DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE: Taking a deep Venezuelan dive and asking do the protestors know the topic they are protesting

Before I mention the Venezuelan topic, I’m going to say from a local perspective it’s hard to be impressed with all the mudslinging going on in politics these days. In the United States, and especially in Ellis and Dallas County where I’m seeing it firsthand.

You’re either going to win or lose. If you’re a candidate or incumbent who thinks you must be rude to your opponent to make a name for yourself or get voters in this election, you’re not off to a good start.

If you can’t win on your own merits and you need to talk rudely about your opponent you probably shouldn’t be in office no matter how many years you’ve been there or if this is your first time.

You’re taking that negative energy into your job as a public “servant,” and in my humble experience that’s a bad start to anything.

I’m not running for office YET. But if I do someday, I hope I remember this election season and don’t suddenly feel the need to lower my vibration and be rude to opponents.

And the rude bots and comments made by people voting one way or the other – don’t take that negative energy into 2026 it will not serve you well either.

Agree, don’t agree, get yourself in a wad over everything because of hate, just do your research, PLEASE.

NO, the general population of planet Earth is not going to experience world (or even internal) peace. There’s too much hate. Too much ego and too much brainwashing that’s beaten down a sizable number of humans.

Yes, there is always hope.

Look at it this way – as my friend and I agreed today, you can be like us in the audience watching the movie script unfold, or you can play a main character (politician/billionaires) or a broken victim.

Either way, do you know why you do any of the things you do?

Let’s talk about Venezuela.

Quiz, can you find the country on the map?

Ask yourself why you are or are not against the removal of a dictator in that country.

Make it a deep dive so you see the patterns and the inconsistencies beyond the hate and wild-eyed narrative.

No, the United States is not guilt-free.

How many of you know what’s going on there versus parroting mainstream narrative?

I don’t really know what’s going on there behind the scenes, and President Trump didn’t call to consult me about it either.

Here are a few facts.

It’s true, Congress didn’t know about Trump’s Venezuelan move. However, they didn’t have to be consulted – and some of them have big mouths.

Did I think the rumor was true that U.S House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries tried to tip off Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro? No, I didn’t think that was true.

And I’m guessing that rumor was started by a red voter.

There have been plenty more where that came from out of the mouths of the blue people too.

Jeffries made a statement Saturday, “Nicolás Maduro is a criminal and authoritarian dictator who has oppressed the people of Venezuela for years. He is not the legitimate head of government. Undoubtedly, the rule of law and democracy have broken down in Venezuela and the people of that country deserve better.”

He had more to say, not right-wing friendly, but words of a left-wing politician instead, no surprise there.

He was right about pursuant to the Constitution, the framers gave Congress the sole power to declare war as the branch of government closest to the American people. The House and Senate must be briefed immediately and compelling evidence to explain and justify this unauthorized use of military force should be presented forthwith.

Except, capturing Maduro was not declaring war.

Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution designates the President as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, giving the president authority to direct military operations, deploy forces, and decide on necessary defensive measures.

Article 1 does grant Congress the power to declare war, raise armies, and fund military actions, creating a system where the President commands and Congress funds/authorizes.

There was no war declared.

In fact, from what I’m reading and hearing the only people upset about Maduro and his wife being captured are the American protesters who seem to be much more upset about it than Venezuelans who have lived in a dictatorship the past 25 years or fled due to the situation.

I’ve seen more than a few Venezuelans asking American protesters to “shut the F*** up.”

Yes, it’s politics and yes, the U.S. is involved, and yes there is oil, and yes, yes, yes, and yes, as an audience member this does seem like another outlandish media narrative movie script for the day.

Narrative, of course that will divert from the fraud issues in Minnesota that have spread to Maine, Ohio and Washington State – and the fact Israel’s Bibi Netanyahu was here on Christmas day and given a nice gift from the United States.

However, as today’s script goes Maduro was not even legitimately in office.

Former Venezuelan politician Alejandro Pena Esclusa said the people of Venezuela are celebrating “Donald Trump didn’t overthrow a leader of a country. He just captured the head of a drug cartel.”

Another insightful comment: “If you didn’t live through part of the Venezuelan dictatorship, if you didn’t buy toilet paper by ID number, if you’ve never had someone killed at a protest against the Chavez or Maduro government, if you don’t have family members imprisoned by the regime, if you’ve never gone hungry a day in your life, if you didn’t leave your country by force, if you haven’t spent years without seeing your family, in short, if you are an academic with a comfortable life experience who thinks things are resolved through talking and that this has not been tried since Chavez, don’t start a dialogue with me today.”

Here’s another comment I saw today: “Venezuela is not a democratic country today, and it has not been for the past 25 years. It’s ruled by a dictatorial regime sustained by a corrupt military elite and by a network of illicit activities, including drug trafficking. This dictatorship is responsible for the exodus of more than eight million people who saw any possibility of a future or living a dignified life become impossible. It’s the largest displacement in Latin American history and one of the largest in modern times.”

There were also quite a few in Venezuela who said sure, Trump might have done this due to oil, “but since we Venezuelans have never seen a penny for the oil during these dictatorships we don’t care, it’s a worthy exchange to get rid of the Maduro regime.”

Let me mention the name Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo González.

Do you know who they’re in this conflict?

González won with 70% of the votes against Maduro during the most recent election and most agreed he was the rightful president-elect.

Machado just won the Nobel Peace Prize; she ran against Maduro previously (and it was said she won) but was barred in 2023 from running against Maduro again.

One man in Venezuela said, “Venezuela is not going through a regime change. Venezuela already has a democratically elected president, Edmundo Gonzalez. Nicolas Maduro stole the last election and led a criminal organization linked to terrorism and drug trafficking.”

Barack Obama and Joe Biden also had issues with Maduro. Obama declared him a national security threat.

Remember when Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “Maduro once again represented his complete disregard for democratic norms and proceeded with this illegitimate inauguration.”

Biden put sanctions in place to hold Maduro accountable, and there was a reward on Maduro’s head.

I read this statement today, paraphrasing here: “People who have lived under socialism woke up today celebrating. People who have only romanticized the idea of socialism from their cushy home in the comfort of the United States are furious that America had the audacity to strike Venezuela. That contrast tells you everything you need to know. Those who have endured socialism know exactly what it steals, their freedom, their future, their dignity, their right to speak out against their leaders. Meanwhile, we have outrage from people who have never stood in empty grocery lines, never watched their currency completely devalued, never feared speaking out against their government. The people who lived it are thankful today and the people who only fantasize about it are angry. If you want to live in a socialist country, go there and don’t try to turn the United States into your socialistic ideals because the people who have lived it or doing all they can to escape it.”

If you hate this country and one man so much that you would prefer people living in the conditions mentioned above to remain in those conditions, then you are the problem.

Stay focused on what is really going on behind the noise and remember the word “accountability.”

What really has me puzzled the most from my audience seat; all those people insisting on “no kings” and now insisting on the release and return of a dictator?

Rita Cook is a freelance writer for The Ellis County Press. She can be reached at rcook13@earthlink.net.