Call me cynical, but there's nothing all that new in Trump's high-profile invasion of Venezuela. In 1994, Bill Clinton surrounded Haiti with a naval blockade and threatened to overthrow the regime if it didn't accede to US demands — and that's exactly what Clinton did, putting deposed leader Jean-Bertrande Aristide back in power. Don't kid yourself: The United States has always arrogated to itself the right to arrange political regimes to its own liking in the Western hemisphere (the so-called American “backyard”) ever since the promulgation of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823. Democracy? Sure, as long as the local regimes agree to serve American interests. The new "Donroe Doctrine" may well dispense with the multilateral fig leaf our nation sometimes seeks to provide diplomatic cover for what, at root, are unilateral U.S. actions. But the fact is, somebody always wants their country “back” — most Haitains did in 1994, and now millions of Venezuelan refugees, including Maria Corina Machado, who just won the Nobel Peace Prize, do. And they expect America to wield the Big Stick to get it for them. In the end, perhaps sadly, that may be all the political legitimacy needed to justify these actions.