Image by Ernie Journeys.

I am told that if I don’t like what “my government” is doing, I should write to “my representative.” So I dropped Senator Adam Schiff a note about the US war on Venezuela.

The senator’s reply, with my translations of his Washington-speak (in italics) provided in brackets, is as follows:

“I have been opposing the administration’s unlawful use of force against targets [a sovereign country] in the region…the U.S…conducted an operation [act of war] on January 2-3, 2026, to capture [kidnap] the illegitimate [lawful] leader [president] of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro. Maduro is a thug [not Trump] who has terrorized and oppressed [defended] the Venezuelan people for far too long [Trump should have done it sooner], and he will now face trial in a New York [foreign jurisdiction] court.”

The senator then criticized Trump’s “military action” – aggression, by any other name – for lacking congressional approval, noting that it was problematic because it “risks embroiling us in another war.” This concern, however, does not extend to US war actions in Palestine and Ukraine, which Schiff finds especially wonderful – along with Iran, Nigeria, Iraq,

© CounterPunch