How does the social sanctioning of Maduro’s financiers compare to that of Trump’s bad taste Joe/Mika tweet?

Sir, John Paul Rathbone in reference to the helicopter event in Venezuela writes: in “a plot twist barely worthy of a B-movie… whatever actually happened, one thing is clear: Mr Maduro, nearly half of whose cabinet members are generals, now has an excuse to repress more.” “Venezuela’s B-movie drama is moving from farce into tragedy” June 30.

Really, is that an excuse? Really, do you think anyone declaring: “If we cannot win with votes we will win with weapons” (which is what Maduro really said) need an excuse?

Sir, and let us be more precise. Venezuela moved from farce (if ever it was a farce) to tragedy a long time ago. Just ask the 2 million, out of 32, who had already have had to migrate to foreign lands, abandoning friends and family.

There is currently an incredible amount of social sanctioning of Donald Trump because of his “Psycho Joe” – “Crazy Mika” tweet. Rightly so, but Trump’s bad taste tweet represented no crime against humanity and, when compared to Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, he is clearly more of a Church Boy.

So, comparatively speaking there has been extraordinary little sanction of those who, incapable of resisting juicy margins, finance the Maduro government, like Goldman Sachs. For instance, how many have closed out their accounts at Goldman Sachs or how many have disinvited Lloyd Blankfein from a social event?

Sir, when an elite becomes incapable of sanctioning one of its own, reality will come back and bite it.

PS. Watching my inbox fill up with solicitations of donations in order to fight Trump, every time he puts his foot in the mouth, which should indicate these mess-ups are strong motivators, indicates some could have a deep love-hate relationship with him.

PS. Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein. Want to see how your client Maduro teargasses young Venezuelans in a closed truck?

@PerKurowski

The dangers posed by hackers are much too dangerous and merit much more serious responses than expelling diplomats

Sir, when you consider the potentially so much more dangerous threats hackers can pose than hacking some Democratic National Committee files, like for instance hitting nuclear energy facilities, how can you argue “expelling 35 Russian “spies”, closing two properties and imposing sanctions on Russian agencies” represents a smart and “A sharp US riposte to Moscow’s cyber breach” December 31.

Why does this type of hacking get so much front road attention? Could it be because I fact it has little to do with hacking and more with other issues?

Daily I get about 30 emails from all over the US political spectrum asking for contributions. Since I am not a US citizen, I have ignored them all. But perhaps the possibilities that behind any of these solicitations could be a Russian hacker might be even a stronger reason for me to not contribute to anyone. 

I trust, or at least I pray, that beneath the surface of this public discourse, much more important measures are taken to defend us from malevolent hackers, here, there and everywhere.

@PerKurowski