The family of Renee Good, who was shot and killed while protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, has retained the same law firm that represented George Floyd’s family for a civil investigation.

Liberals have taken many radical, nonsensical positions in recent years. Few are as baffling as their outrage over President Trump’s removal of Nicolás Maduro, the illegitimate, narco-terrorist dictator of Venezuela — a move the long-suffering citizens of Venezuela are openly cheering. But not so among progressives, such as the clueless governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, who claims Trump’s action was designed, “To distract from Epstein, the explosion of health and homeowners insurance costs, and the tariffs that are decimating small businesses …” Or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who downplays Maduro’s tyrannical brutality by claiming,” It’s about oil and regime change. And they need a trial now to pretend that it isn’t. Especially to distract from Epstein + skyrocketing healthcare costs.” So, who exactly are Pritzker, AOC, and others of their ilk defending? Why are they saying we should have left him in power? In 2023, Joe Biden’s State Department produced a 76-page assessment of specific human rights abuses committed by Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his thugs (many of whom were apparently Cuban mercenaries) against their hapless victims. The assessment documents a staggering range of abuses, including: …unlawful or arbitrary killings… enforced disappearance; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by security forces; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention by security forces… political prisoners… punishment of family members for alleged offenses by a relative… use of children by illegal armed groups; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including violence or threats of violence against journalists… harassment of domestic and international human rights organizations; extensive gender-based violence… trafficking in persons… and the worst forms of child labor. The report makes for a tough read, given its summation of the viciousness, cruelty, and ruthlessness of Maduro and his henchmen.  Want more? What about the details in the federal criminal indictment of Maduro issued by a grand jury in New York? The superseding indictment charges Maduro and a host of other confederates with running a drug cartel “to import tons of cocaine into the United States.” Makes sense from Maduro’s point of view: his disastrous policies turned Venezuela into an economic basket case, making a once-prosperous country a bankrupt third-world hellhole. Thus, Maduro had to get money from somewhere to line his pockets and finance his depredations. According to the indictment, Maduro essentially turned the Venezuelan government into a massive drug and illegal weapons smuggling operation, doing everything from using Venezuelan law enforcement to protect his distribution system to issuing “diplomatic passports to drug traffickers” and providing “diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drug proceeds.” All of the money was used to enrich himself, his family, and the “political and military elite” who kept him in power. That also included partnering “with some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world,” extremely dangerous criminal cartels and terrorist groups that have kidnapped and murdered Americans, like FARC, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Zetas, or Cartel del Noreste, and Tren de Aragua. By the way, the Caribbean drug smugglers that our military has been taking out? Part of the indictment talks about the 200 to 250 tons of cocaine “trafficked” to the U.S. annually by Maduro and his cartel cronies through “maritime shipments…north from Venezuela’s coastline using go-fast vessels, fishing boats, and container ships.” Additionally, “air shipments were often dispatched from clandestine airstrips, typically made of dirt or grass, and also from commercial airports under the control” of Maduro and his corrupt officials. I don’t think the majority of Americans have a lot of sympathy for the criminals smuggling drugs on these “go-fast vessels, fishing boats, and container ships.” From the drugs poisoning our citizens, especially our youth, to the citizens of Venezuela who have been censored, arrested, tortured, and killed, Maduro has been a scourge who has caused untold harm and suffering. The political parties and both sides of the political aisle may disagree on many domestic issues. But when it comes to the removal of Nicolás Maduro Moros, progressives, liberals, and Democrats, along with conservatives and Republicans, should be praising the president for finally taking action to rid our hemisphere of this menace. * * * Hans von Spakovsky is a Senior Legal Fellow in the Meese Institute for the Rule of Law at Advancing American Freedom. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

After fourteen years of guiding the Star Wars galaxy through a series of increasingly turbulent hyperspace jumps, Kathleen Kennedy is finally stepping down as president of Lucasfilm. For the critics who have spent a decade watching the most storied franchise in cinematic history trade timeless heroism for the dismal gray hues of modern identity politics, the news is a seismic, if long-overdue, development. Kennedy, whose career began as Steven Spielberg’s secretary before she ascended to produce hits like E.T., was handpicked by George Lucas in 2012. However, under Disney’s $4 billion ownership, her tenure became a Rorschach test for the “woke” transformation of Hollywood. While early efforts like The Force Awakens capitalized on pure nostalgia to rake in billions, the subsequent years were defined by creative chaos and a widening chasm between the studio and its core audience. Under Kennedy’s watch, the franchise famously “put a chick in it” — as South Park brutally parodied — often at the expense of established lore and beloved legacy characters. From the sidelining of Luke Skywalker to the “Mary Sue” critiques of the sequel trilogy, the brand struggled to maintain its gravity. Production was marred by the firing of directors, the rejection of projects from Game of Thrones creators, and the flat-out rejection of shows like The Acolyte by fans weary of diversity pandering. One blogger wrote, “These days, the Star Wars franchise is a mess of live-action con jobs and Mary Sues, and we can all blame Kathleen Kennedy for her significant part in ruining the whole franchise. Kennedy was placed as the head of Lucasfilm by George Lucas to keep Star Wars from going off the rails. However, she wanted the Force to be ‘female’ and after taking control of Lucasfilm, she set about manufacturing the template. … Utterly humiliate the characters people love and replace them with generic, threadbare, overpowered self-inserts that the audience was supposed to love.” Taking the reins is Dave Filoni, the Lucas-mentored creative mind behind the animation boom and The Mandalorian, who will serve as president alongside business lead Lynwen Brennan. This “creative versus suit” split is a classic Disney maneuver, designed to stabilize a ship that has been spinning its wheels in development hell. Kennedy isn’t vanishing into the Outer Rim just yet; she remains a producer on upcoming projects like The Mandalorian and Grogu. Yet, her departure signals the end of an era defined by “The Force is Female” slogans and the beginning of a desperate attempt to recapture “a more civilized age.” Whether Filoni can bridge the gap between niche lore and universal appeal — or if the franchise is too far gone into the “lame and gay” abyss mocked by critics — remains the ultimate cliffhanger for Disney’s bottom line.