On Negotiating And "Compromise"

One of the classic gambits in game theory was played out over the weekend as Republicans ignored BO's 36-hour deadline.  I don't know if that was calling his own bluff or not, but it reminded me of the wisdom of Sophocles: "Do not command that which you cannot enforce."  It is wise of the Republicans to do this - Barry seems to think that he's the Emperor and can dictate terms.  This should serve as a wake-up call to the White House which is only negotiating in the hopes of scoring political points.

Meanwhile the cacophony grows from the Scylla of the mainstream press and the Charybdis of "mainstream" Republicans and "reasonable" Democrats for the Republican negotiators to fall prostrate at the altar of "compromise."  I touched on this last week, but let's offer up some analogies for why "compromise" should not be on the table:

• If you were dying of cancer, would you want your doctor to "compromise" and only cure part of the cancer?
  
• If a thief broke into your house and was robbing you of all that you owned - should you "compromise" with him and let him take everything in the living room as long as you got to keep the den and the bedrooms?
  
• If termites were eating away the timbers under your first floor, should you "compromise" and let them eat half of it?
  
• If you were in a plane that was going to crash into the mountain unless you pulled the stick up sharply - should you "compromise" and agree to just smash into the top part of the mountain?
  

I think you get the point.  Put succinctly by Admiral Stockdale in a speech given at my graduation from Surface Warfare School many years ago: "Where matters of principal are concerned, there can be no compromise."

We are in a death struggle to save our nation.  The historical track record beautifully spelled out in "This Time It's Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly," is brutally clear.  As of June, 2011, the percent of debt of the GDP is 98.6% - and as the following chart shows, we are slated to go over 100% soon: 

The sobering conclusion of "This Time It's Different?"  Go over 90% and really bad things start to happen.  The domestic economy can no longer grow as interest carry on the debt swallows current payments, services are curtailed, gimme's get gone - result?  Chaos, riots, groups protesting in the streets...err, like the bunch in Chicago over the weekend threatening not to work for BHO if he cuts ANYTHING. A little bit of scratching on that bunch: "Boldprogressive.org" - leads you to find out that they are in cahoots with Soros and "Democracy for America" and other essentially anti-American groups. 

The choice is clear.  A fundamental realignment of spending priorities and a return to the resilient society of self reliance or...Athens:

And before you choose "Athens," consider that in 2002 in Argentina when the economy collapsed in on itself in a debt drunk implosion - there wasn't money to pay the police like they still can in Athens.

Compromise anyone?

Rumble on!