We Need Prudence, Not Perfidy, on Venezuela
We can be against crusading idealism without borrowing from progressives’ indulgent self-loathing.
I’m grateful to Jude Russo for taking my piece supporting the Trump administration’s muscular policy toward Venezuela seriously enough to answer it at length.
His central worry, that my argument risks normalizing executive improvisation, propaganda, and a casual drift toward imperial habit, is not frivolous.
On the contrary, anyone who cares about the character of American government should treat those concerns with gravity.
I share, in many respects, the impulse that produces such a critique.
If prudence is the conservative virtue par excellence, then skepticism of unaccountable power and of public mendacity is its guardian angel.
Author's summary: Prudence is key in Venezuela policy.