Let me tell you about the time I realized Washington hypocrisy could sink faster than a drug runner's boat after meeting American firepower. It was 2012. I was interning for a senator whose staffers privately mocked Obama's drone strikes at happy hour while publicly defending them as 'strategic precision.' We're watching that same tired movie again with these boat strike dramatics.

So the Pentagon allegedly blew up some Venezuelan narcos clinging to driftwood last September. Defense Secretary Hegseth runs the operation. Democrats clutch pearls. Republicans cite national security. Honestly? Both sides deserve a lifetime supply of Dramamine for this seasick routine.

Jim Himes came out swinging this week about how 'viscerally shaken' he felt watching the strike footage. My dude. My guy. Do you remember voting to fund the Afghan war five times? The 2017 Yemen strikes your caucus barely debated? This selective outrage tastes faker than Bernie's mittens at a Gucci show.

Let's talk facts without the performative gasping. The Trump administration has conducted over 20 drug interdiction strikes since September. Eighty plus targets neutralized. Publicly available Coast Guard data shows cocaine seizures up 18% year over year. Whether you love or hate the tactics, the strategy clearly rattled cartels who've operated like maritime UberEats for decades.

Tom Cotton's take that survivors 'were not incapacitated' rings true to anyone who saw Mexican cartels recover El Chapo's submarine full of blow last year. These aren't Girl Scouts selling Thin Mints. They're paramilitary traffickers who execute fishermen resisting their routes. The State Department's 2024 Narcotics Control Report notes Venezuelan cartels now use cyanide fishing tactics to clear competition. Real humanitarian angels here.

But sure. Let's pretend Admiral Bradley woke up craving war crimes with his morning coffee. Forgive me if I doubt the sudden moral awakening from career politicians who approved $800 billion defense budgets without reading the fine print.

I grew up near New Haven. Watched my cousin OD on fentanyl laced heroin in 2016. The obituary said 'sudden illness' because stigma survives longer than addicts. Tell me again how harsh tactics against suppliers warrant more outrage than those 109,000 overdose deaths last year. The math isn't mathing.

Congressional finger wagging would land better if they'd stop taking Pharma PAC money while voting against prescription monitoring. Politico tracked $4.2 million in opioid manufacturer donations to Intelligence Committee members since 2018. Maybe clean your own house before yelling about cleaned up coasts.

Here's the real tea. When Obama launched 540 drone strikes in Pakistan, the media framed it as 'necessary evils.' When Trump's team sinks narco boats suddenly we need UN observers. The inconsistency reeks worse than a Staten Island landfill in July.

The administration designated cartels as terror groups in 2023. Title 10 authority covers these operations. The legal framework exists whether CNN panels acknowledge it or not. Funny how the 'rules based order' crowd forgets rules when inconvenient.

What genuinely irks me? The refusal to release footage. Not because it would prove wrongdoing, but because transparency builds trust. I remember Bush hiding Abu Ghraib photos and Obama burying the Garland TX attack tape. Secrecy fuels conspiracy theories. Drop the video already.

Let's stop pretending any DC player truly cares about international law. They care about camera angles. If this strike happened under Biden, MSNBC would run segments called 'The Difficult Calculus of Counter Narcotics.' Fox would air Navy SEAL testimonials about valor.

Our veterans deserve better than being political dartboards. Admiral Bradley served 32 years. His commendations include the Silver Star for rescuing hostages in Colombia. Reducing his career to 'just following orders' insults every soldier who ever saluted a flag.

This theater matters because real people die while Congress twiddles thumbs. Government reports show fentanyl deaths tripled since 2019. Border seizures hit record highs. Yet we're debating whether splashing cocaine kingpins violates the Geneva Convention. Priorities people.

The left wants legalized drugs. The right wants interdiction. Pick a lane. My hometown lost three classmates to overdoses since June. They'd still be here if either side took coherent action instead of weaponizing empathy.

Final thought. Whatever you think of the boat strikes, recognize this administration actually tries protecting citizens from narcoterrorism. Previous leaders gave us 'just say no' and open air markets in Portland. Judge results not rhetoric. Deaths fell 7% in cartel regions since operations began. That's 7% fewer grieving mothers. I'll take that win.

Maybe instead of faux fainting couches we demand congressional hearings with actual policy teeth. Maybe instead of partisan video interpretations we fund rehab centers to match prison budgets. And maybe just maybe we acknowledge that perfect solutions don't exist when fighting organizations that melt bodies in acid barrels.

Stay loud. Stay voting. And for god's sake stay off suspicious boats south of Trinidad.