Histrionic implies a level of overdramatization. So, no, I don’t think the situation is being overdramatized.

On the contrary, I do think that European leaders are being (and have been, for a very long time now, and definitely since orangeboi’s first time around) unbelievably naive and myopic when it comes to the likely behavior of the fascists that now run shit over here.

Seriously, stop pussy-footing around. Make some fucking contingency plans, for christ’s sake. The EU is effectively the last major bastion of democracy and humanistic governmental policy, and they are largely proving that they are categorically unprepared for this very plausible eventuality, that they completely ignored pretty much all the indicators leading up to this, and that there are no good plays to make now as a direct result of that lack of preparation. And it breaks my fucking heart.

Saying this is “a bit concerning” is akin to saying “it’s a bit challenging to breathe in a vacuum”

Because both of those countries have nukes and real militaries that could conceivably put up a serious fight against several CVN battle groups, whereas what the orangeboi regime did in Venezuela was basically a showy example of overkill. Putting aside how deeply fucking stupid and illegal the whole thing was, the mission probably could have been fully accomplished with a small surface action group centered around an LHD, plus an SSGN. The Ford being sent there was really just not necessary, especially considering the other airfields the USN and USAF have in the vicinity.

The Department of Children Who Can’t Read Good and Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too

This is darkly hilarious - we didn’t even really do an actual regime change. It was literally just getting an adversarial despot out of the picture so the regime can grift the whole fucking country. They do not care, and they’re not even trying to hide it.

That’s… not at all what’s happening here, nor is it what I’m saying, nor am I making excuse for the DNC’s idiocy.

You had me until the last sentence. Do you even hear yourself?

I’m absolutely not a fan of American Imperialism - either the historical softer kind, or the new bullheaded “fuck you I do what I want” kind - but being so comically dogmatic makes you sound just as bad as the die-hard MAGA crowd.

Indeed, I think they would at this point.

But they’re sure as shit not keeping the pound sterling if they try to rejoin. That was a one-time deal.

wtf are you even talking about?

Payment of the bond does not guarantee a visa will be granted, but the amount will be refunded if the visa is denied or when a visa holder demonstrates they have complied with the terms of visa.

I would bet money that they’re gonna “find ways” to not give a lot of those bonds back

Macroslop would be better

Microslop, indeed

This does seem like the UN’s League of Nations moment

• annex Venezuela
• make Venezuela your vassal
• loot and pillage Venezuela

Reminder: the vestiges of Blackwater now operate under the auspices of Constellis, so watch for them to get PMC contracts in Venezuela.

Just in case there was any confusion on what one of the primary goals here was

Pretty sure they don’t bother with just photos, I’m sure there’s some guy that’s replaced the one that died was murdered in prison.

FTFY

Except that was a peaceful process, not an invasion/annexation. Because part of Taiwan’s strategic defense policy is “we will melt our chip fabs to slag if the PRC invades”. Thus, they hold a gun to the head of pretty much all of the most advanced chip fabrication in the world, which most of the rest of the world has a vested interest in keeping working.

You’re looking at the wrong axis.

American liberals mostly - though not exclusively - tend to be capitalistic. American conservatives are definitely capitalistic. Their disagreement largely centers around “should we or should we not make any attempt whatsoever to be egalitarian”

It would be pretty wild if the Korean reunification was accomplished due to the complete demographic collapse of South Korea.

Though, NK isn’t doing that much better, coming in with a fertility rate somewhere between 1.3 and 1.4, which is somewhat unusual when compared to other countries with extreme poverty.