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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Political Brinksmanship

I was going to post something serious about the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations, but on reflection I think that this gem from the British comedy series "Yes, Prime Minister" that I put up on Concurring Opinions a while ago does a better job of describing where we are. The scene is a conversation between the Prime Minister, Jim Hacker, and the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleby, on nuclear deterrence of the Soviet Union.

Sir Humphrey: With Trident we can obliterate the whole of Eastern Europe.

The PM: I don’t want to obliterate the whole of Eastern Europe.

Sir Humphrey: It’s a deterrent.

The PM: It’s a bluff. I probably won’t use it.

Sir Humphrey: Yes, but they don’t know that you probably wouldn’t.

The PM: They probably do.

Sir Humphrey: Yes, they probably know that you probably wouldn’t. But they can’t certainly know.

The PM: They probably certainly know that I probably wouldn’t.

Sir Humphrey: Yes, but even though they probably certainly know that you probably wouldn’t, they don’t certainly know that, although you probably wouldn’t, there is no probability that you certainly would.

11 comments:

  1. So I asked "What do we need to know about this political stalemate?" Received 47 (oppression) -- third (oppressed by stone), fourth (golden carriage) and top (creeping vines) -- into 58 (gentle). Interesting.

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  3. A great show, and a fine episode, and point taken: it's a poor deterrent when no one thinks you really will.

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  5. So I asked, What do we know about this political deadlock Received on 47 (oppression) - third (oppressed by stone), fourth (golden chariot) and high (creeping vines) - in 58 (mild). Interesting.

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