Militarized America – All the President’s Men, Well Armed

 

Militarized America – All the President’s Men, Well Armed

As I watched sleepy-eyed Donald Trump, forced to stand as his minions droned on about the military capture of Venezuela’s now ex-President Nicolás Maduro, I thought to myself how irrelevant the US Constitution has become of late. I don’t like Maduro any more than do most Americans; he is an illegitimate, mega-corrupt dictator with an ultra-loyal army and a vast cadre of notorious motorcycle gangs ready to do his dirty work. I cannot think of any redeeming features for that crass autocrat, but at least the Venezuela dictator will have his day in court. I am sure that the Maduro’s 2020 arrest warrant (based on corruption, drug trafficking and other charges) does make arresting and removing Maduro more legitimate than President Trump’s unilaterally labeling those little speed boats and their crews as narco-terrorists in and around Venezuelan waters – most heading anywhere but the United States – before blowing them up.

But Trump has resurrected the “this is our hemisphere” Monroe Doctrine from the early 19th century, by capturing Maduro and shipping him to New York for trial. We saw this 36 years go as we captured, tried, convicted and imprisoned Panamanian narco-dictator, Manuel Noriega. Without consulting Congress, Trump also announced on January 3rd that the US was taking over the administration of Venezuela until an effective transition can be found: he used the word “war” in his description. The message to Putin is clear: Europe is really yours; dispose of Ukraine as you will. To China’s Xi: Taiwan is your bailiwick… and to the rest of the world, especially Latin America, cower to US demands… or (subtext), find some strong allies to help you push back. Just like the allies carving up the world after WWI, a colonialism that the US rejected after WWII. Oil?

We are living through a reconfigured America, starting with Trump’s hard-dollar corruption, moving to use force to keep foreign governments in line, his political opponents oppressed and voters from being able to use their ballot power. Trump is now the most unpopular president in decades, embracing gerrymandering and indicting legitimately elected or appointed foes under an attorney general who follows is orders to the letter. I’ve blogged on point before, but Congress just happened to pass laws the benefit Trump and family very directly; take a look at Forbes’ analysis of the increase in his net worth:

President Donald Trump was already a billionaire when he began his second term in office in January 2025. But since then his wealth has nearly doubled…. As of September 2025, Trump’s net worth had climbed to $7.3 billion from $3.9 billion in 2024, Forbes reported. Here’s a breakdown of his net worth since the beginning of the decade:

• 2020: $2.5 billion
• 2021: $2.5B
• 2022: $3.2B
• 2023: $2.6B
• 2024: $3.9B
• 2025: $7.3B (as of September)

Trump makes a very nice salary as president — $400,000 a year, according to House.gov. But he didn’t get $3.4 billion richer in less than a year off of his paycheck. In March 2025, he signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile. According to a White House fact sheet, the reserve will treat bitcoin as a “reserve asset,” capitalized and owned by the U.S. Department of Treasury.

Even as the market may have dropped some of those values, he made a lot of money over the last year, even as some of the investors in his entities lost a bundle. As troubling as all this might be, the fact that anonymously masked federal agents, working with federal and federal troops, have arrested and deported individuals without warrants or even probable cause, is worse. Effectively, Trump’s DOJ is his private law firm, and ICE along with rightwing militia sworn to support him, have become his personal army of “retribution,” often assisted in finding workarounds against federal court orders. On a formal basis, for example, under the “leadership” of Kristi Noem (“ICE Barbie”), Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, overfunded under Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” lowering an already lowered bar, to recruit those with a clear history of aggressive force and gun ownership, simply, people with established rightwing political views.

According to Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, writing for the January 2nd The New Republic: “The deportation agency has earmarked $100 million for online advertisements over the next year, hoping to draw gun rights advocates and military enthusiasts into its ranks, according to an internal document obtained by The Washington Post… The agency’s so-called ‘wartime recruitment’ strategy involves a massive hiring spree that aims to take on as many as 10,000 new officers across the country. To do so, ICE is coordinating a sprawling social media campaign to target people who have ‘attended UFC fights, listened to patriotic podcasts or shown an interest in guns and tactical gear,’ reported the Post.

“Some of that cash will be directed toward advertisements on Snapchat and the conservative YouTube dupe Rumble, while other portions of the budget will be dosed out for live marketing via livestreamers and right-wing influencers… The recruitment blitz will also utilize contemporary software such as geofencing in order to beam ICE advertisements directly to devices in certain areas, such as those near military bases, Nascar races, college campuses, or gun and trade shows, according to the 30-page document… The plan is a far cry from ICE’s typical recruitment methods, which have historically depended on recruitment from local police offices and sheriff departments to locate experienced talent with potential to grow at the federal level.”

But from Charlottesville in 2017 to the Capitol invasion in January 2021, Trump has also had the fierce loyalty of rightwing militia, armed, trained and waiting for him to call. Postdoctoral associate in Classical and Civic Education, University of Florida, Alexander Lowie, writes for the December 29th The Conversation: “Stewart Rhodes [above right], the founder of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia, announced in November 2025 that he will relaunch the group after it disbanded following his prison sentence in 2023… Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other crimes committed during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

“In January 2025, President Donald Trump granted clemency to the over 1,500 defendants convicted of crimes connected to the storming of the Capitol… Trump did not pardon Rhodes – or some others found guilty of the most serious crimes on Jan. 6. He instead commuted Rhodes’ sentence to time served. Commutation only reduces the punishment for a crime, whereas a full pardon erases a conviction.

“As a political anthropologist I study the Patriot movement, a collection of anti-government right-wing groups that include the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Moms for Liberty. I specialize in alt-right beliefs, and I have interviewed people active in groups that participated in the Capitol riot… Rhodes’ plans to relaunch the Oath Keepers, largely composed of current and former military veterans and law enforcement officers, is important because it will serve as an outlet for those who have felt lost since his imprisonment. The group claimed it had over 40,000 dues-paying members at the height of its membership during Barack Obama’s presidency. I believe that many of these people will return to the group, empowered by the lack of any substantial punishment resulting from the pardons for crimes committed on Jan. 6.” Who and what are we now?!

I’m Peter Dekom, and America has been scammed, the Supreme Court helped, and a GOP Congress has done and will do nothing about it… as the big perp is laughing himself to sleep.