this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2026
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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — At least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard around 2 a.m. local time Saturday in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. The government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states.

[...]

Venezuela’s government, in the statement, called on its supporters to take to the streets.

“People to the streets!” the statement said. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”

The statement added that President Nicolás Maduro had “ordered all national defense plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.” That state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people’s rights and expand the role of the armed forces.

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[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today -1 points 1 week ago (3 children)

We are nation of laws, and we still have a few legal steps to go through, including the 2026 Midterm election, and the 2028 election. Both of those elections give the Democrats the legal authority to take back America. If they do, hopefully they act decisively, and don't totally squander the opportunity, like Biden did, destroying his legacy.

If MAGA prevents those elections, or refuses to recognize the results, then they have gone off-Constitution, and it's on. When it becomes clear to citizens that MAGA has fully rejected any pretense of honoring or respecting the law, Democracy, and the Constitution, there WILL be serious repercussions, almost certainly violent.

There is a 50-50 chance that we get out of this through elections, IF Dems actually use their elected power to fully crush MAGA mercilessly. If they don't, then it will take violence, and that will come eventually and inevitably.

[–] FlyingCircus@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

They are already off-constitution with all of their deportations, etc. What makes you think people will do something in 2026 when they aren’t doing anything now?

The mask is off, people are just too afraid to look it in the face and call it what it is. Democracy is over, and the fascists won, for now. If we want it to be short term, we need to start organizing and preparing for armed resistance.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today -1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If the Dems can control one of the Congressional chambers, they will control investigatory powers, including subpoena power and arrest powers. That would blunt his legislation, and would force his henchmen to account for their crimes.

That is, IF the Democratic leadership do their jobs, which only has about a 10% chance of happening, unless the new people coming in after the 2026 bloodbath start immediately throwing their weight around, and force the old guard to honor their Constitutional responsibilities. If they won't, we will treat the Establishment Democrats exactly the same as MAGA.

[–] FlyingCircus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You're still operating under the assumption that there will be fair and free elections in November. That is not their plan.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 0 points 1 week ago

It's MUCH harder to rig a Congressional election than a presidential election. In a presidential election, you only have to rig one race, in a handful of swing states.

To rig a Congressional election, you have to rig a lot more elections, over 400 districts. Even if you remove the solid Red and solid Blue districts, and only count on those that might swing either way, it would still probably be better than 100 elections, which will be overseen by locals.

That's why they are trying to game the TOTAL number of districts, rather than the individual races. Unfortunately for them, they've been getting pushback from the courts, while inspiring California to fight fire with fire, and redraw their own , and do it legally. Their greedy duplicitous mess may well backfire against them. MAGA only has a very narrow lead right now. If any more MAGAs resign before election day, the House may flip even before the election. California adding five more Blue seats, could easily make the difference, and flip the House to the Democrats.

Then they have to govern responsibly and courageously, which they've almost never done in the past.

[–] DandomRude@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Well, that remains to be seen. To be honest, I can't imagine anyone being prosecuted for their crimes, even with the best will in the world. I'm not a U.S. citizen, but from a distance, it looks to me as if your systems are infiltrated to a degree that they no longer function properly - starting with the fact that the Democrats are merely the lesser of two evils, to the fact that your law enforcement system, even under their control, actively protects child molesters, if not actually empowering them to commit their crimes, to the fact that your highest legal authority, the Supreme Court, is so obviously corrupt that it places the president above the law in a supposedly democratic country, which is completely incompatible with any democratic constitution.

Of course, I'm rooting for you, but I think it's naive to put your faith in a system that has proven time and again that it represents the interests of the powerful rather than those of the people. The proof of this is the fact that large sections of the population in the richest country in the world have to live as if they were in a third world country - for a European like me, it is incomprehensible how one can not only allow this, but also approve of it.

Edit: Just to illustrate what I mean: if your legal system worked even halfway properly, your president would have gone to prison long before he became president - he has committed so many serious crimes that it is more than telling that he was not already sentenced to life imprisonment in the 1990s.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The Dems blew it badly during the Biden administration, and they either learned their lesson, or they didn't. They better have learned their lesson, because they only have the next two elections to turn this around, and if they don't, then America is finished.

I'm always hoping for the best, but if we keep going in the same direction, with the same proven losing strategies, then the future belongs to MAGA. This will be the final opportunity to save America, and Dems have to step up. There are those who are willing, let's see if the Dem leadership can grow a spine and support them.

[–] DandomRude@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

As I said, I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but when you consider how the progressive wing of the Democrats is demonized by their own people, even though it's so obvious that the people want these policies, I have very little hope.

Just to illustrate how difficult it is for a European to understand the US mentality: Sanders, AOC, and Mamdani would be moderate center-left politicians in Europe, not at all "extremists" as they are apparently portrayed in the US.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

We have two serious foundational issues in our nation that must be addressed, or we will never move beyond where we are right now.

The first is what you referred to: the Conservative Propaganda Machine, which is an amazingly effective operation. They brutally abuse the First Amendment, knowing it is difficult to regulate it, but that is exactly what we have to do. The Conservative Propaganda Machine operates entirely in bad faith, and is the mouthpiece for MAGA, a domestic terrorist organization, and this nation's biggest national security threat. Under those circumstances, MAGA's dissemination of disingenuous speech can be controlled.

The second is Campaign Finance Reform, which is the issue from which ALL other issues flow. It allows Sociopathic Oligarchs to control our government through legal bribery and corruption by BOTH sides. We must reconfigure our entire election system so that it filters OUT the worst and most corrupt candidates, instead of washing out our most responsible candidates by bad-faith, disingenuous campaign rhetoric.

As long as those two situations remain in force, we will always have problems with the worst of our nation gaining power. We have to put ALL candidates on equal, fair footing, so the best candidates can be elevated to positions of RESPONSIBILITY, and keep criminals and traitors from gaming our system to gain power to exploit our nation.

[–] DandomRude@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Thank you very much for the information. Although I only know the US system from afar and through observation, I come to the same conclusion.

[–] Bullerfar@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

I Hope you are right. And I Hope we survive Till midterms.. Crossing fingers.