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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org> <b>On Behalf Of </b>John Clark<br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, March 7, 2019 6:30 AM<br><b>To:</b> ExI chat list <extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [ExI] Presidential overstep<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>On Wed, Mar 6, 2019 at 11:56 PM <<a href="mailto:spike@rainier66.com">spike@rainier66.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><div><div><div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>>…</span></b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>declare the election null and void, lock up his political opponent who<span class=gmaildefault> </span>won <o:p></o:p></span></p></blockquote></div></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></blockquote><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><i><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>> </span></i></span><i><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>US presidents don’t have the power to do that.</span></i><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div></blockquote><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>I know, but US dictators do. …<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Agreed, which is why we don’t have one and why the constitution is written to prevent one.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span class=gmaildefault><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>> </span></span><i><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>He could make fiery speeches. POTUSes can’t get someone arrested.</span></i><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>>…I know, but US dictators can. You keep saying Trump can not do stuff because a piece of paper called the Constitution says its against the rules…<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>That’s right. The constitution is what gives a POTUS any authority at all. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Regarding dictators, it has been tried, in our times. Nixon tried to get his own guys, who report directly to him, to fire a special prosecutor. They refused, arguing that it was an illegal order.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>A POTUS can’t get someone arrested, but they could have someone killed. It wouldn’t be legal of course. A presidential candidate in 2016 suggested murdering Julian Assange with a drone. No one took it seriously: they didn’t have a drone. They weren’t in office yet.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>>… Trump has expressed his admiration of President Andrew Jackson and Jackson's most famous quote is "The Supreme Court has made its decision now let them enforce it". <span class=gmaildefault>John K Clark<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Jackson didn’t get his way. But he is an example of one who would have converted the office of POTUS into dictator if he could have. He could (and did) make fiery speeches. The office of POTUS isn’t all that powerful, as we are seeing now. If nothing else, the current POTUS has reduced the power of the office of POTUS, which in turn reduces the power of congress. All of this is good.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>John you worry too much me lad. If you want something to worry about, consider this. The US government has become completely dependent on a communist government loaning it money just to make normal expenses. China’s government has the authority to order its people to desist lending money to the US at any time. If it does, the US has no practical way to raise the difference. It realizes this, so the federal government has to stand by and watch as China builds islands in international waters, then claims more and more territory in what had been sea lanes. The US cannot go to war with China over that. They can’t even pressure the China over that, because it needs China’s money. Your worrying about a dictator rising during peacetime is distracting you from the real danger the world really is facing. China is planning to take ownership of a huge swath of the Pacific. The US can’t do anything about it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></div></body></html>