Trump treated Venezuela for what it is: A criminal enterprise with a flag

People who know me know I don’t have much patience for fancy talk. In Chester County, when a meth dealer sets up shop next to a school, we don’t hold a town hall about his “socioeconomic anxiety.”

We don’t send a strongly worded letter. We kick down the door, put him in handcuffs, and shut the operation down.

By arresting a narco-terrorist masquerading as a president, Donald Trump didn’t break the law. He restored order.

For the last 20 years, America forgot that simple rule. We acted like social workers trying to “fix” the world’s worst neighborhoods while they picked our pockets.

Last weekend, that stopped.

President Trump’s decision to go into Venezuela and extract the dictator Nicolás Maduro wasn’t just a military operation. From where I sit as a 30-year lawman, it looked like the biggest drug bust in history.

It was also a master class in overwhelming force.

For years, Washington has acted like a terrified homeowners’ association. Too scared to enforce the rules. Too worried about offending the neighbors — even the ones throwing rocks through our windows.

Our governments let China buy the house across the street. They let Iran park its van in the driveway. They let Maduro turn Venezuela into a trap house for every cartel and terrorist west of the Atlantic.

And yet for two centuries, this hemisphere had a “No Trespassing” sign on the lawn. We called it the Monroe Doctrine. It was the original neighborhood watch rule: Foreign powers with bad intentions don’t get to cozy up to corrupt regimes in our back yard.

For too long, we let that sign fade while our enemies set up shop.

Early Saturday morning, the sheriff in the White House decided it was time to back the warning with a warrant — and missiles.

RELATED: Venezuela was the stage. China was the target.

Photo by Liu Bin/Xinhua via Getty Images

Trump didn’t ask the U.N. for a permission slip. He didn’t check whether Europe felt “comfortable” with the plan. He recognized a threat inside his jurisdiction — and he neutralized it.

The media is now crying about “international norms.” That makes me laugh. In my line of work, the only norm that matters is the bad guys go to jail and good citizens sleep safely.

And let’s be clear about the charges. I don’t care whether the poison was cocaine, meth, or fentanyl. If you played any role in trafficking drugs that end up in the United States, you’re part of the conspiracy. Period.

Some people might ask why a sheriff in rural South Carolina cares about a dictator 2,000 miles away.

Here’s why: The decisions made in Maduro’s palace didn’t stay in Caracas. They ended up in the veins of our neighbors and in the wreckage of families right here in Chester County.

I see that damage every day. For years, sheriffs across this country have begged Washington to stop the flow at the source. It’s about time a president acted against a head of state who deliberately created a welcoming environment for criminal networks that kill Americans.

By arresting a narco-terrorist masquerading as a president, Donald Trump didn’t break the law. He restored order.

I expect this to be only the beginning. And I hope it sends a message — from cartel bosses to street-level runners: Pay attention. If the United States is willing to break down the door of a sitting dictator, imagine what it is willing to do to you.

The era of impunity is over.

And one last thing for those insisting this was all about oil or money. For years, Americans bought energy from countries that hate us because we were too polite to use what we have at home. Those days are ending.

RELATED: From Monroe to ‘Donroe’: America enforces its back yard again

Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images

If Venezuelan crude ever flows to American refineries again, it won’t just lower gas prices. It will tell every dictator on earth that their leverage is gone.

As Americans, we’ve spent too long hating to lose more than we love to win. Our foreign policy has been driven by fear — fear of bad press, fear of escalation, fear of diplomatic friction. We played not to lose.

You don’t build a safe community — or a strong nation — by playing defense. You build it by loving to win. By making bold, decisive moves that protect your people.

This operation was a win.

So to the hand-wringers: relax. The world isn’t ending. It’s getting cleaned up.

The sheriff is back on the beat, the bad guy is in handcuffs in the back seat, and for the first time in a long time, the good people can set off a few fireworks.

Welcome to the new neighborhood.