Politics roundup: Why is the United States getting involved in Venezuela?

Juan Guaidó is challenging Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and having trouble. Why is the U.S. getting in the middle of it all?

Why you should care about the situation in Venezuela

The opposition to Nicolas Maduro’s government has faltered, but it isn’t gone entirely. Neither is the story over yet, thanks in part to rumblings from the United States government.

Opposition leader and self-declared real President Juan Guaidó has admitted that his resistance to Maduro isn’t going to get anywhere without military support. And with the nation’s armed services generally declaring themselves to be aligned with Maduro, Guaidó’s chances are starting to dwindle.

Things have gotten even more dire with the news that hundreds of people have been injured in recent protests, while at least four people have died during the clashes. Back in Washington, the Venezuelan embassy saw a dramatic protest form just outside its doors.

The United States isn’t out of the picture, however, and so neither is the opposition. The White House has expressed its support for Guaidó, which isn’t terribly surprising considering the tense relationship between the U.S. and Maduro’s hardline socialist government.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has even said that an American intervention isn’t off the table, stating that “military action is possible. If that’s what’s required, that’s what the United States will do.” If Guaidó can’t muster his own support soon, will U.S. forces step in?

Maduro, meanwhile, has directly accused the United States of trying to lead a coup against his government. And though more than 50 nations recognize his opponent as the rightful leader of Venezuela, Maduro’s got the backing not just of the military, but also big international players like Russia and China. This isn’t just a large domestic crisis for the Venezuelan people, but potentially a far-reaching and long-lasting conflict for the rest of the world.

Mueller joins voices criticizing Attorney General Barr

Even Robert S. Mueller can’t remain totally stone-faced forever. As it turns out, he’s been known to speak out when the occasion calls for it. With William Barr’s interpretation of the Mueller report now in play, the situation indeed prompted a reply.

Said reply, a letter, actually appeared back in March. In the letter, addressed to Barr, Mueller criticized the Attorney General’s early interpretation of the report as an exoneration of the President. A four-page summary of the report, followed by a press conference, strongly implied that the White House was in the clear. The release of a redacted version of the report on April 18 showed that this wasn’t entirely true, not least because it contained the seeds for ten counts of obstruction of justice.

While the contents of Mueller’s letter have not been released, they reportedly center on Barr’s lack of context, provided in an attempt to sway public opinion in favor of the White House.

In a hearing held on Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Barr continued his attempt to discredit Mueller. He expressed doubts about the legal methods used in the report, questioning why the special counsel hadn’t simply charged the President with obstruction or any other crime. “Why were those investigated at the end of the day, if you weren’t going to reach a decision?” he asked.

A closer look at the report presents an answer: Mueller felt that his team could not bring charges, such a move being a violation of “fairness”. In the hearing, Senate Democrats took an antagonistic stance towards Barr for his handling of the report. Some, like Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono, even called for his resignation. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R – S.C.) maintained that she was “slandering” the Attorney General. Barr then refused to appear in front of the committee on Thursday.

Facebook bans extreme voices

Facebook announced that it has banned some notorious extremists from its platform, including far-right demagogues such as Alex Jones and Milos Yiannopoulos, as well as anti-Semitic figures like Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

The social media giant has faced widespread criticism for its handling of who gets to use their platform and how. Free speech is one thing, critics argue, but Facebook’s lack of monitoring allowed “fake news” and extremists to flourish. Should a company be obliged to do something about the loudest, falsest voices posting under its umbrella?

Most U.S. officials and members of the public seem to think so, especially once it became clear that Facebook posters (some of whom were actually Russians with ill intent) influenced the 2016 elections. Since then, Facebook has become an even more complicated part of U.S. culture and politics. Many have expressed suspicion of a platform once used to share family photos and vagueposting calls for attention.

This recent move therefore is likely an attempt to bolster Facebook’s image. Perhaps banning people like Alex Jones is also an expression of Mark Zuckerberg’s genuine remorse. It’s certainly nice to think that someone who is the original Sandy Hook truther will have one less platform to spout his dangerous vitriol. Still, there’s no denying that Facebook is a company, and one that must face a public reckoning or shutter completely.

And, finally, your palate cleanser

Everyone’s talking about superheroes. That’s a perpetual state of our current comic book-obsessed culture. It doesn’t hurt that Avengers: Endgame, already one of the biggest superhero movies of all time, has premiered.

Much has been made of the women of Marvel. They deserve it, to be sure. There are powerhouse warriors like Okoye, reformed killing machines like Nebula, and cosmic defenders like Captain Marvel, just to name a few.

So, if you’re craving genuinely strong female characters, Marvel’s got a lot to offer. But what about DC Comics? The big rival company to Marvel has plenty of characters to examine, but there’s one that really stands out: Big Barda.

Big Barda was created by the legendary comic book artist and writer, Jack Kirby. After Kirby left Marvel and moved to DC in the 1970s. His Fourth World series was one of his first grand ideas enacted while Kirby was at DC.

Barda’s looks were based on Lainie Kazan, while her personality was much closer to that of Kirby’s wife, Roz. She’s a seven-foot-tall warrior woman from a planet called Apokolips. Barda eventually changes her ways, marries Scott Free, who is himself another hero named Mister Miracle. The pair go on to have a happy relationship, despite their traumatic histories.

We might be seeing Barda and Mister Miracle on screen soon, if the upcoming New Gods movie has anything to do with it. She’s definitely a favorite of director Ava DuVernay. Until then, read this article by author Michael Chabon focusing on the heart and soul of Big Barda.