Sam Alcoff

After day 1 inside the DNC talking to delegates on and off record, the clear sense is that the Dems have opted for a sheen of "party unity" over any substantive course correction on the Biden Administration's policy vis-a-vis lockstep support of the destruction of Gaza.

Found this image today in an old @NACLA pamphlet from their “Yanqui Dollar” project c. 1972. More here: instagram.com/p/DTJTJqEkUdS/

@Claud9_ What is the logic after Gaza, where Israel almost simultaneously launched attacks on Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Qatar and on a border crossing run by Egypt? Trump's first statements today are already threatening Cuba, Mexico, Colombia?

Remember Iraq! It’s the same playbook, and those orchestrating attacks on Venezuela aren’t hiding it: they want the oil and regime change. And this madness will not stop with Venezuela. Ultimately, this is about expanding and cementing U.S. control all across this region through war. We should all be concerned and denouncing this criminal behavior now, before lamenting the human loss and destruction based on lies.

@Remroum Chavez in 2006: "Hardly anybody here can defend the United Nations system. Let us be honest and accept that the system born after the Second World War has collapsed. It is worthless." historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/chavez…

The UN is absolutely worthless

The Administration and its allies are lying about the justification for this war. They're saying "hundreds of thousands" were killed by "narco-terrorism," meaning fentanyl overdose deaths. Except the Trump Admin admits that fentanyl didn't come from Venezuela. Sources follow—

If this action were constitutionally sound, the Attorney General wouldn’t be tweeting that they’ve arrested the President of a sovereign country and his wife for possessing guns in violation of a 1934 U.S. firearm law.

Dumb question: What would happen if Venezuela stops shipping oil on tankers and pipelines/trucks/trains oil to Colombia, Brazil, and Guyana?

Colombia is now a member of the UN Security Council, and Colombian President Gustavo Petro has called for an emergency meeting to denounce the illegal US war of aggression against Venezuela.

It’s important to remember that Trump genuinely believes, and was told repeatedly by Rubio, that Venezuela had a hand in manipulating voting machines to help Biden win in 2020. What Trump did today must be understood in the context of that paranoid lunacy.

Foreign Minister of Venezuela Yván Gil: “Venezuela’s Constitution is clear: the constitutional president is Nicolás Maduro Moros, whose physical presence in Venezuela must be restored immediately. Institutions are functioning fully, the Armed Forces and police are deployed, and the people are mobilized in defense of sovereignty. The Venezuelan state is strong, with a solid Constitution capable of confronting this and any other situation, as history has shown.”

Trump has no right to take us to war with Venezuela. This is reckless and illegal. Congress should vote immediately on a War Powers Resolution to stop him. My entire life, politicians have been sending other people’s kids to die in reckless regime change wars. Enough. No new wars.

BREAKING: 🇻🇪 VENEZUELA DENOUNCES US BOMBING AS OIL GRAB & VIOLATION OF INT’L LAW Official statement below The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects, repudiates, and denounces to the international community the grave military aggression perpetrated by the current Government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and population in the civilian and military locations of the city of Caracas, capital of the Republic, and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira. This act constitutes a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, especially its Articles 1 and 2, which enshrine respect for sovereignty, the legal equality of States, and the prohibition of the use of force. Such aggression threatens international peace and stability, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, and places the lives of millions of people at grave risk. The objective of this attack is none other than to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, attempting to forcibly break the political independence of the Nation. They will not succeed. After more than two hundred years of independence, the people and their legitimate Government remain steadfast in defense of sovereignty and the inalienable right to decide their own destiny. The attempt to impose a colonial war to destroy the republican form of government and force a “regime change,” in alliance with the fascist oligarchy, will fail like all previous attempts. Since 1811, Venezuela has faced and defeated empires. When in 1902 foreign powers bombarded our coasts, President Cipriano Castro proclaimed: “The insolent foreign foot has profaned the sacred soil of the Homeland.” Today, with the spirit of Bolívar, Miranda, and our liberators, the Venezuelan people rise once again to defend their independence in the face of imperial aggression. People to the Streets The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces of the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack. The people of Venezuela and its Bolivarian National Armed Forces, in perfect popular-military-police fusion, are deployed to guarantee sovereignty and peace. Simultaneously, the Bolivarian Diplomacy of Peace will present the corresponding denunciations before the UN Security Council, the Secretary-General of said organization, CELAC, and the NAM, demanding condemnation and accountability from the U.S. Government. President Nicolás Maduro has ordered all national defense plans to be implemented at the appropriate time and circumstances, in strict adherence to the provisions of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Organic Law on States of Exception, and the Organic Law on National Security. In this regard, President Nicolás Maduro has signed and ordered the implementation of the Decree declaring a State of External Commotion throughout the national territory, to protect the rights of the population, the full functioning of republican institutions, and to immediately transition to armed struggle. The entire country must activate to defeat this imperialist aggression. Likewise, he has ordered the immediate deployment of the Command for the Comprehensive Defense of the Nation and the Organs for Comprehensive Defense Direction in all states and municipalities of the country. In strict adherence to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, Venezuela reserves the right to exercise legitimate defense to protect its people, territory, and independence. We call on the peoples and governments of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the world to mobilize in active solidarity against this imperial aggression. As Supreme Commander Hugo Chávez Frías stated: “In the face of any circumstance of new difficulties, however great they may be, the response of all patriots…is unity, struggle, battle, and victory.” Caracas, January 3, 2025

JIM HIMES, top Democrat on House Intel: "Maduro is an illegitimate ruler, but I have seen no evidence that his presidency poses a threat that would justify military action without Congressional authorization, nor have I heard a strategy for the day after and how we will prevent Venezuela from descending into chaos. Secretary Rubio repeatedly denied to Congress that the Administration intended to force regime change in Venezuela. The Administration must immediately brief Congress on its plan to ensure stability in the region and its legal justification for this decision."

UNSEALED INDICTMENT Thank you US Attorney Jay Clayton justice.gov/opa/media/1422…

The US has launched an unprovoked and illegal attack on Venezuela. This is a brazen attempt to secure control over Venezuelan natural resources. It is an act of war that puts the lives of millions of people at risk — and should be condemned by anyone who believes in sovereignty and international law.

@CampusJewHate @ZohranKMamdani @Columbia On what planet is this "Jew Hatred"? How do you explain so many Jewish supporters of Mamdani being excited by Lina Khan's participation on the transition team?

Lina khan, @ZohranKMamdani 's transition team co-chair, on how she is going to find obscure laws to help his power grab. Obviously, "no kings" unless they are socialists. Not surprisingly, she is a @columbia faculty. When we asked @columbia to get rid of the activist faculty, we did not mean they unleash it on the rest of the city!

@Acyn This is my question.

Mamdani: My message to I.C.E. Agents and to everyone across this city is that everyone will be held to the same standard of the law. If you violate the law, you must be held accountable. And there is sadly, a sense that is growing across this country that certain people are allowed to violate that law, whether they be the president or whether they be the agents themselves.

Every liberal should be asked to listen to the two speeches out of NYC tonight, Cuomo 's limp whine and Mamdani 's forceful vision, and answer why they could ever see the politics of Jeffries, Schumer, and the other rightwing dems as a viable path forward.

Elon Musk wants you to vote Cuomo.

I was in gifted education for basically every year of grade school and I wholeheartedly think it should be ended. When I was in college, I remember commiserating with other ex-gifted kids. It's not always a great program.

@fifimcfae Yes, Asia has also suffered from many of Europe's terrible ideas. You must have access to some resource on colonialism and its terrible legacies. Public transit should be free like libraries, the fire department, and parks.

@samalcoff asia also?!

Alternatively, fares are a grossly regressive tax on necessary infrastructure to keep a city running. The wealthy should be taxed at adequate enough levels so that public transit costs no more to enter or exit than the park, the library, or the sidewalk.