VICTOR JOECKS: Democrats despondent over deposing a dictator

Reflexively opposing President Donald Trump has left Democrats upset about the arrest of an illegitimate, anti-American autocrat.

Early Saturday, the U.S. military bombed numerous targets in Venezuela, clearing a flight path for U.S. forces. They landed at a military base where Nicolás Maduro lived and captured him and his wife. Trump said U.S. forces suffered some injuries, but no deaths.

Democrats used to oppose Maduro being in power. Before he left office, then-President Joe Biden put a $25 million bounty for information leading to the arrest of Maduro. In March 2020, the Department of Justice charged Maduro and his associates with crimes connected to narco-terrorism. John Kirby, then-spokesman for the National Security Council, said the reward was intended “to further elevate international efforts to maintain pressure on Mr. Maduro.”

The success of this audacious mission should have led to an outpouring of pure patriotic pride. It’s good to celebrate the awesomeness of our military and special forces. What happened should cause our enemies to wonder what else America has up her sleeve.

But doing so would be a de facto acknowledgment that Trump did something praiseworthy. So Democrats went on the attack.

“We’ve seen this movie before,” Kamala Harris wrote on X. “Wars for regime change or oil that are sold as strength but turn into chaos.”

If Harris is so worried about this, why did the Biden/Harris administration put a bounty on Maduro? Perhaps she didn’t realize that arresting Maduro would necessitate regime change.

“Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela do not make America safer, stronger or more affordable,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement.

This is the same line of logic that leads Democrats to contend that putting criminals in jail doesn’t reduce crime. Let’s see. A foreign despot who had his own army and worked with drug traffickers to bring cocaine to the United States is now in jail. That makes us safer. Plus, he was cozying up with America’s enemies. Thanks to this show of strength and resolve, those days appear over.

Then there’s the objection that “only Congress has the power to declare war and authorize the use of military force in other nations,” as Sen. Jacky Rosen wrote.

For one, there is no war. Trump used U.S. forces to arrest a criminal and read him his rights. Notice that the military didn’t shoot Maduro. Nor did Trump send in a full invasion force or unleash a widespread bombing campaign. Trump’s poorly phrased claim that the United States would “run” the country was quickly walked back by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The United States is interested in “running policy” that helps America and Venezuelans, Rubio said.

U.S. presidents have long taken limited military action without seeking congressional permission. That’s part of being commander-in-chief. In 1989, then-President George H.W. Bush sent the U.S. military into Panama to arrest its president on drug charges. It wasn’t the end of the Constitution, but an episode that many Americans don’t even remember.

Biden wanted to arrest Maduro. Trump did it. That’s what Democrats are actually upset about.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com. Follow @victorjoecks on X.