Where was Congress when the president acted? A slim majority are Republicans who have supported him.

Looks like the battle of the bullies as Trump captures Maduro. Both leaders with dictatorial tendencies. Oil is part of the story again.

Whether Trump has authority to do this without without Congress is a question. Some folks ask; "Where the hell is Congress?" My thought is, a slim majority in Congress is Republican. They usually back Trump. Maybe more Republicans will question this going forward.

In the short run, this move looks like an ingenious success. Both Maduro and his wife captured, supposedly no American solders lost. How they pulled it off is kind of amazing. Then one must ask, why they had to bomb the boats off the Venezuelan coast killing many? Couldn't they have boarded the boats and at least investigated? They were able to just capture Maduro on the mainland.

What will the long term implications be? I don't like dictators, but was this a good idea?

What effect will it have on the situation in Iran where many Iranians are trying to overthrow their oppressive government? Will Trump's saber rattling toward Iran help, or likely interfere with the Iranian people's local attempts to rise up against their dictators? Biden was US president when the Syrians were able to overthrow Assad.

Will this make it more likely there will be a serious crackdown, within Iran, against it's people, in response to perceived outside meddling? What about this country? Are we headed more to dictatorship? What would be happening is Kamila Harris was president instead of Trump? What if Democrats had a majority in Congress and in the Supreme Court? Are some people now regretting not voting in 2024?

Will Trump go up, or down, in the next polls? Some people will praise what looks like cutting through the clutter and getting a job done. Others will say this is not how democracy works.

Like in Iraq, the war looks swift and successful at first, but the Iraq occupation was very problematic. How will this effect what Russia does and what China does?

Oil plays a role in Iran, Iraq, Russia, Venezuela and, of course, here in the US.

It will be a while before more is known.