Venezuela’s DIY Coup, Trump’s House of Cards, Ex-South Korean President Arrested

In a stressful world, sometimes you just want to break or hit something when deep breaths or meditation just don’t cut it. Well, now you can do that without having to clean up the mess or get charged with assault. “Anger rooms” have become all the rage (so to speak) for those of us who need a place to blow off some steam. Whether your favorite team just lost the Super Bowl or you’re furious at your boss or an ex, you now have a place to get it all out.   

Trump’s Republican House of Cards: Yesterday Trump took to his Twitter pulpit and vituperatively castigated the Republican members of the House Freedom Caucus. The same Republican scalawags who with a few votes torpedoed the Death Star known as Trumpcare did not back down. Twitter resembled a Republican party face-off similar to the walk off in Zoolander (unfortunately David Bowie was not the ringmaster). Trump did his best to threaten the Republican rebels but the House Freedom Caucus did not seem one bit fazed. Trump’s aura of populism and party unity has all but been shattered in the aftermath of Trumpcare’s implosion. As The New York Times reported, Trump’s tweets are no longer the thoughts of an angry man but can now be interpreted as canon for what the Trump team wishes to accomplish.

The insurrection against Trump extended to Michael Flynn who, perhaps like Darth Vader, has at the last minute turned against his previous master. Especially if the Luke Skywalker in this case knocked on his door and announced they had the goods on him and that they were the FBI. Flynn is seeking immunity before dropping knowledge he has on Trump and his team’s contacts with Russia. Meanwhile in Russia, Vladimir Putin sought to do his best Dana Carvey, errr…George HW Bush impersonation, and said “Read my lips – no” with regards to whether or not Russia interfered with the 2016 US elections.

‘Self-Coup’ Deepens Crisis in Venezuela: In a move that is stinky reminiscent of the Chavez period, the pro-government Supreme Court of Venezuela has effectively assumed law-making powers from the opposition-controlled congress. In what is being described as a ‘self-coup,’ the government of President Nicolás Maduro argued that the opposition was in contempt of the country’s constitution by blocking reforms to revive the ailing economy. Opposition congressmen, who rode into power in 2015 on a wave of anti-government sentiment fueled by years of economic stagnation, decried the move as a “step towards dictatorship.” On Saturday, the Peruvian government recalled its ambassador to Caracas and promised to take action to have Venezuela ejected from the Organization of American States (OAS). Venezuela has been in freefall since oil shocks caused economic collapse in 2013.

DRC Peacekeeping Troop Numbers Lowered: The UN Security Council has agreed to a compromise on a reduced troop cap of 16,215 for its largest and most expensive peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after the United States asked for it to be cut by a quarter. The Security Council votes today to renew the mandate for the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), amid UN warnings that violence is spreading across the Central African country ahead of a presidential election later this year.

This election to replace current president Joseph Kabila has been delayed from the original date of November 2016, resulting in violence and protests across the country over the past eight months. The government claimed that the voter registry could not be updated in time for elections to be held last year, and President Kabila attempted to change the constitution allowing him to stand for a third term. However, on December 31, opposition leaders were able to broker a deal with the ruling coalition and allies of President Kabila that requires him to step down after the election that must take place by the end of 2017. Whether Kabila and the ruling elite keep to their promises remains to be seen.

Warrant Against Ousted South Korean President Granted: Ex-Korean President Park Geun-hye, the first democratically elected leader of the East Asian country to be removed from office, has been cleared by a court to be arrested on allegations of bribery and abuse of power. Prosecutors can charge Park without arresting her, but said they requested the arrest because the allegations against her are “grave,” and there are worries that she may try to destroy evidence. The scandal revolving Park and her former confidante Choi Soon-sil has divided the nation for months, with protests in the capital of Seoul and cities like Busan drawing hundreds of thousands of people. Under South Korean law, prosecutors can detain her for up to 20 days before formally charging her, meaning she will likely be in jail while her case is heard. She has already provided nine hours of testimony, with prosecutors expecting a long and ‘drawn-out’ investigation.

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Weekend Reads:

• Embrace your inner slacker, even Darwin was one (Nautilus)
• We don’t have a sports newsletter—yet—but we love sports and maybe spend too much time on ESPN. But that doesn’t mean that ESPN doesn’t have existential worries (Bloomberg)
• Is China taking on the mantle of world leadership, especially on climate change? (NYT)
• Absolutely no to the question above as China and Pakistan have a bromance over coal (The Conversation)
• Thomas Friedman makes an “argument” that Trump is actually a Chinese agent (NYT)
• Trump’s meeting with China’s leader next week will be interesting, like popcorn entertaining (Newsweek)
• Michael Flynn is not Madonna, but he “Certainly Has a Story to Tell” which will sound much different than “Live to Tell” (The Atlantic) 

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