FTACo88-FDT24dad said:

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Good article that attempts to articulate how the USA has understood and implemented its power since dropping the bomb. Worth a read.

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The bomb did more than end a war. It altered America's relationship to power itself. When the United States became the first nation capable of annihilating cities in a single act, moral recoil was immediate and sincere. American culture, which Protestant seriousness and a belief that power entails responsibility shaped, absorbed the shock deeply. Strength ceased to feel morally neutral. It began to feel dangerous simply by existing.

That instinct was not wrong. Nuclear weapons demanded restraint. Prudence was rational. But the psychological effect did not remain confined to nuclear strategy. Over time, American power itself acquired an asterisk. It required justification, apology, limitation.

Responsibility subtly transformed from stewardship into suspicion.

The cultural shorthand for this instinct is almost embarrassingly familiar. As Stan Lee famously put it, "With great power comes great responsibility." The line was never meant as a warning against action; nor was it a simple comic book slogan. It was a statement of duty. Power implied obligation, not paralysis.

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https://pjmedia.com/jamie-wilson/2026/01/03/the-gentle-giant-problem-why-america-stopped-using-its-power-n4947851

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Silvertaps said:

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Who?mikejones! said:

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In 2023 the Biden Admin rolled back sanctions on Venezuela in exchange for a promise from Maduro that Venezuela would hold free and fair elections.

In 2024 Maduro lost the election, stayed in power, and had his opponents arrested or driven from the country. pic.twitter.com/PRBc8lpJjA

— MAZE (@mazemoore) January 3, 2026

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No Spin Ag said:

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Maybe him being in auto-pen mode for the last part of his time in office was a blessing in disguise.

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jnathan10 said:

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aggiedata said:

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Hey Libs, Biden/Harris did this 1 year ago. Why didn't you scream then? Because it wasn't Trump, that's why.

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And the Biden administration officially recognized Edmundo Gonzalez as Venezuela's president-elect on 19-Nov-24...

U.S. recognizes Venezuela's opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzlez as president-elect

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Ellis Wyatt said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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Maybe him being in auto-pen mode for the last part of his time in office was a blessing in disguise.

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Are you in denial? Did you see his 2020 campaign?

He was installed because he was ******ed. He was never not the autopen. His mind was gone many years ago. He didn't make any meaningful decisions as president.

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No Spin Ag said:

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Ellis Wyatt said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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Maybe him being in auto-pen mode for the last part of his time in office was a blessing in disguise.

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Are you in denial? Did you see his 2020 campaign?

He was installed because he was ******ed. He was never not the autopen. His mind was gone many years ago. He didn't make any meaningful decisions as president.

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I didn't pay attention to his campaign. Life's too short for me to waste time on listening to politicians before they're in office.

Now that you mention it (meaningful decisions), you're right, he really didn't. Oh well, at least he's now out of the office and can't do any further damage.

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Quote:

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6. It took out a major supply of cash to the Iranian force responsible for killing hundreds of Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maduro ran a scheme with Iran to exchange fuel and gold to fund the IRGC and its terrorist Qods Force.

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Ragoo said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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Ellis Wyatt said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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Maybe him being in auto-pen mode for the last part of his time in office was a blessing in disguise.

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Are you in denial? Did you see his 2020 campaign?

He was installed because he was ******ed. He was never not the autopen. His mind was gone many years ago. He didn't make any meaningful decisions as president.

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I didn't pay attention to his campaign. Life's too short for me to waste time on listening to politicians before they're in office.

Now that you mention it (meaningful decisions), you're right, he really didn't. Oh well, at least he's now out of the office and can't do any further damage.

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did you vote?

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Ragoo said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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Ellis Wyatt said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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Maybe him being in auto-pen mode for the last part of his time in office was a blessing in disguise.

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Are you in denial? Did you see his 2020 campaign?

He was installed because he was ******ed. He was never not the autopen. His mind was gone many years ago. He didn't make any meaningful decisions as president.

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I didn't pay attention to his campaign. Life's too short for me to waste time on listening to politicians before they're in office.

Now that you mention it (meaningful decisions), you're right, he really didn't. Oh well, at least he's now out of the office and can't do any further damage.

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did you vote?

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agent-maroon said:

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Ragoo said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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Ellis Wyatt said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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Maybe him being in auto-pen mode for the last part of his time in office was a blessing in disguise.

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Are you in denial? Did you see his 2020 campaign?

He was installed because he was ******ed. He was never not the autopen. His mind was gone many years ago. He didn't make any meaningful decisions as president.

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I didn't pay attention to his campaign. Life's too short for me to waste time on listening to politicians before they're in office.

Now that you mention it (meaningful decisions), you're right, he really didn't. Oh well, at least he's now out of the office and can't do any further damage.

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did you vote?

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And if you did, what criteria do you use to make your vote selection if you haven't listened to what the candidate stands for and/or intends to accomplish in office?

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docb said:

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I wish they would stop talking about fentanyl with Venezuela. Do they really think we are that stupid. This is about oil and geopolitical rifts with China and Russia. We are not going to invade a country to help out a bunch of drug addicts.

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docb said:

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I wish they would stop talking about fentanyl with Venezuela. Do they really think we are that stupid. This is about oil and geopolitical rifts with China and Russia. We are not going to invade a country to help out a bunch of drug addicts.

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YouBet said:

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FTACo88-FDT24dad said:

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Good article that attempts to articulate how the USA has understood and implemented its power since dropping the bomb. Worth a read.

Quote:

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The bomb did more than end a war. It altered America's relationship to power itself. When the United States became the first nation capable of annihilating cities in a single act, moral recoil was immediate and sincere. American culture, which Protestant seriousness and a belief that power entails responsibility shaped, absorbed the shock deeply. Strength ceased to feel morally neutral. It began to feel dangerous simply by existing.

That instinct was not wrong. Nuclear weapons demanded restraint. Prudence was rational. But the psychological effect did not remain confined to nuclear strategy. Over time, American power itself acquired an asterisk. It required justification, apology, limitation.

Responsibility subtly transformed from stewardship into suspicion.

The cultural shorthand for this instinct is almost embarrassingly familiar. As Stan Lee famously put it, "With great power comes great responsibility." The line was never meant as a warning against action; nor was it a simple comic book slogan. It was a statement of duty. Power implied obligation, not paralysis.

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https://pjmedia.com/jamie-wilson/2026/01/03/the-gentle-giant-problem-why-america-stopped-using-its-power-n4947851

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I'll read it later but gosh I'm tired of reading stuff that was obviously put through the AI filter. This section you quoted here is gold standard AI generated. It's all structured the same way and sounds the same regardless of the topic. We've somehow overnight commoditized written language with AI.

Rant over.

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nortex97 said:

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agent-maroon said:

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Quote:

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6. It took out a major supply of cash to the Iranian force responsible for killing hundreds of Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maduro ran a scheme with Iran to exchange fuel and gold to fund the IRGC and its terrorist Qods Force.

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I don't understand how this scheme worked. How did either side profit when the trade was a product that they both had in abundance (oil)? Not doubting it, just needing an explanation for understanding. Thoughts?

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There are a lot of documented articles about this shift over the past 10 years. One here.

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Hezbollah participates in a host of criminal and terrorist activities across Latin America. Among the Shiite militant's most notorious terrorist attacks in the region is the 1992 suicide bombing of Israel's Embassy in Buenos Aires Argentina, where nine embassy personnel and scores of civilians were killed. Then there was the 1994 attack on Buenos Aires's AMIA Jewish community center where a suicide bomber claimed 85 lives and left hundreds injured, making it Argentina's deadliest-ever terrorist attack. It is speculated that Hezbollah, along with Brazilian organized crime groups (Spanish), masterminded the May 2022 murder of Paraguayan organized crime prosecutor Marcelo Pecci while he was holidaying in Cartagena Colombia. Brazilian authorities, in cooperation with Israeli intelligence, recently uncovered a Hezbollah network that was planning to attack Jewish targets in Latin America's largest country.

Those events underscore the sophisticated nature of Hezbollah's South American networks and the destabilizing influence they inflict on a politically volatile and vulnerable region. For decades, allegations have swirled over Hezbollah's operation of training camps in South America and deep involvement in the continent's cocaine trade, particularly in the Tri-State area a globally recognized hub for illicit economies. Over the last 20 years criminal activities, especially cocaine trafficking and money laundering have emerged as key sources of income for Hezbollah. It is inevitable that the Shiite militia would engage in such a lucrative activity with a global market valued at north of $100 billion annually. As a result, it is believed that Hezbollah has emerged as a major player in Europe's cocaine trade which is valued at up to $12 billion each year. Estimates vary but cocaine smuggling is thought to generate up to three hundred million dollars annually for Hezbollah. This makes narcotics trafficking the second largest source of revenue for the Lebanese militia which is only surpassed by Teheran's funding believed to be worth $700 million annually.

South America's lawless Tri-Border area was at the center of Hezbollah's criminal network for decades, but the rapidly growing importance of cocaine trafficking for its finances saw the terrorists expand into South America's Northern Andean countries of Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

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But even that is an over-simplification of the narcotics-oil-weapons trade nexus that Venezuela had become. I think folks recognize Putin didn't loan/give $7 billion to Maduro of weapons out of the goodness of his heart, for instance, and the Chinese don't go around charitably tossing massive "one Belt one road" loans to 'good leaders' either.

But no drug enterprise (outside of a TV show) sticks with just one illicit narcotic of course. In Syria, it was/is "Captagon" largely (and in other islamic paradises of war). While fentanyl is a uniquely horrific 'new' drug the Chicoms with VZ have happily pushed into the US, it also includes various heroine-like and cocaine products too.

Election fraud, narcotics trade, emptying their prisons into our populous, gangs, you name it, Maduro has committed these crimes he has been indicted for and more likely, with the help of our geopolitical enemies (and their terrorist proxies), while helping them to profit on drug/weapons trade and keeping dying communist nations like Cuba afloat.

Frankly, it's all a bit too much for a message board post but this video at this post does a decent job explaining the Iranian Hezbollah connections to Venezuela under Maduro, and some of the plots he/they engaged in which endanger Americans, generally with narcotic gang networks/funding.

🚨The Real Reason for Venezuelan invasion.🚨

Today was not mainly about Drug Cartels... Venezuela and Lebanon, my country of birth, have something in common.

They are both home to Iran's Hezbollah, the same group that destroyed my country, Lebanon.

Watch This👇 pic.twitter.com/wCH0qgmKLB

— Vesper (@vesperdigital) January 3, 2026

Hope this helps.

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No Spin Ag said:

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I usually read about what they did before they started to run, read their websites, and of course, watch the debates.

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docb said:

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I wish they would stop talking about fentanyl with Venezuela. Do they really think we are that stupid. This is about oil and geopolitical rifts with China and Russia. We are not going to invade a country to help out a bunch of drug addicts.

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DannyDuberstein said:

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docb is fine with seeing our security compromised across the gulf as long as we make nice with the russkies and chinamen

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Ellis Wyatt said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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I usually read about what they did before they started to run, read their websites, and of course, watch the debates.

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Where did you read about it? The left lies about everything. Leftist media carries their water. Period.

Biden was always stupid. He was always a hollow-headed puppet.

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Jock 07 said:

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docb said:

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I wish they would stop talking about fentanyl with Venezuela. Do they really think we are that stupid. This is about oil and geopolitical rifts with China and Russia. We are not going to invade a country to help out a bunch of drug addicts.

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Do you not understand what kind of burden those drug addicts put on a society?

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aggiedata said:

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Hey Libs, Biden/Harris did this 1 year ago. Why didn't you scream then? Because it wasn't Trump, that's why.

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