WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.080 OK, let's unpack this. The stack of sources you 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:07.160 provided is. Well, it's chaotic. It is a bit 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:08.960 all over the place, isn't it? We're jumping from 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:11.580 a deep analysis of a major media credibility 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:15.519 crisis that CBS News. Straight into what? Naval 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:17.820 shipbuilding specs and then pivoting to the future 00:00:17.820 --> 00:00:20.640 of fusion and wind energy policy. Right. And 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:22.839 the sheer variety here. I mean, it really suggests 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:25.980 we're in a moment where the usual rules of power, 00:00:26.019 --> 00:00:28.719 of politics, they just. They don't seem to apply 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:30.800 anymore. And that's the fascinating thing, because 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:33.200 while the topics seem totally disparate, our 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:35.700 mission here is to show that they are all symptoms 00:00:35.700 --> 00:00:38.439 of the same core driver. So there's a pattern 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:40.799 under the chaos. Exactly. We're going to extract 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:43.539 that unifying insight. These sources offer a 00:00:43.539 --> 00:00:45.780 framework for understanding these big power moves, 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:48.020 arguing that traditional political calculation, 00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:50.439 you know, legislative compromise party goals 00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:53.420 is being systematically overridden by intensely 00:00:53.420 --> 00:00:55.740 personal agendas. We are talking about grift, 00:00:55.939 --> 00:00:58.979 ego and revenge. And that's the shortcut. Really. 00:00:59.179 --> 00:01:01.320 We have analysis of this high stakes journalism 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:04.040 and then these really clear case studies that 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:06.599 help us apply that framework. This deep dive 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:09.340 is about understanding the why behind today's 00:01:09.340 --> 00:01:11.989 most surprising headlines. So let's start. where 00:01:11.989 --> 00:01:14.769 that personal agenda hit hardest, the media. 00:01:15.290 --> 00:01:17.329 We need to set the stage for the controversy 00:01:17.329 --> 00:01:22.250 around the 60 -minute segment inside CECOT. And 00:01:22.250 --> 00:01:24.590 CECOT is that Controversial Detention Center 00:01:24.590 --> 00:01:27.030 in El Salvador. Right. So the piece was about 00:01:27.030 --> 00:01:30.769 incredibly sensitive, high -stakes stuff, abrupt, 00:01:31.209 --> 00:01:35.030 allegedly illegal deportations and the horrific 00:01:35.030 --> 00:01:37.269 conditions and alleged torture people face there. 00:01:37.510 --> 00:01:39.829 The story itself is vital, but the timeline is 00:01:39.829 --> 00:01:42.290 the real story here. The source material really 00:01:42.290 --> 00:01:44.390 hammers home that this report was vetted up and 00:01:44.390 --> 00:01:46.689 down. Oh, completely. It was screened five different 00:01:46.689 --> 00:01:49.549 times, cleared by CBS attorneys, cleared by their 00:01:49.549 --> 00:01:51.290 standards and practices department. They were 00:01:51.290 --> 00:01:53.430 so confident they had a promo live on their website. 00:01:53.730 --> 00:01:55.769 And that rigorous vetting is what makes the final 00:01:55.769 --> 00:01:59.090 decision so, so jaw -dropping. The report was 00:01:59.090 --> 00:02:00.810 dropped just two and a half hours before it was 00:02:00.810 --> 00:02:02.790 scheduled to air. Two and a half hours. You could 00:02:02.790 --> 00:02:06.180 just feel the panic. The online promo gets pulled 00:02:06.180 --> 00:02:09.039 and replaced with this vague notice saying the 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:11.620 report would air in a future broadcast. Which 00:02:11.620 --> 00:02:14.939 it never did. And the analysis in these documents 00:02:14.939 --> 00:02:17.800 immediately points the finger at the person who 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:21.360 pulled the kill switch. Barry Weiss. And the 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:24.180 source uses this really striking analogy for 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:26.800 her role. Yeah, it's a sports analogy. It compares 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:30.259 her to a highly paid heel in professional wrestling. 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:33.319 Someone paid to be the bad guy. Exactly. Someone 00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:36.120 paid well to do the unpopular partisan bidding 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:39.840 for the Ellison owners to provide a quote, veneer 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:42.960 of legitimacy and shield both the ownership and 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:45.979 the administration from any real criticism. So 00:02:45.979 --> 00:02:47.919 when she finally had to explain this to the staff, 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:50.009 what was the official reason? Well, she gave 00:02:50.009 --> 00:02:52.270 three justifications. First, she claimed the 00:02:52.270 --> 00:02:55.110 story was not ready. Second, that it didn't advance 00:02:55.110 --> 00:02:57.610 the ball because outlets like the New York Times 00:02:57.610 --> 00:02:59.729 had already done similar work. As if everyone 00:02:59.729 --> 00:03:03.090 reads the Times. Right. The idea being the public 00:03:03.090 --> 00:03:05.289 already knows about the horrific treatment of 00:03:05.289 --> 00:03:08.849 Venezuelans. And third, she argued that 60 Minutes 00:03:08.849 --> 00:03:11.610 needs to get principles on the record and on 00:03:11.610 --> 00:03:14.189 camera. And the source's critique just tears 00:03:14.189 --> 00:03:16.669 that apart. It calls that second point ivory 00:03:16.669 --> 00:03:19.740 tower elitism. Of course. It's absurd to claim 00:03:19.740 --> 00:03:22.240 a time story that might reach a million readers 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:24.960 negates a 60 minutes broadcast, which averages, 00:03:24.979 --> 00:03:27.960 what, eight million viewers? Eight million. And 00:03:27.960 --> 00:03:29.960 that's not even getting into the impact of video 00:03:29.960 --> 00:03:33.219 versus print. Seeing it is different. So different. 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:35.000 And that's where the counterargument from the 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:38.280 lead reporter, Sharon Alfonsi, becomes so essential. 00:03:38.620 --> 00:03:41.240 She sent this powerful memo to the staff. And 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:43.830 what did it say? It said... Unequivocally, that 00:03:43.830 --> 00:03:46.330 pulling the story was, quote, not an editorial 00:03:46.330 --> 00:03:48.849 decision, it is a political one. And crucially, 00:03:48.889 --> 00:03:51.289 she confirms they had requested responses from 00:03:51.289 --> 00:03:54.050 DHS, the White House, and the State Department. 00:03:54.229 --> 00:03:55.870 Which gets to the real heart of it, the systemic 00:03:55.870 --> 00:03:58.990 problem here for journalism. It is. Alfonsi's 00:03:58.990 --> 00:04:02.729 warning is the key insight. She says if an administration's 00:04:02.729 --> 00:04:05.069 refusal to participate becomes a valid reason 00:04:05.069 --> 00:04:08.750 to spike a story, journalists have, quote, effectively 00:04:08.750 --> 00:04:11.569 handed them a kill switch. Government silence 00:04:11.569 --> 00:04:15.229 becomes a veto. A veto. She says their silence 00:04:15.229 --> 00:04:17.649 is the statement, you don't let it kill the story. 00:04:17.870 --> 00:04:20.009 She even tied it to the network's own painful 00:04:20.009 --> 00:04:22.709 history. The Jeffrey Wigand interview. Exactly. 00:04:23.370 --> 00:04:25.990 She warned that by pulling this story to shield 00:04:25.990 --> 00:04:28.350 an administration, they were repeating that history 00:04:28.350 --> 00:04:31.629 of nearly destroying their own credibility. But 00:04:31.629 --> 00:04:34.470 this time for political optics rather than legal 00:04:34.470 --> 00:04:37.199 ones, it's self -censorship. And in the end, 00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:40.500 it was completely self -defeating. The Streisand 00:04:40.500 --> 00:04:42.879 effect kicks in. The controversy itself gave 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:44.839 the story way more exposure than it ever would 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:47.360 have gotten. So much more. The source notes the 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:49.860 segment still ran on CBS outlets in Canada and 00:04:49.860 --> 00:04:52.240 other countries, so it got online anyway. They 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:54.480 tried to bury a negative story and ended up creating 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:56.860 an even bigger one about their own lack of integrity. 00:04:57.160 --> 00:05:00.079 So if that kind of personal political motivation 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:04.360 can censor a major news story, I mean, sacrificing 00:05:04.360 --> 00:05:07.000 decades of credibility in two and a half hours, 00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:10.019 then the sources are saying we need a framework 00:05:10.019 --> 00:05:12.639 to see how that dictates everything else. Exactly 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:15.480 right. Which brings us to this core analytical 00:05:15.480 --> 00:05:19.060 idea. The concept of a post -politics president. 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:21.540 Meaning what, exactly? Well, unlike previous 00:05:21.540 --> 00:05:24.319 administrations, even lame ducks like Eisenhower 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:26.779 who, you know, still cared about the future of 00:05:26.779 --> 00:05:29.980 his party or his legacy, the analysis here suggests 00:05:29.980 --> 00:05:31.899 that the traditional levers of governance are 00:05:31.899 --> 00:05:34.160 secondary. They're not the main goal. Not at 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:36.860 all. The sources argue the administration is 00:05:36.860 --> 00:05:39.379 driven by three things, sometimes overlapping. 00:05:39.939 --> 00:05:43.339 Grift, ego, and revenge. And we need to be really 00:05:43.339 --> 00:05:45.019 clear about what those mean in this context. 00:05:45.139 --> 00:05:48.220 OK, so let's define them. Grift. Grift is defined 00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:51.300 simply as money being tops. It means doing absolutely 00:05:51.300 --> 00:05:53.560 anything to make a buck and explicitly using 00:05:53.560 --> 00:05:56.180 the power of the presidency. Things like pardons, 00:05:56.519 --> 00:05:58.920 policy shifts. As an insurance policy. As an 00:05:58.920 --> 00:06:00.819 insurance policy for future wealth and protection. 00:06:00.980 --> 00:06:03.980 It's that simple. And ego. This goes beyond just 00:06:03.980 --> 00:06:07.519 normal vanity. Way beyond. It's defined as malignant 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:10.519 narcissism, the pathological need to make it 00:06:10.519 --> 00:06:12.639 all about me, even if it hurts your allies or 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:15.360 just makes no logical sense. The source points 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:17.839 to the response after actor Rob Reiner's death. 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:19.639 Right. Turning a moment of reflection into a 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:21.959 moment to settle an old political score. Exactly. 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:24.519 And then there's revenge. This isn't just about 00:06:24.519 --> 00:06:26.699 scoring political points. It's personal. It's 00:06:26.699 --> 00:06:30.600 deeply personal, a profound pathological almost 00:06:31.550 --> 00:06:34.990 therapeutic need to exact vengeance against anyone 00:06:34.990 --> 00:06:37.990 who has wronged him. The source calls this favoring 00:06:37.990 --> 00:06:40.730 point totals over shooting percentage. Meaning 00:06:40.730 --> 00:06:43.110 he'll take the shot no matter what. He'll pursue 00:06:43.110 --> 00:06:46.209 these long shot, high cost revenge plays just 00:06:46.209 --> 00:06:48.389 for the satisfaction no matter the political 00:06:48.389 --> 00:06:51.060 fallout. So isn't it a bit reductive though to 00:06:51.060 --> 00:06:53.680 say these huge multi -billion dollar policies 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:56.699 are only about these three personal drives? What 00:06:56.699 --> 00:06:59.000 about, you know, actual conservative ideology 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:02.000 or pressure from big donors? And that's the critical 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:04.819 distinction. The framework doesn't say ideology 00:07:04.819 --> 00:07:06.959 and donor pressure don't exist. It says they 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:09.160 become subservient to the personal drive. So 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:12.399 they're tools, not goals. They're tools. You 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:14.879 can satisfy Big Oil with a policy, sure, but 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:17.360 if that same policy also satisfies the president's 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:19.920 personal need for revenge against an enemy, it 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:22.420 gets pushed to the very top of the list. The 00:07:22.420 --> 00:07:24.480 framework tells you that to understand any move, 00:07:24.779 --> 00:07:27.740 you have to ask first. Is this a grift? Is this 00:07:27.740 --> 00:07:31.459 about his ego? Or is this about revenge? The 00:07:31.459 --> 00:07:33.750 political math comes second. OK, so let's apply 00:07:33.750 --> 00:07:35.990 that framework right now to this wind farm shock. 00:07:36.110 --> 00:07:39.129 Yeah. This is a huge story. The administration 00:07:39.129 --> 00:07:42.250 suspended all leases for the five offshore wind 00:07:42.250 --> 00:07:45.009 farms under construction on the East Coast, including 00:07:45.009 --> 00:07:47.449 Vineyard Wind, which is already generating electricity. 00:07:47.589 --> 00:07:49.790 It's already powering homes. So what's the official 00:07:49.790 --> 00:07:51.850 justification? It came from the Secretary of 00:07:51.850 --> 00:07:55.329 the Interior Doug Burgum on X. He claimed national 00:07:55.329 --> 00:07:57.870 security concerns identified by at depth of war. 00:07:58.410 --> 00:08:00.870 He also called the projects expensive, unreliable 00:08:00.870 --> 00:08:03.699 and heavily subsidized. But the political fallout 00:08:03.699 --> 00:08:07.639 from that decision is just, it's huge. It's catastrophic, 00:08:07.939 --> 00:08:09.980 politically speaking. You're cutting off operational 00:08:09.980 --> 00:08:12.279 energy right as winter is arriving. You're making 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:14.860 coastal Republicans, who supported these projects 00:08:14.860 --> 00:08:17.660 for their local economies, hopping mad. And the 00:08:17.660 --> 00:08:21.399 biggest one. You caused the Democrats to walk 00:08:21.399 --> 00:08:24.319 away from that bipartisan energy deal. Immediately. 00:08:24.779 --> 00:08:27.079 A deal that was designed to speed up all energy 00:08:27.079 --> 00:08:31.120 projects, natural gas, nuclear. Everything. So 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:33.740 by killing wind, he also killed the fast track 00:08:33.740 --> 00:08:35.860 for all the other energy sources. It makes no 00:08:35.860 --> 00:08:37.740 political sense. Unless you look at it through 00:08:37.740 --> 00:08:39.779 the revenge lens. And then it makes perfect sense. 00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:42.860 This is pure revenge. The president has had this 00:08:42.860 --> 00:08:45.879 longstanding, very personal hatred of wind energy. 00:08:45.879 --> 00:08:47.820 Right. From that fight over his golf course in 00:08:47.820 --> 00:08:50.500 Scotland. That's the one. He lost a legal battle 00:08:50.500 --> 00:08:52.559 to keep a wind farm away from his course because 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:54.799 he thought it ruined the view. And this action 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:57.960 is also direct revenge against Joe Biden since 00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:00.710 his buildback. better policies were what enabled 00:09:00.710 --> 00:09:03.070 these projects. So you've got revenge, check. 00:09:03.289 --> 00:09:05.350 But the grift angle has to be here, too. Oh, 00:09:05.350 --> 00:09:07.929 it's absolutely here. Less wind energy means 00:09:07.929 --> 00:09:10.470 more valuable oil and nuclear power. And Big 00:09:10.470 --> 00:09:13.549 Oil was a massive campaign contributor, which 00:09:13.549 --> 00:09:17.490 leads us directly to the 100 % grift case study. 00:09:17.610 --> 00:09:20.529 The merger. The merger of Trump Media and Technology 00:09:20.529 --> 00:09:24.070 Group TMTG, or Truth Social, and a fusion power 00:09:24.070 --> 00:09:26.789 company called TAE Technologies. So if you're 00:09:26.789 --> 00:09:29.990 trying to connect the dots... using power for 00:09:29.990 --> 00:09:32.730 personal profit. The balance sheet here is just 00:09:32.730 --> 00:09:35.590 astonishing. It really is. The sources basically 00:09:35.590 --> 00:09:37.669 paint this as corporate maneuvering designed 00:09:37.669 --> 00:09:41.110 only to extract cash. The merger is valued at 00:09:41.110 --> 00:09:44.450 six billion dollars, but five billion of that 00:09:44.450 --> 00:09:47.389 is coming from TE, the fusion company. So what 00:09:47.389 --> 00:09:50.100 does that mean in simple terms? It means Through 00:09:50.100 --> 00:09:52.820 this complex transaction, TMTG shareholders, 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:55.539 including the president, got over five hundred 00:09:55.539 --> 00:09:58.320 million dollars in essentially free money. Five 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:00.220 hundred million. But the question is, what does 00:10:00.220 --> 00:10:03.159 T .E .T. technologies get for that? I mean, fusion 00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:06.059 is a notoriously difficult, highly regulated 00:10:06.059 --> 00:10:09.000 field. They get deep investment from and guaranteed 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:12.080 access to the most powerful person in the government. 00:10:12.220 --> 00:10:14.580 An implicit promise. An implicit promise that 00:10:14.580 --> 00:10:16.679 all those regulatory barriers are going to fall 00:10:16.679 --> 00:10:19.419 away and fall away quickly. The analysis suggests 00:10:19.419 --> 00:10:23.179 AE's real prize is the promise of future massive 00:10:23.179 --> 00:10:25.480 government grants. We're talking a billion, maybe 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:28.519 $10 billion that are needed to actually build 00:10:28.519 --> 00:10:31.000 and scale fusion plants. The source analysis 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:33.659 calls it a big fat bribe. That's the phrase they 00:10:33.659 --> 00:10:37.799 use. A big fat bribe for unparalleled regulatory 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:40.970 support. And here's the crucial link. This new 00:10:40.970 --> 00:10:43.490 personal financial stake in nuclear infusion 00:10:43.490 --> 00:10:47.789 power creates a powerful vested reason to systematically 00:10:47.789 --> 00:10:51.149 kill other power sources, like those wind farms. 00:10:51.549 --> 00:10:54.289 He simultaneously makes himself personally wealthy, 00:10:54.769 --> 00:10:57.049 guarantees regulatory support for his new business 00:10:57.049 --> 00:10:59.990 partner, and dismantles his rivals' energy projects 00:10:59.990 --> 00:11:03.070 using revenge as the pretext. It all connects. 00:11:03.370 --> 00:11:07.029 Let's shift now to ego and its often unintended 00:11:07.029 --> 00:11:09.440 consequences. And we have to start with the Navy 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:11.820 fleet. This seems like the clearest case of ego 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:14.480 overriding any kind of military logic. It really 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:17.200 is. The whole announced overhaul of the Navy 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:19.399 fleet, including brand new battleships, it came 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:21.120 directly from the president complaining that 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:23.860 the existing ships were ugly. Ugly. Yeah, full 00:11:23.860 --> 00:11:25.779 of rust and worn paint. He didn't like how they 00:11:25.779 --> 00:11:28.179 looked. The vanity in the details here is just... 00:11:27.950 --> 00:11:30.330 It's incredible. It is. The new class of ships 00:11:30.330 --> 00:11:32.509 will be known as the Trump class. The first ship 00:11:32.509 --> 00:11:34.970 is going to be named the USS Defiant, and he 00:11:34.970 --> 00:11:37.450 claimed they'll be 100 times more powerful than 00:11:37.450 --> 00:11:39.809 any battleship ever built. And it's all part 00:11:39.809 --> 00:11:41.730 of the new Golden Fleet. The Golden Fleet, which 00:11:41.730 --> 00:11:45.370 he explicitly compared to Teddy Roosevelt's 1907 00:11:45.370 --> 00:11:47.970 Great White Fleet. But the reality check from 00:11:47.970 --> 00:11:50.090 the sources is pretty immediate. Well, yeah. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:52.600 For starters, ship classes are conventionally 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:54.700 named after the first ship. So these would be 00:11:54.700 --> 00:11:57.960 defiant class ships, not Trump class. A minor 00:11:57.960 --> 00:12:00.539 detail, I'm sure. And more importantly, the projected 00:12:00.539 --> 00:12:04.000 two and a half year construction timeline is... 00:12:04.120 --> 00:12:07.600 Let's just say highly unlikely for vessels this 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:10.399 complex. He'll almost certainly be out of office 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:13.259 before any of it are completed. It's a multi 00:12:13.259 --> 00:12:15.720 -billion dollar vanity project for photo ops 00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:18.240 he may never even get. And we see how these personal 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:21.360 agendas revenge ego create this political neglect 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:23.860 that really hurts everyday people. Let's look 00:12:23.860 --> 00:12:26.460 at the Jim Beam situation. This one is devastating. 00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:29.019 Suntory, Jim Beam's parent company, announced 00:12:29.019 --> 00:12:31.379 it's halting all production at its main Kentucky 00:12:31.379 --> 00:12:34.500 facility for 2026. That's about a thousand people 00:12:34.500 --> 00:12:37.299 out of work. A thousand jobs in one state. That's 00:12:37.299 --> 00:12:40.220 a huge economic blow. The company's stated reason 00:12:40.220 --> 00:12:43.559 was tariff uncertainty. Right, that and drastically 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:45.559 low sales to Canada, their main foreign market. 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:48.320 And the source analysis connects that directly 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:51.980 to the, quote, shabby way that Donald Trump has 00:12:51.980 --> 00:12:54.659 treated the folks in the Great White North. So 00:12:54.659 --> 00:12:56.620 this is where the revenge framework just hits 00:12:56.620 --> 00:12:58.820 like a hammer. It's brutal. The administration 00:12:58.820 --> 00:13:01.539 is highly unlikely to step in and try to save 00:13:01.539 --> 00:13:04.039 those Kentucky jobs. And not because of some 00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:06.320 policy disagreement, but because the president 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:09.539 has this deep. personal animosity towards three 00:13:09.539 --> 00:13:11.960 of Kentucky's most prominent Republicans, Mitch 00:13:11.960 --> 00:13:14.620 McConnell, Rand Paul, and Thomas Massie. The 00:13:14.620 --> 00:13:17.200 source concludes he will, quote, probably enjoy 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:20.139 fiddling while Kentucky burns just to use the 00:13:20.139 --> 00:13:22.320 suffering of a thousand workers as a form of 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:24.299 passive revenge against his political rivals. 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:26.779 That is a staggering idea that inaction is driven 00:13:26.779 --> 00:13:29.600 by spite, not strategy. And finally, there's 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:31.639 the smaller but still telling case of George 00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:33.820 Conway. Yeah, the prominent never -Trump -er 00:13:33.820 --> 00:13:36.159 running as a Democrat in New York's 12th District, 00:13:36.539 --> 00:13:39.600 a D plus 33 district. So his strategy to win 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:42.019 a plurality in this totally fractured field, 00:13:42.620 --> 00:13:44.980 11 other Democrats, a handful of Republicans 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:47.779 and independents, it's a long shot. A very long 00:13:47.779 --> 00:13:50.320 shot. But the analysis suggests the real prize 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:52.679 for him might not be the seat itself. It might 00:13:52.679 --> 00:13:55.500 be gaining that massive taxpayer -funded public 00:13:55.500 --> 00:13:58.759 platform just to, quote, rail against Trump. 00:13:59.259 --> 00:14:01.860 So it's vengeance, but channeled into political 00:14:01.860 --> 00:14:05.639 ambition. Or maybe just disguised as it. So after 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:08.500 all of that, what does this mean for you, the 00:14:08.500 --> 00:14:11.019 listener? We've covered a massive amount of ground, 00:14:11.220 --> 00:14:14.620 but the unifying thread is the GER framework. 00:14:14.889 --> 00:14:18.269 We've seen how one person's deep -seated needs 00:14:18.269 --> 00:14:22.600 for grift for ego, for revenge, can dictate everything. 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:24.899 Everything from which ships get built, to which 00:14:24.899 --> 00:14:27.480 energy sources get shut down, to whether a major 00:14:27.480 --> 00:14:30.019 news network just sacrifices its own journalistic 00:14:30.019 --> 00:14:31.940 reputation. So this raises an important question 00:14:31.940 --> 00:14:33.960 for you to think about, given this unprecedented 00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:36.460 alignment of political power with these intensely 00:14:36.460 --> 00:14:38.480 personal financial and emotional motivations 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:40.860 and the instability we're seeing because of it. 00:14:41.019 --> 00:14:43.100 Does the pursuit of a post -political agenda 00:14:43.100 --> 00:14:45.679 ultimately make the country's future less predictable, 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:48.629 but paradoxically easier to understand? If you 00:14:48.629 --> 00:14:51.129 can decode the personal motivation, you can predict 00:14:51.129 --> 00:14:54.210 the policy. That's a profound thought to end 00:14:54.210 --> 00:14:56.690 on. Thanks for providing this deeply revealing 00:14:56.690 --> 00:14:58.350 stack of sources for this deep dive.