The Coup That Wasn't - State of the Empire

It's interesting to see how the empire goes hurtling ahead, independent of the domestic disagreements.  The mainstream media is unanimous in its support of Bolton, Pompeo, Abrams, and Trump in Venezuela, even as Trump is widely seen to be a puppet of Putin.  The cognitive dissonance is jarring and remarkable.

Yesterday I was greeted by dozens of headlines regarding a "coup" in Venezuela.  I turned on NPR and heard a the words of the coup leaders.  Today, the New York Times says "clashes erupt", and Guaido calls for uprising.  Pompeo says that Maduro was going to flee to Cuba, but the Russians told him not to.  This seems preposterous to me.  Apparently, Putin serves conveniently as a bogeyman for the Trump administration, just as he does for domestic opponents of the Trump administration.  George Orwell would be proud.

I get it.  Defying the empire is stupid and will be punished.  Chavez mocked George W. Bush at the U.N., saying he detected the stench of Satan, or some such put down.  His successor Maduro has apparently been unwilling or unable to reconcile.  So the empire is trying to take his regime down.

While the public relations surrounding this is jarring, to me, in its irrationality, I seem to be in the minority.  The empire's leading lights seem to be in agreement that this all makes sense.  The Cold War is back on and we need to get on board.  We won the Cold War in 1989, but apparently have not followed through and now the Soviet Union Russia is the Great Satan that must opposed everywhere, including domestically.  Moreover, China is much more powerful than it was in 1989 and still an enemy, so we are really in a weaker position, it would seem.  Meanwhile, the U.S., the U.K., France, and other stalwarts of the empire are facing domestic chaos. 

Where do we go from here?  I don't know, but it will be interesting to see how the ("neoliberal") empire responds to the challenges accompanying technological developments, globalization, and environmental constraints.