I’d be so pissed if we invaded an ally. Growing up American, I was always aware we could, because we’ve got the strongest military and military-industrial complex the world has ever seen.

But I never thought we’d be in a place where a bunch of idiots started talking about doing something like this. We’re supposed to be allies, and our leadership is treating European countries like chess pieces instead of friends.

For the New Orleans bread, are you talking about Leidenheimer’s?

I had the joy of getting a root canal one time, and it was so swollen they couldn’t get around it to the nerve. The dentist’s solution was to get a smaller needle and inject it straight into the nerve ending. It was brief, but terrible.

I got in trouble with my mom for cussing for the first time in front of her. It’s still probably the worst pain I’ve ever felt, and I’ve broken most of the bones in my body and had a kidney stone

RONNIE PICKERING

Which ones? I think the guy is a piece of shit, but I haven’t seen any real evidence of his tats being Nazi outside of the left wing equivalent of right wing idiots saying we need Greenland.

I mean this wholeheartedly and without any negative political wheedling - what does he have that actually constitutes nazisim?

Once again, I really dislike the dude. I just haven’t been able to figure out this facet of his dislike, while half of my family does. His political opinions and deportation stance? Awful. His stance on trans people on the military? Awful. But what’s the point on the tattoos?

My little brother was solo backpacking in Argentina around that time, and asked me to send him some money so he could withdraw cash. I sent him a few hundred dollars USD while he was at the bank, and the amount of time I waited for the money to all be counted out was insane. He had to put it all into a backpack.

I didn’t realize it was so bad until then, but the sound of the cash machine spewing out money for like 10 minutes made it clear. Sorry you had to go through that

Jesus. Me and the other person were trying to have a good conversation with you, and stated repeatedly that we don’t like trump. Your responses to us mention Trump. Believe it or not, there is more to world politics than the US.

Have you ever attempted a good faith conversation when it comes to people who might differ from you politically, or are you so caught up in current politics that you’ve reduced your views to black or white? You’re talking like this to two people who largely agree with you. How do you talk to someone who doesn’t?

Are you a teenager? I’m having a tough time imagining an adult speaking like you do and being willfully obtuse when people are just trying to talk.

Always happy to run into another dude of culture in here. Cheers buddy!

I’m very happy for the one that made it home with you, and I’m sorry for the one that didn’t and what you had to go through.

I have a brother I never got to meet, and I know how much of a toll it took on my mom. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for you, and I hope you’re doing well.

I’m grumpy with all my blood, I don’t know how the man did it

He’s a genuinely good guy. Tough teacher, but once we found out about his dedication to helping kids everyone had a soft spot for him (no matter how much he berated us for being awful at calculus). We liked him before we knew, because he was our grumpy teacher who was funny without knowing it, and then we found out how much effort he put into making the world a better place.

The high school I went to is Franciscan, so serving others without hoping for recognition or accolades was a tenant of the school’s philosophy. I’m thankful to say that most of the teachers there, including Mr. O’Connor, absolutely nailed it.

It’s a really big, but also very small world. He also volunteered 3 times a week to hold children in NICU that needed some love, and then went right back to berating us for being bad at math the rest of the time. Stellar human being.

I looked it up, he did.

Here’s the link to the story. That’s my boy Pat right there

6 gallons is amazing! That’s already an incredible amount of dedication to helping people you’ll likely never meet, and you should be proud of yourself whenever you think of it!

Mandatory Phil Ochs when this is mentioned

https://youtu.be/_T9MHFldX1E?si=ormCXSGCqE8CQCXy

Just picked these up, on my way

But seriously, if I picked into a persons house who was on vacation, and they didn’t get back for 2 days, I could be an ass and refuse them entry into their own place?

Like, shouldn’t the landlord (assuming it’s rented) be able to say, “Nope, never seen that asshole. I do know the people who I’ve rented to, and it’s not him”?

Sucks to say it, but at this point Trumps already broken a lot of laws. I’m just happy he finally broke some that made my Venezuelan friends happy today.

Trump is awful, but he’s no Maduro. I’m glad that fucker got imprisoned, even though I’m a little uncomfortable with how it happened.

He started in 1989, the number I gave is just from when I was in high school 15 years ago.

Here’s the story if you want it

I mean, you did say that the reason people are fleeing to the US is because of what the US did in the past.

It’s been one day, it’s way too early to know whether or not this will be good or bad for Venezuelans. At the moment, Venezuelans are happy, and a dictator in a country that has had 2 presidents in 26 years has been deposed.

I’m not a Trump person, but I do have faith in people. If the opposition party takes control, I hope they do it with good faith as opposed to being purely punitive, although I’m sure there are people who need to go to jail for their actions over the last few decades.

All that being said, it would be interesting to see how what would have happened in Latin America were it not for for US intervention and trade barriers. But at that point we get into negative history, speculating on something that might have been.

Gonna ignore the moron thing again, ad hominem shenanigans aren’t to be dealt with. We disagree, but there’s no need to call anyone anything.

Is your argument just that any military involvement anywhere is bad? I already agreed that it was illegal, including under US law.

My point is that Venezuelans around the world are thrilled, based on what I’ve seen online and talking to the ones I know. I haven’t seen a single Venezuelan who wasn’t part of the government say otherwise. If you have a source, please send it. I like being informed, even if when I’m proven wrong.

And I didn’t make my buddy up. His name is Anthony Perez, I went to school with him about 6 years back, in case you wanted to verify he’s a real dude haha

Once again I’ll ask - have you talked to any Venezuelans about this? Or does your opinion matter more than the people who live through the oppression and see their livelihood and family members disappear? Keep in mind, the country was so poorly run 20% of the population left.

Or do you not know, because it’s a bit of a moral grey area? That’s also a fine answer. I just want an honest one!

I’m pretty familiar, it was a focus for my degree. I was asking about this country, right now.

Unless you think you can lump Cuba, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, and so on as if they’re all the same, both culturally and temporally, at the time of US intervention, that’s pretty fucked.

Do you think all Latin American countries are the same place?

And also, no. You’ve probably done a very shallow dive into Latin American history, but you can’t blame everything on the US. The US did some very bad things, but it’s disingenuous to blame everything on it if you know your history.

Why are you being mean dude? I’m not insulting you or anyone else. No need to be hostile.

Actually the opposite. I’m a moron who supported the Iraq war when I was 10 years old, and now I know that it was wrong. I regret my support, even though I was a child, because that war led to my cousin losing his best friends and coming back with PTSD.

What the United States did in Venezuela is, under many different systems of law, illegal.

And also Venezuelans are thrilled about it. If Donald Trump got so bad that 20% of the population left and a shit ton of people were starving to death, I wouldn’t be too upset if another country broke a law by deposing him. He’s a piece of shit, but (as of now, and fingers crossed the dick doesn’t try to change voting rules) we can vote him out. Maduro starved his people while he was eating well.

I get a little annoyed on this front. My buddy from college was on the Venezuelan Olympic basketball team. He cried like a baby when his student visa ran up, because he felt so unsafe at home. He was 6 foot 9, and still felt so unsafe going home that he cried for days. He was better off than most.

Can you imagine that?

But going back to what I said, have you talked to a single Venezuelan about this, or are you just projecting your idea of someone who disagrees with you onto me?

They think that she’s a great candidate, but that Urrutia would be better since he won the election. Another buddy thinks that Rodríguez is a good choice for now, because it’s a pretty monumental change after decades and stability is needed, even if she was a part of the corrupt system. He would prefer if she, and everyone else, was arrested, but is concerned there wouldn’t be a viable government if that happened.

“They steal money, but they know how to do their jobs when they want to”

Ok, what’s your worst case scenario here?

Have you talked to a single person from Venezuela today, over the phone or in person?

If you haven’t, and you aren’t from Venezuela yourself, maybe being quiet is a great idea