Alan Zweibel

How many Democrats sent Epstein a birthday card of a frontal sketch of a nude woman with these words: "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret." https://www.wsj.com/politics/trump-jeffrey-epstein-birthday-letter-we-have-certain-things-in-common-f918d796

So just basic decency and politeness have now been reclassified as "political correctness"?

And given that the USA has higher GDP per capita than all these other nations, that only makes it worse.

So, you think campaign contribution are some kind of sexual abuse? Either you have some very strange notions about sex or you are badly confused.

Even if your criticism is valid, the administration abruptly cut funding. So that made a transition impossible.

"Online influencer Andrew Tate, a self-described misogynist who has millions of young male followers, was facing allegations of sex trafficking women in three countries when he and his brother left their home in Romania to visit the United States. “The Tates will be free, Trump is the president. The good old days are back,” Tate posted on X before the trip in February — one of many times he has sung the president’s praises to his fans. But when the Tate brothers arrived by private plane in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, they immediately found themselves in the crosshairs of law enforcement once more, as Customs and Border Protection officials seized their electronic devices." https://www.propublica.org/article/andrew-tate-investigation-dhs-paul-ingrassia Trump Official With a ‘Nazi Streak’ Intervened to Help Andrew Tate: Report Ingrassia’s past incendiary commentary includes supporting Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, urging Trump to “declare martial law” after losing the 2020 election in order to illegally stay in power, and pushing an unsupported birther attack claiming Nikki Haley was constitutionally ineligible to be president — as well as vociferously defending the Tates, both in his public commentary and by acting as their attorney. Trump initially appointed Ingrassia to lead the Office of Special Counsel, but Ingrassia withdrew after his past racist text messages were leaked, including one where he described himself as having a “Nazi streak.” Less than a month later, however, the president kept Ingrassia in his role as DHS special liaison and expanded his role to deputy general counsel at the General Services Administration. https://www.mediaite.com/crime/trump-official-with-a-nazi-streak-intervened-to-help-andrew-tate-report/ Maybe the idea behind this was 2 negatives = 1 positive?

Well, that makes it OK, then?

The difference is I offer reasons before rendering a verdict. You just skip the first part. And that's because you've got nothing.

If that's the case, then why aren't they saying so? Maybe because it doesn't jibe with America First?

Dud.

I thought your comments couldn't get any sadder or emptier. I was wrong.

Grenada and Panama are small. The US has a long established presence in Panama. And who authorized you to speak for members of the Marine Corp? You think that they or the Army troops who might replace them want to be an army of occupation? Maybe they're mostly people who supported Trump on the strength of America First? The rest of your comments sounds like wishful thinking.

"People who know what they are talking about dont need others to think for them. But that matters not to you, propaganda spewer." Even people who know what they are talking about don't just make empty assertions and expect others to believe them. Especially when they have no way of proving it. "Why would anyone care to even discuss the matter with you? Boom, there goes another" My comment about not caring whether or not you have participated in a drug investigation had a point: no way of knowing whether or not it's true and even if it is true, so what? I'll go with certified expertise. Your reply was just a stupid insult. As for "Boom". Awarding yourself points is just sad. Dont need to make up stories, if we want it, we will just take it. Like all the countries we colonize and rule with a murderous violent fist, right? Last time I heard that kind of talk, the target was Iraq. How'd that work out?

For the sake of argument let's say that Venezuela is the major shipper of cocaine to Europe. Why should America be using its military assets to be defending Europe from this scourge? Since it's a European problem, let them deal with it. And if they don't want to, let them suffer the consequences.

Which is why I cited experts. And I have no idea whether or not you've ever particiipated in a drug investigation. And I don't care. What I do know is that you've offered nothing in the way of evidence.

Those are charges. Not convictions. And it's instructive to see how the word terrorism has changed its meaning to accommodate drug trafficking. No doubt that the people running Venezuela are really bad people. And no doubt some cocaine is shipped from Venezuela. But what has that got to do with the inordinate attention focused on Venezuela? Obviously the cocaine charges are pretextual.

Experts in crime, drugs and Venezuela say the South American country plays a minor role in trafficking drugs that reach the U.S. "The reality is that while Maduro’s government is an authoritarian corrupt regime, drug trafficking from Venezuela is relatively minor compared to other countries in the region such as Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico," said David Smilde, a Tulane University sociologist who studies violence in Venezuela. Phil Gunson, senior analyst for the Andes Region at International Crisis Group, a conflict resolution think tank, said the Trump administration has conflated several situations to reach the conclusion that a cartel runs Venezuela in order to justify U.S. military action. https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/sep/22/Trump-Venezuela-boat-strikes-drugs-trafficking/?utm_source=chatgpt.com Ecuador plagued by 'narco-bananas' trafficking As the world's leading exporter of both bananas and cocaine, the Andean country − with its poorly equipped and vulnerable ports − has become a logistical hub between producers in Colombia and Peru and consumers, particularly in Europe. https://archive.ph/RZwnJ#selection-1845.0-1849.240 Despite Ecuador not producing the drug, 70% of the world's cocaine now flows through its ports, Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa says. It is smuggled into the country from neighbouring Colombia and Peru – the world's two largest producers of cocaine. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0w4e4e00jo

Helping them do what? Stop or severely impact cocaine shipments? By attacking a country that's a relatively minor player? And who's going to police Venezuela to stop whatever drug trans-shipments might still occur? Obviously, the drug trafficking is just a pretext.

Thanks for the empty generalizations. You've got nothing.

Who has called Venezuela the cocaine capital of the world? I think you're making that up. Although I guess you could plead that someone somewhere has said that.

Yes. Trump is so incensed about Venezuela that he gave Chevron a special permission to extract and export oil from there.

Well, this is par for the course for the Trump Administration. For years, counterterrorism experts have been saying that Antifa is an ideology, not an organization.

Cartel de los Soles is not a literal organization, according to a range of specialists in Latin American criminal and narcotics issues, from think-tank analysts to former Drug Enforcement Administration officials. It is instead a figure of speech in Venezuela, dating back to the 1990s, for Venezuelan military officials corrupted by drug money, they say. The term, which means “Cartel of the Suns,” is a mocking invocation of the suns Venezuelan generals wear to denote their rank, like American ones wear stars. https://archive.ph/WHBvI With any luck historians may soon be able to add this to other fake pretexts for war like Remember the Maine and The Gulf of Tonkin Incident.

If we’re to believe Pat Bondi, apparently so. Here's Donald Trump's truth social post: "Now that the Democrats are using the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans, to try and deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN, and all of their other failures, I will be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him," Trump said in a lengthy post on his social media platform Truth Social." https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-epstein-bondi-clinton-larry-summers-reid-hoffman-jpmorgan-chase-rcna243971 Here's Bondi's reply: "Thank you, Mr. President. SDNY U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton is one of the most capable and trusted prosecutors in the country, and I’ve asked him to take the lead. As with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people." https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/1989411168067440722 At least assuming it was a sham is the only way to reconcile her reply with what she concluded in her summary of her investigation of the Epstein files 4 months ago: “Only a fraction of this material would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial, as the seal served only to protect victims and did not expose any additional third-parties to allegations of illegal wrongdoing… There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1407001/dl?inline She claimed 4 months she did an exhaustive review and found no basis to pursue criminal charges against any third party. Now she's thanking Donald Trump for, in effect, calling her an incompetent? You can get a much much better and more inclusive analysis from the article I stole these points from. Is Bondi Saying Her DOJ’s Prior ‘Exhaustive’ Epstein Review Was a Sham? https://archive.ph/qls0n

I don't have an idea how politics works in America? Hmmmm...I see what you mean. If there's one thing we know about Mike Johnson and most of the rest of the Republicans in the House, even when Trump favors something, that doesn't influence them in the least. They have a proud history of standing up to him. Mike Johnson kept the house shut despite Trump's strong support for the bill. And if there's one thing we know about Donald Trump, it's that when members of Congress defy him, he will meekly accept that defiance and keep mum. And we also know that it was truly a remarkable coincidence that after Trump said he supported the bill, so many of those Republicans who had previously refused to sign on to the discharge petition, abruptly changed their minds. At least that's how things work in Oppositeworld. On this planet not so much. But thanks for the comedy.