The White House is openly plotting to bring down the government of Nicolas Maduro in Caracas. It is being openly promoted as a campaign to steal Venezuelan oil for the benefit of U.S. corporations, and some powerful Democrats are cheering Trump on and joining the conspiracy.

It is a major mistake to place all focus on Russia. We know that Trump’s team has colluded with Israel. We know they colluded with Saudi Arabia. We know they colluded with the United Arab Emirates.

As the Trump/Russia reality show continues to consume endless hours of media coverage, the U.S. is backing the genocidal,  scorched-earth bombing of Yemen. Trump has granted the CIA and military  sweeping authorities to conduct lethal operations, all while laughing it  up with the murderous despot, Rodrigo Duterte.

Even as President Donald Trump faces ever-intensifying investigations into the alleged connections between his top aides and family members and powerful Russian figures, he serves as commander in chief over a U.S. military that is killing an astonishing and growing  number of civilians. Under Trump, the U.S. is re-escalating its war in  Afghanistan, expanding its operations in Iraq and Syria, conducting covert raids in Somalia and Yemen, and openly facilitating the Saudi’s genocidal military destruction of Yemen.

Pence’s ascent to the second most powerful position in the U.S. government is a tremendous coup for the radical religious right. Pence - and his fellow Christian supremacist militants - would not have been able to win the White House on their own. For them, Donald Trump was a godsend.