View this post on the web at [link removed]

Again?!
Last night’s attacks on Venezuela are a perfect reflection of what makes America criminal. They form the latest examples of a longstanding pattern that stretches back decades.
Many critics of Washington will characterize Trump’s war on Venezuela as an example of the president’s supposedly unique belligerence, an extension of his notoriously fragile ego [ [link removed] ]. They will likely include Democrats concerned about the president’s foreign policy objectives and recurring willingness to violate laws [ [link removed] ].
Those voices will, unfortunately, be ignoring history and reality.
Thanks for reading Chronicles of a Dying Empire! You can help inform your friends by sharing this post.
Our country’s criminal history is replete with any number of illegal airstrikes, drone attacks, invasions, assassinations, and regime change plots engineered by American “defense” or “intelligence” agencies. Many of these crimes were executed, orchestrated, assisted, or covered up by figures including [ [link removed] ] leading Democrats.
Obama’s drone strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan a decade ago paved [ [link removed] ] the path of Trump’s arbitrary drone strikes in the Caribbean this year.
Clinton’s congressionally unauthorized [ [link removed] ] airstrikes on Serbia set a precedent abused by subsequent presidents, including Democrats.
America’s war on Venezuela is outrageous, and should confirm for the rest of the world how our country represents the greatest threat to the peace on Earth for which billons of people mouthed prayers over the recent holidays.
Just don’t pretend that it’s only Trump’s fault.
Chronicles of a Dying Empire is a publication made possible by readers, rather than advertisers. To receive new posts, sign up for a free subscription! Paid subscriptions support my work and make it possible for me to write more frequently.
A poem that woke me up
My latest poem was prompted by a conversation with a houseguest who visited our home for the holidays. During a chat over the dinner table one night, he asked when I thought the contradictions of the empire would finally force its collapse.
I woke up this morning with the answer I offered that night swimming in my thoughts—just before reading the news about Washington’s attacks on Venezuela.
How the cookie crumbles (1/3/26 at 6:30am PT)
It won’t exactly
collapse
until enough
pieces
break off to
force
the rest into
dust
When will the
ship
hit the sand?
When will the
machine
finally grind to a
halt?
What makes anyone
think
that it didn’t already
long ago?
Every eviction
conviction
contamination
gentrification
termination
escalation
reflects
entire
worlds
fallen to
ruin
out of
sight

Unsubscribe [link removed]?