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--></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>…</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>John Clark via extropy-chat<br><b>Subject:</b> [ExI] POTUS says the military budget for 2017 should be increased by 50%, what do deficit hawks think about that?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#1F1F1F'>Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman has some interesting things to say:</span></b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#1F1F1F'>===</span></b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>>…<span style='color:#363737'>Things are not going well politically for Donald Trump. The polls show him <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/7904c423-6b41-4d11-ad05-b1a2584a0545?j=eyJ1IjoiNngzbm4ifQ.I1PMvYo4mI3PquTDRhL5Dev-9_ouIq3kw6ZhrVNsy8o" target="_blank"><span style='color:#363737'>underwater on every major issue</span></a>. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Water has been more popular than every national leader for over a quarter of a century:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><img border=0 width=650 height=546 style='width:6.7708in;height:5.6875in' id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01DC823B.8695FC50"><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approval/trump-obama-bush-second-term">https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approval/trump-obama-bush-second-term</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>I also prefer water to all of them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>And while he insists that these are fake, it’s clear that he knows better. He recently <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/0c651429-87af-40fa-92aa-5fab2e7cda9d?j=eyJ1IjoiNngzbm4ifQ.I1PMvYo4mI3PquTDRhL5Dev-9_ouIq3kw6ZhrVNsy8o" target="_blank"><span style='color:#363737'>lamented</span></a> that the Republicans will do badly in the midterms and even floated the idea that midterms should be canceled.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>And as January 6</span><sup><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>th</span></sup><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'> 2021 showed, Trump simply can’t stand political rejection. He will do anything, use any tool or any person at his disposal, to obliterate the sources of that rejection.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>So as we head into the 2026 midterm season, the best way to understand U.S. policy is that it’s in the pursuit of one crucial objective: Propping up Trump’s fragile ego.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>What was the motivation for the abduction of Nicolás Maduro? It wasn’t about drugs, which were always an obvious pretense. By Trump’s own account it wasn’t about democracy. Trump talks a lot about oil, but Venezuela’s heavy, hard-to-process oil and its decrepit oil infrastructure aren’t big prizes. The <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/cf4bf0cc-0f39-4cf2-ba8c-9e11fb4f5834?j=eyJ1IjoiNngzbm4ifQ.I1PMvYo4mI3PquTDRhL5Dev-9_ouIq3kw6ZhrVNsy8o" target="_blank"><span style='color:#363737'>Financial Times</span></a>reports that U.S. oil companies won’t invest in Venezuela unless they receive firm guarantees. One investor told the paper, “No one wants to go in there when a random fucking tweet can change the entire foreign policy of the country.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>The real purpose of the abduction, surely, was to give Trump an opportunity to strut around and act tough. But this ego gratification, like a sugar rush, won’t last long. Voters normally rally around the president at the beginning of a war. The invasion of Iraq was <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/e3fe7bf6-4e6d-4854-9379-a01d688dfc97?j=eyJ1IjoiNngzbm4ifQ.I1PMvYo4mI3PquTDRhL5Dev-9_ouIq3kw6ZhrVNsy8o" target="_blank"><span style='color:#363737'>initially very popular</span></a>. But the action in Venezuela hasn’t had any visible rally-around-the-flag effect. While Republicans, as always, support Trump strongly, independents are opposed:<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style='margin-top:24.0pt;margin-bottom:24.0pt'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%" style='width:100.0%'><tr><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'></td><td width=1414 style='width:1060.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/272a4737-3e5e-4685-94ba-cc2dd5cee54c?j=eyJ1IjoiNngzbm4ifQ.I1PMvYo4mI3PquTDRhL5Dev-9_ouIq3kw6ZhrVNsy8o" target="_blank"><span style='border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=550 height=297 style='width:5.7291in;height:3.0937in' id="_x0000_i1026" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!usEK!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9c75f464-4584-450a-95f8-919c097ad0d6_1414x766.png"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'></td></tr></table></div><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>And now the story of the moment is the atrocity in Minneapolis, where, on Wednesday, an ICE agent killedRenee Nicole Good by shooting her in the head.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>Trump and his minions responded by flatly lying about what happened. But their accounts have been <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/6eb29bcb-5d4a-4716-a361-9cb5c2fe37c4?j=eyJ1IjoiNngzbm4ifQ.I1PMvYo4mI3PquTDRhL5Dev-9_ouIq3kw6ZhrVNsy8o" target="_blank"><span style='color:#363737'>refuted by video evidence</span></a> which show an out-of-control ICE agent gunning down a woman who was simply trying to get away from a frightening situation. Yes, MAGA loyalists will fall into line, preferring to believe Trump rather than their own lying eyes. But public revulsion over Good’s murder and Trump’s mendacity are high and growing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>A president who actually cared about the welfare of those he governs would have taken Good’s killing as an indication that his deportation tactics have veered wildly and tragically off course. He would have called for a halt of ICE actions and made sure there would be an objective and timely federal investigation into this national tragedy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>But for Trump, ICE’s violent lawlessness is a feature, not a bug. Sending armed, masked, poorly trained, masked and out-of-control armed thugs into blue cities is, in effect, a war on Americans, just as January 6</span><sup><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>th</span></sup><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>was a war on American institutions. In effect, Trump would rather savage his own people than be held accountable for his actions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>So in Trump’s mind, Renee Nicole Good’s murder is at most collateral damage, in service to his insatiable need to dominate and feel powerful -- so insatiable that he is attempting to create an alternate reality, claiming that that Good <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/7cca252e-8b35-41a5-ab11-2925ae70ffc9?j=eyJ1IjoiNngzbm4ifQ.I1PMvYo4mI3PquTDRhL5Dev-9_ouIq3kw6ZhrVNsy8o" target="_blank"><span style='color:#363737'>ran over an agent</span></a> although there is irrefutable video evidence that she didn’t.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>And when one set of lies doesn’t work, he switches tactics – changing the topic, deflecting, and spouting even more lies. Thus, just hours after Good’s death, Trump proclaimed that he was seeking a huge increase in military spending:<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style='margin-top:24.0pt;margin-bottom:24.0pt'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%" style='width:100.0%'><tr><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'></td><td width=956 style='width:717.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/dfeafbbb-ac8e-4b4e-be86-2d5cd46486e7?j=eyJ1IjoiNngzbm4ifQ.I1PMvYo4mI3PquTDRhL5Dev-9_ouIq3kw6ZhrVNsy8o" target="_blank"><span style='border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=549 height=651 style='width:5.7187in;height:6.7812in' id="_x0000_i1025" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pnTz!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a679557-5d20-4eec-85b4-888c6f8d1af9_956x1132.png"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'></td></tr></table></div><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>It’s a near certainty that Trump’s assertion that he arrived at an immediate 50% increase in the military budget after “long and difficult negotiations” is yet another lie. There’s been no indication whatsoever that a massive increase in defense spending was on anyone’s agenda before he suddenly posted about it on Truth Social.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>So what was that about? Given the timing, it’s clear that Trump’s announcement was yet another exercise in self-aggrandizement, as well as an attempt to grab the headlines away from Good’s killing. But what’s also important to realize from Trump’s announcement is that he is now clearly conflating the size of the US military with his ego. Evidently the sugar rush of Maduro’s capture has left him wanting more and more military validation, particularly as his poll numbers tank.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>So here’s a warning to the US military: if you continue to indulge the sick fantasies of this man, he will drag this country into more and deeper international morasses to feed his need for glory. Do what Admiral Alvin Holsey, an honorable man, did – stand down and refuse an illegal order. Here’s a warning to the Republicans: if you continue to allow this man to perpetrate war against his own people with impunity through the actions of ICE, you will be remembered as cowards and hypocrites. Here’s a warning to all his other enablers: if you do not do something to stop this madman, you will go down in history as traitors to this country.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#363737'>And here’s a warning to those directly perpetrating Trump-directed atrocities: He will not be in power forever, and I expect and hope that you will be held accountable, personally, and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.<o:p></o:p></span></p><h3 style='line-height:15.0pt;margin:inherit;text-overflow:ellipsis;overflow:hidden'><span class=gmail-gd><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F1F1F;font-weight:normal'> Paul Krugman </span></span><span style='color:#5F6368'><o:p></o:p></span></h3></div></div></div></body></html>