New Year - Same Old, Same Old

Happy New Year to all those on the Gregorian calendar. In the eight days that have elapsed since the start of 2026, much has happened. Starting with:

There's your governor New York! Not twenty five years on from America's worst terrorist attack and the head of the state in which it happened is already siding with the religion with which the perps dedicated their life to.

My guess is it was the newly-elected Mamdani who, quite literally, green-lit the whole thing, (which wouldn't be a surprise given he's a twelver). Which, if correct, he has had a busy opening week as mayor.

Lighting buildings up and speaking on national foreign policy matters is all part of the modern day "American" city mayor's job. In the year that America marks its 250th birthday, the president has to take a call from a socialist, muslim mayor of the nation's most populous city, to hear his opposition against capturing the Venezuelan president and to charge him in his own state. If George Washington read that one sentence, do you think he'd have bothered fighting?

Although Mamdani appears to oppose the Dons extra-curricular gallivanting, would he welcome the arrival of Maduro, or would he support his deportation, given that he is in fact a lawbreaking immigrant? Though we should remember that Mamdani is a member of the party which supported the arrest of the current president. Ask yourself: which is now more free - New York or Venezuela?

As for the "European" side, much of the governing class have gone fairly sotto voce on the whole thing; they've realised their influence is waning in these final hours of the EU. Even their best efforts to "diplomatically" fend-off Trump's latest Greenland venture seem to have been as effective as the US' own efforts to change the world order back in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, etc. etc. Even so, why should Trump 47 pay them any mind? Sure, sure, "national sovereignty" and all that. But where has "national sovereignty" been for about the past two decades, while most of Western Europe has decided to import millions upon millions of foreign nationals? That's widespread cultural suicide - so to hell with national sovereignty.

Anyhow, Europe is practically bereft of any international authority anymore, made even more obvious with this fiasco. Yeah, down the line, the US' international doings will almost certainly come to bite them in the back, because last I checked, despite being the world's best military spender, its about the worst military winner. And regardless of whether the US ends up controlling Venezuela and Greenland, one thing is clear: the Trump administration is now wielding executive power like few presidents have before. Congress as an institution seems to be becoming more and more irrelevant in the age of Trump. But Trump will be gone in a few years, and, if by the time the next guy is sworn in, Venezuela and Greenland are US territory, what then? It is entirely possible that whoever is in the White House next, may be against the US' excursions. And then we're back to square one, with probably more people dead and a couple more nations gone to pot when they eventually pull their troops - see Afghanistan, Iraq.

Sure, the US has done well to survive its first 250 years, but I'll bet that the next 250 will be just as hard, if not harder:

US fertility rate hits record low in 2024, CDC reports

Historically, the US stood out among developed nations for maintaining a fertility rate high enough to replace its population—around 2.1 children per woman.

But for nearly two decades, that number has been steadily declining as more women delay motherhood or opt not to have children at all...

...Concerned by the trend, the Trump administration has proposed measures to reverse the decline, including an executive order aimed at expanding access to in vitro fertilisation and suggestions for financial incentives like "baby bonuses" to encourage childbearing.

"Along with the annexation of Venezuela and Greenland" is what should be added on to the end. Maybe that helps explain these recent military interventions; the US has more people then. This is where I tell you that both Venezuela and Greenland are following the same demographic pattern.

The US has survived a civil war, several depressions, two world wars, four assassinated presidents (nearly five) and has still managed to come out the other side. But if this trend continues, the current administration's immigration policy will be the last of its kind: the US will be forced to import, or in this case annex, millions of non-Americans. Just so their tax dollars can go to Somali daycares and servicing debt for wars it can't afford - obviously. Because that's what it means to be an American now.

How long till there are Somali daycare centres in Venezuela? Before or after Trump's term ends?

©Tom Large 2026