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In this urgent, unflinching conversation, former U.S. Marine infantryman and seasoned policy voice James R. Webb — son of Senator Jim Webb, ex-Military Legislative Assistant to Rand Paul, and writer for Responsible Statecraft and Military Times — breaks down the fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis and why it terrifies him as a veteran and citizen. Pretti’s death on January 24, 2026 — captured on video amid clashes between Customs and Border Protection agents and bystanders — has ignited national outrage after footage and witness accounts surfaced that contradict official claims that he was an armed threat. The killing, which followed the controversial ICE operation “Operation Metro Surge” and another fatal federal shooting in the city, has spurred protests and legal challenges and raised pressing questions about force, civil liberties, and federal overreach.

James contextualizes Pretti’s death through his own combat experience, calling it “horrifying” and “disgusting,” and explores how this moment reflects deeper fault lines in American politics and institutions. We discuss Marjorie Taylor Greene’s response, which focused on government overreach and political division; the dark fruits of Steve Bannon’s divisive media strategy; and Trump’s post-2024 trajectory, including his rhetoric about sidelining elections and fears of authoritarian maneuvering. James also shares personal insights from his time working with Rand Paul on confronting Trump’s policy impulses, and why someone who voted for Trump twice still views the current direction with alarm.

Other topics include:

• Why the Pretti killing isn’t just a tragedy but a political flashpoint in immigration enforcement and civil rights.

• The implications of ICE and CBP overreach on American democracy and community trust.

• Trump’s strained relations with European allies and attacks on GOP figures like Thomas Massie.

• How veterans’ service shapes perceptions of security, authority, and the rule of law.

Essential listening for anyone trying to understand what the Pretti case reveals about law enforcement, executive power, political polarization, and the soul of the republic.

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On this edition of Parallax Views, Ambassador Patrick Theros offers a seasoned diplomat’s assessment of the first year of Donald Trump’s second presidency. The conversation is anchored in Theros’ recent National Herald column, “Twenty Twenty-Five: What I Got Right, What I Got Wrong, and Why 2026 Looks Worse,” in which he reflects on his expectations for the administration and how rapidly events have outpaced them.

Theros breaks down what he underestimated, what surprised him, and why the speed and scale of developments in Trump’s second term have been so destabilizing. We examine Trump’s foreign and domestic policy record, including ICE and the killing of Alex Pretti, the administration’s contradictory impulses, and whether Trump is actively governing or allowing loyalists and ideological actors to run policy in his absence. Theros argues that Trump’s inability to manage multiple crises simultaneously has produced dangerous incoherence.

The discussion ranges widely across geopolitics and political economy: Gaza and the broader Middle East, Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu, the erosion of U.S. soft power, and how Trump’s National Security Strategy places new risks on Gulf States—raising doubts about an 85-year partnership with the United States. Theros explains why “might makes right” is a recipe for bad statecraft, how hubris historically brings dominant powers down, and why the current moment resembles the end of the liberal, U.S.-led international order.

We also explore Europe as a potential model for the United States, including a detailed discussion of VAT taxation and European-style healthcare, as well as Europe’s response to Trump’s posturing over Greenland. Additional topics include the return of multipolarity and balance-of-power geopolitics, the revival of spheres of influence, the Athenians’ folly as a historical lesson, and why the Russo-Ukraine war is likely to grind on.

Theros weighs in on the potential rise of India as a hemispheric power, Trump’s view of Russia, China’s current geopolitical position, and the isolationist impulses now visible in both Washington and Beijing. We also discuss Trump’s approach to Latin America, the global loss of trust in the United States, and the danger posed by the administration’s attacks on universities and institutional capacity.

The episode concludes with an extended discussion of Theros’ recent essay “Of Whales and Windmills,” examining American industrial policy, shipbuilding, and the myth of U.S. industrial self-sufficiency—along with why Trump cannot restore mid-20th-century industrial dominance by sheer political will. The article takes aim at Trump's "Restoring America's Maritime Dominance" Executive Order.

We also talk about tariffs and other economic policies and the contradictions of Trump's economic policies. We'll also discuss the need to break up the defense industry monopolies and other related issues.

All this, and much more, on the latest edition of Parallax Views.

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On this edition of Parallax Views, libertarian gadfly Jim Bovard returns to dissect the federal killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and its disturbing parallels to the infamous Ruby Ridge standoff. Bovard, author of ten books including Public Policy Hooligan, Attention Deficit Democracy, The Bush Betrayal, and Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, examines how federal law enforcement, including ICE, Border Patrol, and the FBI, have historically operated under preemptive “Rules of Engagement” that sanction the use of deadly force against American citizens. He traces the echoes of Ruby Ridge, where the Weaver family was ambushed by FBI snipers and U.S. Marshals, to the recent Minneapolis shooting, highlighting patterns of threat inflation, government cover-ups, and the erosion of civil liberties.

In this episode, we discuss Alex Pretti’s killing—shot in the back multiple times despite surrendering a legally carried firearm—and the official government narrative that quickly labeled him a “domestic terrorist.” Bovard contrasts the federal and political spin surrounding Pretti with the 1992 FBI and ATF operations in Idaho, where Randy and Vicki Weaver, along with family friend Kevin Harris, were targeted under similarly aggressive rules of engagement. He details how, in both cases, federal agents preemptively used lethal force, disregarded due process, seized evidence to prevent independent investigation, and faced little accountability, despite public outcry and judicial rebukes.

Bovard also examines the broader implications for civil liberties, gun rights, and freedom of speech, including how videotaping federal agents has become criminalized in practice and how political partisanship—exemplified by Trump administration officials and conservative media—can shape public acceptance of state violence. He unpacks the historical, legal, and political dimensions of these incidents, from the misrepresentation of armed threats to the systematic attempts at cover-up by the Justice Department and federal law enforcement agencies.

This episode is essential listening for anyone concerned with U.S. federal law enforcement abuses, ICE and Border Patrol accountability, FBI sniper operations, government overreach, civil liberties in America, the politics of domestic terrorism labeling, and the ongoing legacy of Ruby Ridge in contemporary policing. Bovard’s insights offer a stark reminder of how federal power can be misused and why vigilance is necessary to protect individual rights against state violence.

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On this edition of Parallax Views, we’re joined by Sheldon Richman, executive editor of The Libertarian Institute and former senior editor at the Cato Institute, to unpack his provocative article “TGIF: The Trumpian ICE Age.” Richman argues that the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement reflects a larger trend of unchecked federal power and erosion of individual liberty. He frames recent actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and related agencies as emblematic of an expanding coercive state that dismisses constitutional limits and civil liberties.

At the heart of our conversation is the tragic killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis ICU nurse and U.S. citizen who was fatally shot by federal Border Patrol agents during a January protest against immigration raids. Video evidence and eyewitness accounts indicate Pretti was unarmed — holding a phone and attempting to assist another person — when he was pepper-sprayed, wrestled to the ground, disarmed, and then shot multiple times; federal claims that he posed an imminent threat are widely disputed.

Pretti’s death — coming just weeks after another U.S. citizen and mother of three, Renée Good, was killed in a similar context — has sparked nationwide outrage, protests, legal actions demanding preservation of evidence and accountability, and intense debate about federal overreach, use of force, and the future of civil liberties under powerful enforcement agencies.

Richman situates these events within a broader critique of how executive power is exercised in the name of security and enforcement, warning that such episodes are symptomatic of structural threats to freedom rather than isolated policy mistakes.

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On this edition of Parallax Views, geopolitical analyst Deep State Kuba—a veteran of both public and private sector work and a regular guest on THIS IS REVOLUTION and GIVE THEM AN ARGUMENT w/ Ben Burgis— returns to unpack Mark Carney’s stunning speech at the Davos World Economic Forum, where Carney declared that the so-called post–Cold War “rules-based international order” was a fiction—and that it’s now dead.

We dig into what that admission really means, whether the global order many Americans have taken for granted is fully unraveling under a second Trump presidency, and how to think clearly about power without collapsing realism into the lazy mantra of “might makes right.” Along the way, we explore the rising role of “middle powers,” the contradictions between MAGA’s industrial ambitions and Trump’s actual policy choices, the controversial use of ICE, the perils of state hubris, the odd mutations of 21st-century conservatism, and the broader sense of political and cultural vertigo defining the current zeitgeist.

Topics include:

• Mark Carney at Davos and the end of the rules-based order

• Trump’s second presidency and global instability

• Middle powers and a shifting multipolar world

• Realism vs. “might makes right” caricatures

• ICE, state power, and the domestic situation in the United States

• MAGA, U.S. industry, and policy contradictions

• Conservatism’s strange new form in the 21st century and the "black is white, white is black... we're through the looking glass now" reality of the current zeitgeist

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On this edition of Parallax Views, journalist James M. Dorsey of The Turbulent World blog returns to unpack Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” for the reconstruction of Gaza and why, despite its branding, it is not really just about Gaza — yet may still represent the only option Gaza is being offered amid total devastation and geopolitical paralysis.

From there, we widen the lens to examine how this proposal fits into Trump’s broader authoritarian impulse and a growing willingness to sidestep international law, including the controversial capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and what it signals about changing norms of sovereignty and legality.

We then turn to Iran, taking an in-depth look at ongoing protests, the Islamic Republic’s violent crackdown on dissent, and circumstantial evidence suggesting Mossad meddling in the unrest. The discussion expands further to Trump’s aggressive global posturing — including his claim that Greenland should belong to the United States — and how such moves reflect a rapidly shifting balance of power. Israel is also discussed, with specific attention given to Benjamin Netanyahu stating that he'd like to see Israel "taper" off U.S. aid over the course of the next decade.

Additionally, we explore European resistance to Trump, a recent speech by Canada’s prime minister declaring the old “rules-based international order” more or less dead, and what it means to be entering uncharted territory as the post–Cold War world order continues to fracture.

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In this episode of Parallax Views, I’m joined once again by historian James L. Gelvin to assess the state of the Middle East in 2026. Drawing on his 2017 book The New Middle East: What Everyone Needs to Know, we examine what has changed—and what hasn’t—over the past decade. We discuss U.S. foreign policy and why the Obama administration’s Asia Pivot and partial retreat from the region failed to stabilize it, as well as the Trump administration’s erratic and contradictory Middle East policies.

The conversation explores Iran, Gaza, Turkey, Israel, Iran, and Saudi Arabia; why the Saudi–Iranian “rapprochement” is better understood as a détente; the limits of sectarian explanations to understanding the Middle East and the enduring problem of Orientalism; shifting American and European public attitudes toward Israel; the spread of new conflict zones since 2017; regional powers jockeying for influence; Trump and Nixon's "Madman" Doctrine; the great risks in the Middle East today and the lessening of U.S. hegemony in the Middle East; Cold War-era offshore balancing vs. today's U.S. policies in the Middle East; where the U.S. discourse on the Middle East has failed; what role energy and economics will play in the region going forward; the impact of Trump's Venezuela operation (the abduction of Maduro) and what it means for international law, U.S. foreign policy, and the Middle East; Netanyahu's statements that Israel needs to taper itself off from U.S. assistance in the next decade; hubris, the lessons of history, and policy failures; the ascent of Al-Sharaa in Syria and the future of Syria; and much, much more.

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On this episode of Parallax Views, historian Alejandro Velasco—associate professor at New York University and author of Barrio Rising: Urban Popular Politics and the Making of Modern Venezuela—joins the show for an in-depth analysis of the dramatic events reshaping Venezuela and U.S.–Latin America relations.

We examine the implications of the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro, the resurgence of gunboat diplomacy in Latin America under the Trump administration, and what these developments mean for Venezuela and the broader region. Velasco unpacks the idea of “Two Venezuelas”—the divide between the Venezuelan diaspora and those living inside the country—and explains how this split shapes politics, perception, and international policy.

The conversation also explores key political figures, including María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and Delcy Rodríguez, who has emerged as Venezuela’s de facto leader following Maduro’s capture. Finally, Velasco analyzes the forces driving U.S. foreign policy toward Venezuela, arguing that Donald Trump’s focus on material interests like oil intersects with the more ideological agendas of figures such as Stephen Miller and Marco Rubio, creating a volatile convergence that could spell instability and conflict for Latin America in the years ahead.

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On this edition of Parallax Views, Christopher Mott of the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy joins the show to break down the Trump administration’s alleged abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the escalating fears of war with Venezuela, and what these developments signal for U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. Could Washington and Caracas be drifting toward open conflict, or is something even bigger underway beneath the surface?

As the conversation unfolds, the focus widens to the changing nature of the global geopolitical order itself. Mott argues that the liberal, international rules-based order is rapidly eroding and being replaced by a multipolar world defined by spheres of influence—neither a utopia nor an apocalypse, but a reality that demands clear-eyed

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On this edition of Parallax Views, we continue covering the explosive developments of last week with the abduction of Nicolas Maduro by the United States. Joining me is Kyle Anzalone, opinion editor at Antiwar.com and host of Conflicts of Interest and The Kyle Anzalone Show, to break down what we know so far about the operation, what remains unclear, and what it could ultimately entail for Venezuela, the region, and the United States of America.

We discuss the circumstances surrounding Maduro’s kidnapping, including whether he may have been sold out by elements within his own government, as well as popular narratives pointing to Israel and oil interests as prime drivers—and why we’re skeptical of those explanations. Kyle and I also examine the broader political context: Maduro’s prior willingness to work with the Trump administration on oil, the propaganda buildup ahead of the operation (including Trump branding Maduro a “narco-terrorist”), and, most significantly, the role of Marco Rubio and South American Republicans tied to the Cuban-American exile lobby. In that light, we explore whether Venezuela is being treated as a testing ground or prelude for future U.S.-backed destabilization or regime change efforts in Cuba, the fractures this episode reveals within MAGA-world, and how war hawks have worked to cognitively infiltrate the so-called anti-interventionist movement to reorient those elements back into more hawkish sentiments.

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On this edition of Parallax Views, critical media literacy scholar Nolan Higdon of The Gaslight Gazette joins the show to unpack what is unfolding right now in Venezuela following the U.S. military’s seizure of President Nicolás Maduro. Drawing on his recent analysis, Higdon examines how familiar narratives — “narco-terrorism,” the war on drugs, and energy security — are being rapidly mobilized to normalize what amounts to an extraordinary act of regime change.

Higdon breaks down how the charge of “narcoterrorism” functions less as a factual claim than as a flexible legal and media framework, one that allows U.S. policymakers to recast military intervention as law enforcement while sidestepping serious questions about international law, sovereignty, and constitutional authority. He situates this rhetoric within a longer history of U.S. interventions where criminalization replaces diplomacy and invasion is reframed as necessity.

The conversation also interrogates claims that Venezuelan oil is central to U.S. energy security, with Higdon noting how negotiations and existing arrangements were previously rejected — suggesting that control, leverage, and geopolitical signaling matter more than resource access itself. From naval blockades to information management, he outlines how pressure campaigns escalate into open force while media coverage often lags behind the reality on the ground.

Links:

Oil, Narcoterrorism, and Regime Change by Nolan Higdon - The Gaslight Gazette