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- Losing My Perspicacity, January 6, 2026
Losing My Perspicacity, January 6, 2026
Wherein things get even stupider
Julie DiCaro
January 06, 2026
Good morning and Happy Tuesday! Thanks for reading today.
Ooof. Another one of those “where to start?” days. I took something like two weeks off during the holidays, hoping to recharge my batteries. And here we are, six days into January, and the news has already exhausted me.
The day began with an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the US’s actions in Venezuela, and was quickly followed by deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s first appearance in court. All of this has the general sense of a fever dream, so bear with me while we make our way through it. Complicating matters is the scarcity of media outlets not beholden to (or afraid of) Donald Trump in one way or another, so it’s difficult to know if we’re getting accurate reports. Each day, I do my level best to get hard news from the least-biased outlets possible, but that’s getting harder and harder.
(And, let’s be clear: We are all adults, capable of holding two competing thoughts in our heads at the same time. I can think that Nicolás Maduro is a fascist dictator who deserves to be removed from power and criticize the way the US went about it and is currently behaving.)
We’ll start in the UN, where both US allies — to the extent we still have them — and opponents had plenty to say about the current administration.
While French President Emmanuel Macron recently endorsed Maduro’s capture, its U.N. envoy was slightly more critical Monday, saying any violations of international law by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, which include the U.S., erodes “the very foundation of the international order.”
“The military operation that has led to the capture of Maduro runs counter to the principle of peace dispute resolution and runs counter to the principle of non-use of force,” said Jay Dharmadhikari, deputy French ambassador to the U.N.
Meanwhile, poor Denmark is in here fighting for its life over Greenland.
Denmark, which has jurisdiction over the mineral-rich island, strongly denounced U.S. plans to take over Greenland without naming its NATO ally.
“The inviolability of borders is not up for negotiation,” said Christina Markus Lassen, Danish ambassador to the U.N.
Venezuela demanded that the Security Council take action:
Even with the strong support for Venezuela’s sovereignty, its envoy called on the U.N. to go beyond veiled comments and condemnation. Ambassador Samuel Moncada urged the Security Council to demand that Washington release Maduro and his wife.
“If the kidnapping of a head of state, the bombing of a sovereign country and the open threat of further armed action are tolerated or downplayed, the message sent to the world is a devastating one: namely that the law is optional, and that force is the true arbiter of international relations,” Moncada said.
That’s weird. So the US has “taken over” Venezuela, but failed to stop its ambassador to the United Nations from calling for Maduro’s release? The UN, and the language of diplomats, is very weird in and of itself (take it from someone who worked at the UN for a short time). It’s sort of like an intervention where no one wants to mention the drugs, or the addict’s name, or say anything that might upset the addict. This is probably why they don’t get a lot done. Anyway, like everyone else, I’m unclear about what exactly is happening politically in Venezuela and what VP Delcy Rodríguez’s role is in all of this. It appears the plan is to simply bully her into doing whatever the US wants.
China and Russia were also highly critical of the US, which is amusing, given Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Ukraine.
From there, we move on to Maduro’s arraignment in federal district court.
Scenes from outside Maduro’s arraignment. Inside, Maduro got in a spat with a critic in the gallery, who called him an “illegitimate” president. His wife’s face was covered in bandages — her lawyer says she may have fractured ribs.
— Erik Uebelacker (@uebey.bsky.social)2026-01-05T19:07:24.479Z
Maduro appeared before Senior Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who was appointed by Bill Clinton and has been on the federal bench since 1998.
“I’m innocent. I’m not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still the president of my country,” he said in Spanish, formally entering a plea of not guilty to narco-terrorism and cocaine importation.
When he tried to keep speaking, saying that he had been “kidnapped,” the judge, Alvin K. Hellerstein, interrupted.
“I only want to know one thing,” Judge Hellerstein said. “Are you Nicolás Maduro Moros?”
“I am Nicolás Maduro Moros,” the defendant responded.
At one point, Maduro reportedly claimed he was a prisoner of war, and the translator failed to communicate the “of war” part of his statement to the judge. You can imagine how that went over on social media. Anyway, Maduro is being represented by (Indiana University grad) Barry Pollack, who infamously defended WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in court and won an acquittal for Enron accountant Michael Krautz. Pollack is extremely well-respected and has a reputation for meticulous thoroughness in his trial prep. Maduro’s wife and co-defendant, Cilia Flores, is represented by Mark Donnelly of Houston.
As a side note, I started seeing weird filings hitting the dockets in various court cases today, mostly by the federal government, asking for stays and extensions of time to file. Then, this popped up.
THAT is going to make many migrant cases from Venezuela fascinating in the coming weeks. Right now, I can’t even wrap my head around what any of this portends, because it’s all so haphazard.
In other (insane) news: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is finished; Hilton has a brief moment of bravery before folding; Pete Hegseth goes after Mark Kelly; and The High Note.
Here we go.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has fallen
After 58 years, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provided most of the funding for NPR and PBS, has been dissolved by its board of directors.
Trump’s White House claimed NPR and PBS shouldn’t get federal money because they produce “woke propaganda.” But both are reputable news sources, and the reality is Trump simply wants to shut them down because they don’t report on him in flattering ways. Public radio stations are also a lifeline to rural communities, where plenty of Trump’s supporters are now being hurt by the loss in services.
The effort to defund CPB was led by Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought, who has been downright gleeful about haphazardly slashing billions from federal programs.
In a statement, CPB board members said the combination of lost federal funding and sustained political attacks “made it impossible” for it to continue operating.
Growing up in rural Northern Illinois, access to cable meant paying for one of those giant satellite dishes for your backyard, which my family (with four kids in various sports) could not afford. I had to go to my grandmother’s house one town over to watch MTV (which I did frequently). That meant that I spent a lot of time watching PBS with my dad, and that many of my sensibilities were shaped by the CPB and the programming I would otherwise never have seen. Perhaps someday, when this nightmare is over, we’ll get the CPB back.
Hilton takes a courageous stand for about 30 seconds
Briefly, yesterday, Hilton took a stand against ICE. If this sounds too good to be true, you’re right.
How it started:
A Minnesota hotel that wouldn’t allow federal immigration agents to stay there this month is apologizing and saying the refusal violated its own policies. The Department of Homeland Security had accused the global Hilton hotel chain of a “coordinated” effort to refuse service to its employees.
If you’re a Hilton Honours member, now would be a great time to drop a strongly worded email to the company. Anyway, congrats to Hilton on finding a brief flash of courage before capitulating like everyone else.
Pete Hegseth’s crusade against Mark Kelly continues
If you’re unfamiliar with Sen. Mark Kelly’s military career, I strongly suggest you read Charlotte Clymer’s recent piece detailing Kelly’s accomplishments.
I bring it up because Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (I nearly vomit every time I have to write that all out) has now taken steps to demote Kelly and decrease his military pension, all because Kelly took part in a video reminding US troops that they have a duty to disregard unlawful orders.
Hegseth claims that Kelly's public statements, including a video message telling troops not to follow illegal orders, amount to sedition.
In a statement on social media, the defense secretary said that he has initiated a formal 45-day process to reduce Kelly's rank and retirement pay.
"In response to Senator Mark Kelly's seditious statements — and his pattern of reckless misconduct — the Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Mark E. Kelly, USN (Ret)," Hegseth's statement reads.
This administrative action will include a review of Kelly's retirement grade, which could result in a change or reduction to his rank, "resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay."
Hegseth also announced he issued a formal censure letter that will be placed in Kelly's official military file.
Pete Hegseth, who has been accused of both sexual assault and domestic abuse, and who loves to cosplay Call of Duty at his new job, is a murderous clown. I would pick Kelly over Hegseth in a fight every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
Here’s Kelly’s response.
Mark Kelly: Four generations of my family have served our country. Service is in my blood. The President wouldn't know anything about that.
— Raider (@iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social)2026-01-05T22:16:42.284Z
The High Note
Each Day, I do my best to leave you with a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and the will to fight another day.
Someday, all of this will be a terrible memory. I really believe that. But the waiting is the hardest part (GOD, I miss Tom Petty).
Hey, survive and advance out there today, kids. Don’t let the bastards get you down.
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