and then
I'll be examining the responses by Wisconsin's congressional delegation.
First a little background.
I got up early, real early on Saturday, January 3rd, because I couldn't sleep.
It was 3.30 a.m., and I was sick of rolling around in bed, so I just got up and went to
my desk and turned on the computer and checked CNN, nothing new going on.
So I checked my emails, and went back to CNN, and all of a sudden the news was breaking
from Trump himself that he'd sent the US military in and snatched Maduro.
For me, it was a case of deja vu.
Thirty-seven years before, back in 1989, I was then the managing editor of the Progressive
magazine, and when President George H.W. Bush sent the US military into Panama and snatched
Manuel Noriega, I was so appalled by the brazen illegality of that move that I wrote an op-ed
that was published in the Chicago Tribune.
So here we go again, another US President with another illegal intervention in Latin America.
For Latin Americans, it's nothing new at all.
Since 1898, one President after another has repeatedly sent our troops to overthrow one
government after another there or has used the CIA to destabilize those governments.
The list is long, and it includes Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guatemala,
Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.
So what Trump has done is not unusual.
He just did it in a cruder way than his predecessors, letting the cat out of the bag that it was
all about oil, and saying right out loud that we're going to be the ones running Venezuela,
and then warning Colombia, Mexico, and Cuba that they might be next.
Millions of Latin Americans, I'm sure, are having a bad case of PTSD today.
There's an old saying in Mexico, so far from God so close to the United States that's
ringing in many heads right now.
Because the basic principle that the people of Latin America have the right to self-determination
and to control their own resources is once again upended by their powerful neighbor to
the north.
Here in the U.S., I've been appalled that the media has underplayed the illegality of
Trump's actions in Venezuela.
So here's a brief refresher course.
Number one, article one, section eight of the U.S. Constitution gives to Congress and
only to Congress the right to declare war.
James Madison warned that if we gave that authority to the President, it would be in his
words, too much temptation for one man, how right he was.
Number two, the War Powers Act of 1973 requires the President to consult with Congress before
introducing U.S. troops into hostilities, Donald Trump didn't do that.
Number three, the National Security Act, as amended by the Intelligence Authorization
Act, requires the President to notify the leadership of Congress about highly sensitive
covert actions, Donald Trump didn't do that either.
Number four, the UN Charter states that every country must, quoting now, refrain in their
international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity
or political independence of any state.
So Trump's action in Venezuela was illegal times four.
But you want to know that by listening to Wisconsin Representative Derek Van Orden,
who was asked directly about this by a reporter from WEAU, here's the exchange.
A lot of people are bringing up kind of concerns that with this move, the U.S. has kind of
violated international law here, and I'm just kind of wondering what your response to
that is.
That's inaccurate.
Can you elaborate a little bit more?
Nicholas Maduro is a narco terrorist pretending to be a President.
He negated a lawful election in Venezuela and maintained power.
He's under indictment in the United States of America, and he's responsible for helping
kill tens of thousands of Americans over the years.
You know, asserting the legality about something doesn't make it legal.
Nor does Van Orden's typical scornfulness.
Nor does the fact that Maduro is a bad guy make this action legal.
Other members of Wisconsin's Republican delegation, he prays on Trump without showing an ounce
of concern about the illegality of the operation.
Tom Tiffany's reaction was typical.
Quoting, I commend President Trump and the brave U.S. personnel who carried out this
efficient and effective operation.
Scott Fitzgerald praised Trump's decisive action.
Tony Weed called it a decisive operation.
Brian Sile called it a positive development.
Senator Ron Johnson said it's unquestionably good that Nicholas Maduro is no longer holding
illegitimate power over what has become the narco terrorist state of Venezuela.
Fortunately, the Wisconsin Democrats in Congress had a starkly different response.
When Moore said Trump acted recklessly and said she was deeply troubled by the President
again scurrying Congress this time to invade and now attempt to run a country at the expense
of our brave service members and apparently the taxpayers.
Mark Pokan said bombing and occupying Venezuela is an illegal act of war against the sovereign
nation.
He added Trump's reckless and illegal attack against Venezuela represents a further degradation
of the rule of law in our country.
It makes the world less safe.
Senator Tammy Baldwin also spoke out forcefully.
The President, she said, does not have the unilateral authority to invade foreign countries,
house their governments and seize their resources.
I'm really grateful to Gwen Moore and to Mark Pokan and to Tammy Baldwin for upholding
the rule of law and for honoring Wisconsin's great progressive leaders who also opposed
lawless U.S. military actions abroad.
I'm thinking, of course, of fighting Bob LaFallet and also of William Proxmeyer and
Gaylord Nelson and Robert Castonmeyer and Dave Obey and Russ Feingold.
It's good company to keep, especially in a time of deja vu.
Well, that's going to have to be it for this episode of the Wisconsin Forward Podcast
on the Civic Media Radio Network.
I'm Matt Rothschild.
I want to thank you for listening.
I also want to thank my engineer and producer Dom Lee, who is always great to work with.
And I want to thank Sage Wilde of Civic Media for giving me this platform.
I'll be back soon with another episode of the Wisconsin Forward Podcast, hopefully
an interview with Mandela Barnes that I'm trying to set up.
You won't want to miss that one.
