Have you ever found yourself laughing out loud at something that should feel deeply dismal? That was me yesterday. I watched a video where a woman lamented that in Florida she had to vaccinate her dogs for rabies—but children no longer had to be vaccinated. I really didn’t find it funny… but I was laughing anyway.
Satire gets me every time. I tend to think of satire as something that’s not true… but in a way, seems like it could be. Andy Borowitz, The Onion, Mad Magazine—they all make me laugh. But in today’s bizarre political world, it's often impossible to tell what's satire and what’s real. The upside is that it forces me to fact check what I read.
Remember the old adage, “If it seems unlikely, it most likely isn’t true?” Well, those days feel gone. Suppose someone said, “This regime just blew up a boat with 11 (or maybe 13—nobody knows for sure) people aboard in international waters, not even close to the U.S.” Normally, that’d be met with a resounding “NO WAY.” But now?… Yes way.
Until about a week ago (on September 2, 2025), Forty-Seven directed a U.S. military strike in international waters of the Caribbean, killing 11 individuals aboard a vessel from Venezuela—a boat authorities alleged belonged to the gang Tren de Aragua, labeled as a “narco-terrorist” organization (The Washington Post+1Reuters). It marks a dramatic departure from traditional counternarcotics methods, which typically involve Coast Guard interdiction and arrests—not missile strikes (ReutersThe Wall Street Journal).
Critics argue the operation might violate both U.S. and international law, as lethal force is generally permitted only in genuine armed conflict or self-defense—and there’s no clear proof this vessel posed such a threat (ReutersThe Guardian). Many defense experts and legal scholars see this as a troubling precedent—an extrajudicial killing disguised as anti-drug policy (The GuardianThe Washington Post).
I don’t support illegal drugs entering America. But surely hitting a boat in international waters with a missile—effectively executing its passengers—is not proper protocol. Usually the procedure would be to disable, board, inspect, arrest, and charge—not obliterate. Yet that’s exactly what happened.
With insanity apparently running amok inside the White House, maybe inappropriate laughter is the last refuge between me and, well, actual sanity. Meanwhile, I hear people on both political sides shrugging: “It’ll all come out in the wash.” They’re burying their heads, pretending it’s just “politics as usual.” But I don’t buy that.
This isn’t politics as usual.
I have no idea what it will take for all Americans to wake up and see that these actions are not just controversial—they may be illegal, immoral, unethical, and downright dangerous to national (and international)—economic and mental—wellbeing.
Satire was supposed to highlight the absurd—but right now, reality is performing satire better than anyone could write.
Where are the people who once were furious over something as trivial as a fashion choice—a suit Obama wore that they insisted was “out of season”? Outrage has certainly... changed.
Well stated. Soooooo scary!
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