How do DUers feel about convicted criminal and neo-con Elliot Abrams

[malaise]

leading the attack on Venezuela on the Con's behalf?
This monster is one of those responsible for the massacres in Central America during those 'wonderful' Reagan years.

How dare he not answer questions about his past? How dare they appoint him. Where is the outrage?

[ck4829]

1. Rep. Ilhan Omar was 100% correct in her questions and statements to him

[malaise]

2. Indeed

I wish others had continued that line of questioning.

[Sherman A1]

3. Precisely

I would have liked to see more follow up.

[underpants]

4. It's a condescending and threatening message

and they get it.

[malaise]

26. Cartoon of the day from JHB's thread

[JHB]

28. Thank ye!

[malaise]

30. Thank you

and Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours

[underpants]

32. Spot on

[vlyons]

5. He clearly doesn't want to take responsibility for past actions in Iran-contra

Not a shred of shame or sorrow. He's a fixer for neo-con wat mongers.

[pdsimdars]

6. I sent Omar an email thanking her for doing what they all should be doing.

Makes me proud of America.

[gademocrat7]

7. This is terrible.

Another evil criminal who thinks he doesn’t have to answer any questions about his behavior.

[Scarsdale]

8. tRump's administration is

full of them. People who got away with slimy acts before, with another gop president, latch onto to Dirty Donnie to continue their criminality. These are tRump's type, no shame, no ethics, no feelings except for themselves.

[deminks]

9. how do I feel about Mr. Death Squads?

I cannot answer in polite settings.

[customerserviceguy]

10. Nobody with any credibility or dignity

will work for the Orange Menace at this point, so when you have to scrape the bottom of the barrel, you get Abrams.

Still, I'm puzzled by your phrase "attack on Venezuela". We have a limited range of choices here, we can back Maduro, we can back Guaido, or we can just talk about Venezuela as little as possible and remain neutral.

Being as some civilized nations in this world have chosen to back Guaido, how is our backing of him an attack on Venezuela? Maduro has clearly turned a very prosperous nation into a basket case.

[malaise]

11. Civilized nations?

Spare me

[customerserviceguy]

12. Wasn't Canada one of those nations?

I'd have to google up a list, but we might find another one or two on it.

In any case, what would be your preferred position on what's going on in Venezuela? I do agree that Abrams is absolutely going to make anything worse, but eventually, our candidates for the nomination are going to be called on to address this situation as to what they would do better.

What would be the most acceptable thing one of them should say?

[customerserviceguy]

14. OK, fair enough

I guess I did use inappropriate language, and I apologize to anyone who took it that I was calling for imperialism.

So, then, the best thing to do is just back away, let them fight it out in Venezuela, and deal with the survivors? Anything else is imperialism, including the provision of humanitarian aid?

[EndGOPPropaganda]

18. You're setting up a false dichotomy.

We always have the option of providing aid, whether we back any of the presidents or not. Why would you conflate aid with backing one of the presidents?

Also, an objection to Abrams is that he was a criminal war monger before.

[customerserviceguy]

24. Didn't I say

that whatever we did, Abrams would probably screw it up?

What's your recommendation on Venezuela? What should our candidates say about it? Or should they say nothing at all?

[customerserviceguy]

31. I can appreciate that

How do you do anything without supporting one side or the other? Maybe the safest course is to provide humanitarian aid to neighboring countries that have taken in refugees from Venezuela.

I agree with all of your listed assessments of intervention except one. Having NATO peacekeepers in the former Yugoslavia seems to have worked well after some initial trauma involved in getting them there. It tortured Bill Clinton's soul to have felt that he had done nothing during the Rwanda civil war between the Hutus and the Tutsis.

[malaise]

15. Big stick

More like big guns and massacres.

Well said

[OnDoutside]

16. When I think of Abrams, Bolton, Miller, Zinke, Kobach etc, I must refer to the Good Book of

Blazing Saddles to put them all in context

[malaise]

17. That is one of my favorite movies of all time

[OnDoutside]

19. There are so many life lessons in it !

[malaise]

20. Deep, profound

and hilarious

[JT45242]

21. Treasonous traitors all and Dems are to blame for their return

When Democrats found out about the $5 million that James Baker flew to Paris to pay the Iranian government to hold on to the hostages until after the election, later delayed to after Reagan's inauguration, they should have impeached Reagan and charged all involved with treason. But they decided to take the high road since Reagan only had less than a year and a half left of his second term.
Consequently, guys like Baker, Ollie North, and this ass hat keep coming back.

Yet another case when the Democratic leadership lacked the spine to go after these guys. Just like the two stolen W Bush elections, Trump's stolen election, and the stolen elections in Florida,again, and Georgia in 2018.

This guy should have been locked up for crimes against humanity. Let's send him to the Hague along with all the documents about his cover up if the genocides.

[malaise]

23. Excellent post

and welcome to DU

[gratuitous]

34. Actually, I'd blame George H.W. Bush

Remember his lame duck, dead-of-night, Christmas Eve pardons of Caspar Weinberger, Elliott Abrams, Duane Clarridge, Robert MacFarlane, Clair George, and Alan Fiers, Jr.? You don't remember? Of course not, because it's never mentioned for some reason, and certainly nobody brought it up during the recent necrogasm when Poppy shuffled off his mortal coil.

Those pardons completed the six year effort by the Reagan and Bush administrations to cover up the crimes of Iran/contra, according to Lawrence Walsh, the special prosecutor. Abrams' pardon opened the door for him to return to government during Bush the Stupider's administration, and now he's the face of the United States in another global hotspot in 2019.

More details to raise your blood pressure here.

[magicarpet]

25. Feed Abrams into the same industrial wood shredder ,feet first, as Henry Kissinger.

Then wet vac the puddle and dump it into the nearest cesspool of raw sewage.

[PeeJ52]

27. He should have been questioned more on his pardon conditions.

Abrams should have been questioned more about his pleading guilty by all members. He did plead guilty from withholding evidence from Congress on withholding aid to rebels. What is to stop him from doing it again in Venezuela? Why blame Maduro if he is suspicious of accepting aid from the US through non-monitored entry points when that is how Abrams shipped arms to rebels before and admittedly lied about it to Congress? I can live with the pardon, all Presidents do it, but to put someone right back in the same position they were pardoned for bad behavior is outrageous. Abrams has no business in any government role. He should never be rehired. Would you or I be rehired at our jobs if we were convicted in previous performance? I don't think so.

[malaise]

29. +1,000

[G_j]

37. This

[hibbing]

33. Another fine Reagan Republican n/t

[scarytomcat]

35. We should discuss what we can do non-militarily to help Venezuela

taking sides is not helpful and Abrams is a very bad idea.

[malaise]

36. Help the children locked up in pens by your own government

and separated from their parents first. Physician heal thyself and spare us the self righteous BS. We know it's about oil - Bolton said so.

[Pepsidog]

38. Just another deplorable piece of garbage.

[2naSalit]

39. Should be rotting in prison...

MFer. That's putting it nicely. Never forget about the School of the Americas.