How do you tell a parent you sacrificed their child for Big Oil?

This afternoon I watched the live show Dimanche. It’s a combination of mimes and puppets from two award-winning Belgian companies. The setting is a time when climate change is hitting hard. There are two alternating scenes. The first is three intrepid wildlife reporters trying to document the damage in the Arctic. The second is a family trying to live normal lives, first when it is so hot the furniture warps, then during a ferocious windstorm. The first scene with the reporters is them crammed together in a vehicle as they drive to their next location. The fun part is they hold the windshield wipers in their hands and keep them going, thankfully in time to the music on their radio. The rearview mirror, complete with pinetree scent, is also there but the actors have to hold it in place. They are so scrunched together they have to pass wipers and mirror back and forth to be able to open the thermos to get a drink. I found an online photo of that scene here. When they arrive at their site they worry about the ice breaking up. In the family scenes the grandmother is played by a puppet. The family tries to keep her comfortable in the heat. Like the polar bear and flamingo puppets the puppeteers are quite visible, which is part of the fun. When Grandma sits, she does so in the puppeteer’s lap. This was an enjoyable 75 minutes, though it again brings up the question: When are we going to take climate change seriously enough to do something about it? Alas, I’m well aware that the people in charge of the petroleum industry maintain their power over the federal government through the riches they get by requiring we power our lives through their product. A week after Nicolás Maduro was kidnapped I’m finally able to run through the browser tabs of the situation that I’ve collected. If you still need something like this here is last Saturday’s Associated Press article posted on Daily Kos of the military operation and capture. On Monday Emily Singer of Kos wrote about the Democrat’s reaction. Of course, all who were quoted condemned it. Singer’s report included this:

Multiple Democratic lawmakers pointed to Trump's admission aboard Air Force One that he had briefed oil companies ahead of the U.S.’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro—and before he notified members of Congress. Clearly, this has nothing to do with illicit drugs and everything to do with Trump wanting to line the pockets of his oil and gas donors. Venezuela has some of the largest oil reserves in the world. Most concerning of all, Trump and his administration appear to have no plan for what comes after Maduro’s capture. That risks further destabilizing the country, echoing the United State’s boondoggle in Iraq, where the U.S.’s regime-change operation lasted nearly two decades, led thousands of American troops to die, and cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

Also on Monday Oliver Willis of Kos reported that Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois is one of several House members writing up articles of impeachment against the nasty guy because he kidnapped a foreign leader, a violation of international law. He also violated law by not telling Congress. Of course, there are several other impeachable offenses to go with it: Deporting international students for exercising freedom of speech. Abused the immigration system, starting with the abduction of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He accepted a bribe from Paramount to approve their merger with Skydance. He received a jet, an air palace, from the Qatari government. He abused presidential powers when he deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles. He is not spending money according to what Congress specified. He’s using the Justice Department for personal retribution. Though getting an impeachment bill out of the House would be close to impossible this year, airing his crimes in the Senate would mean any Republicans who voted to acquit would be tainted going into the 2026 election. Again on Monday Lisa Needham of Kos said the Maduro kidnapping is like Christmas for the DoJ. They were told by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg back in March to turn around a planeload of Venezuelan deportees on their way to prison in El Salvador. Those deportees, and many since, were supposed to get hearings before being flown out. The DOJ has been stonewalling because, gosh, they might not be the gang members the administration says they are. But now with Maduro in custody they’re busy with that and don’t have time to deal with Boasberg’s silly requests. And their next step is to claim that since the US has invaded their home country the are no longer migrants, but enemies. Of course, their real goal is to deport any one they please. Still on Monday Singer documented the similarities between the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and Venezuela today. Both are about oil. Both leaders declared victory early though the situation was far from resolved. And it seems in both cases once the old ruler was removed the American leaders had no idea what to do next.

"Military disasters like the Iraq War robbed this nation of young lives, of billions of dollars, and of our moral standing in the world. How do you look a parent in the eye and tell them you've sacrificed their child's life for Big Oil's bottom line?" James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas, wrote in a post on X. "As US Senator, I will never vote to send someone's son or daughter to war to make billionaires richer."

Bill in Portland, Maine, in his Friday Cheers and Jeers column for Kos quoted some late night commentary.

"President Trump said his new year's resolution this year is 'peace on earth,' and that lasted for just under two days. If you were wondering how bad these Epstein files are for Trump, turns out they're invade-Venezuela bad. This is literally the plot of the movie Wag the Dog: the president gets caught in a sex scandal, so he attacks a smaller country to distract us. And here we are, distracted. After months of escalation, Trump decided Maduro had to go. And yes, he's a criminal and a dictator who's driven his country into financial ruin while he and his family have lined their own pockets. But Maduro is no saint, either." —Jimmy Kimmel “This Minneapolis ICE shooting video has become a political Rorschach test: Some people see a peaceful protester getting murdered, and other people are fascists.” —The Daily Show’s Ronny Chieng "President Trump told House Republicans they have to win the midterms because, 'If we don't win the midterms, they'll find a reason to impeach me.' Of course, the challenge isn’t finding one. Its picking one." —Seth Meyers

Keefknight posted a cartoon on Kos he titled the re-PUBLIC-an Transit Map. It shows an oval with these places endlessly repeated.

GOP take over Tax Cuts for the Rich!! Deficit balloons Economy tanks (and we’re en route to:) Start Oil War Dems take over Dems raise taxes to cut deficit Repugs run on cutting taxes

Paul Fell posted a cartoon of a fortune teller and customer reacting to the crystal ball that exploded. The fortune teller says, “You just had to ask what Trump was going to do in 2026, didn’t you...?!