Let's get one thing out of the way up top: America First was never an anti-interventionist slogan --not in the 1930s and certainly not today. That the slogan convinced millions of Trump supporters that they were voting against cavalier use of our military makes no difference. The shocking thing about January 3rd isn't that Trump has decided to overthrow a foreign government after a decade of saying he wouldn't (for reasons I'll get into later), but the way he did it. If the administration pulls this off, it will change the world forever. We will enter an entirely new era of geopolitics. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

You already know what happened. On January 3rd, over 150 aircrafts converged onto Venezuela. They knocked out the country's air defenses and bombed five different sites, including the country's main Caribbean port and a major telecomms tower. Amidst this chaos, helicopters dropped a Delta Force team into Nicolas Maduro's compound. They abducted the President and his wife, then fought their way out with only a few "self-defense engagements." The FBI took custody of the duo and delivered them to the Southern District of New York, where they await charges of narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and possession of machine guns (a weapon that America's largest gun rights organization believes we should be able to buy without a license, by the way). The United States military, General John "Raizin" Caine tells us, "remain[s ] in the region at a high state of readiness."

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Trump and Rubio's talking points combine into a message intended not for the people of America, but for the heads of state in Cuba, Columbia, and worldwide. The message itself is simple, elegant, and ugly: do exactly what we say or America will destroy you --not your country, or your economy, or your people, but you, personally. This strategy doesn't just let America "run" Venezuela. It allows this administration to "run" any country unable to attack us on our home turf: extract their resources, dictate their domestic policy, force their leaders to resign. All by credibly threatening extreme personal violence against any head of state who pushes back.

Credit where credit is due: it's an entirely new approach to colonialism. Here's how it's worked since Britain perfected the art: you invade the country, then place the opposition party in power. That party requires your support to maintain control (if they had enough force to do it themselves they'd already be in charge). In exchange for military backup, their leader will do anything you ask.

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