The featured image is of Ghidorah, the three headed dragon monster from the Godzilla franchise. I’m not big on Godzilla movies, even if Raymond Burr appeared in one. I’m also not big on American forces attacking Venezuela and snatching dictator Nicolas Maduro.

Why the dragon featured image? It was easier than finding a three-eyed monster to stand in for the I words in the title. I considered using a picture of the attack on Caracas, but when did I ever take the conventional path?

I was among those who believed that Team MAGA’s Venezuelan saber rattling was a bluff. Maduro thought so too. Last week, he was dancing in public like Elon Musk in full-blown dipshit mode. It’s not a bluff; it’s the latest distraction from Trump’s dismal approval ratings and the eternal Epstein scandal.

Since the post title has three I’s and the featured image three heads, let’s deal with this mess point by point. Get my point?

ILLEGAL: MAGA’S Caracas caper violates domestic and international law, which respect sovereignty. The only sovereignty the Kaiser of Chaos respects is his own.

This not the first time the United States has imposed regime change in South America and elsewhere. As you’ll see in the next segment, it’s unclear what this is. In the past, regime change was done in the name of democracy. That’s not a word in the Insult Comedian’s limited lexicon. This time, it’s overtly about oil without being tarted up in democracy drag as with Iraq and Bush 2.0.

The whole mess reminds me of the Bush 1.0 invasion of Panama in 1989. It, too, was all about dictator kidnapping with Manuel Noriega’s drug kingpinning as a pretext. That exercise in gunboat diplomacy was denounced as illegal by the UN. The first Bush administration didn’t give a shit. They got their Manuel.

Repeat after me: Republican presidents like picking on smaller countries. Wagging the dog is their form of dick waving.

INCOHERENT: Team Trump’s messaging makes no sense. Not unusual for them but unusual for a situation involving the military. Their story keeps shifting: Trump claims the US will “run” Venezuela in the short term but they’re leaving Vice President Delcy Rodgriguez in place. Is it decapitation without regime change or a new government? Beats the hell outta me.

This skeet nails the situation:

Their messaging is so fucking incoherent. Maduro was an illegitimate leader who lost in 2024, which is why we're replacing him with his VP instead of the person who won in 2024. We did this to stop fentanyl, which is why he's indicted for cocaine.We're also occupying Venezuela via Zoom call.

— James (@gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social) 2026-01-03T21:18:01.357Z

There’s been so much smoke blown about the Maduro kidnapping that we still have no idea where this is headed. Since it’s South America, guerilla warfare is always possible. Will it happen this time? I haven’t the foggiest notion: I’m a pundit, not a psychic.

Only one thing is certain in Venezuela: There is no post-attack plan. We went down this road in Iraq. For the sake of our troops and the Venezuelan people, I hope this is more like Panama than Iraq.

IDIOTIC:  President Pennywise is once again flipping off his supporters. He ran against endless foreign wars, begged for a Nobel Peace Prize then unleashed the dogs of war. That’s both incoherent and idiotic. Stupid is what Team MAGA does best.

The Maduro kidnapping is classic Trump: impulsive short-term thinking leading to chaos. Who the hell knows where this is headed? In the end, the devil is in the details as well as the White House. It’s bad enough having a demonic president but we happen to have an idiotic demon. As my former First Draft colleague Jude would say at this point, Thanks, you stupid motherfuckers.

The last word goes to XTC with a song whose title I modified for a pre-Trump 2.0 post. All I did was change kill to troll. Both apply to the Maduro kidnapping and attack on Caracas: