Welcome to a new world of political quackery, unprecedented “presidential harassment” and wild financial upheavals on Wall Street. As the Democrats line up to take over the U.S. House of Representatives it seems apparent that the year ahead — in the U.S. Congress — will get little to nothing accomplished for the American people. Classic gridlock is returning to the nation’s capital.

Washington is so consumed with itself the nation’s leaders – including President Donald Trump — are in denial of the imminent grave threat of a failing socialist Venezuela in South America and the growing involvement of Russian President Vladimir Putin in this country — which is in shambles. Putin is discretely and quietly taking control of this oil and gas rich country by supplying military support and cash infusions to keep Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in power with no regard for the broken Venezuelan people and their economy. Maduro has become a puppet of Putin who is seeking a greater presence and influence not only in Venezuela but throughout South America and Central America — where China’s influence is overwhelming.

Moscow’s investment in Venezuela is cheap compared to the potential gains from some of the richest oilfields in the world. This danger is real and it is hiding in plain sight. Putin of late has boasted about his country’s development of a new hi-tech, intercontinental-ballistic missile whose capabilities far exceed anything in the USA’s nuclear arsenal or missile defense systems.

The ongoing Mexico border-immigration controversy is peanuts compared to the threat of Putin in Venezuela, but Washington is about to implode with countless, meaningless investigations of President Trump, his family and his business dealings before taking office.

The latest rally cries from the Democrats go like this – “stiff Trump on the Wall,” “get Trump” and “no wins for Trump.” The ongoing partial government shutdown may go on for a while, perhaps longer than any previous shutdown, because President Trump is 100-percent committed to building the southern border wall with Mexico and he does not really need congressional approval for $5-billion in border wall construction funding. He has the authority – like it or not – to use sources of revenue in the executive branch of government without congressional approval. Past presidents have used executive authority to secure funding for controversial projects.

President Trump would prefer congressional approval, but he may very well strike out on his own and use executive authority to secure the necessary funding. We are all about to see this happen and the Democrats will absolutely lose their minds while the voters get further fired up in support of President Trump — not the Democrats.

As the New Year rolls in let there be no doubt the Democrats in Washington are gearing up an unprecedented attempt to remove a sitting president from office before the 2020 National Election now only 21-months away. The time, energy and expense of this effort will far exceed the $20-million plus wasted on FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia/Trump campaign collusion investigation that seems to go on and on without any real conclusions that would have any direct effect on President Trump.

The Washington Democrats know that President Trump can and probably will win a second term, hence their reasoning behind such heated aggression toward this president at this time. They know he can win and they are really scared because they have no real confirmed candidate to take on the president in 2020 — just a bunch of old white men.

About the Author Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.