General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Why the arguments of Obama's defenders leave many cold. [View all]Pab Sungenis
(9,612 posts)The way we got into this situation, with an African-American Democratic President further to the right than Nixon or Reagan and a Republican Party calling him a Socialist and running even further to the right than HE is, is because we keep being told we have to pick Door A. It's not the Monty Hall Problem, it's Xeno's paradox.
For those who don't know how the paradox works: if every step takes you halfway down the road you never reach your goal. The goal is a mile down the road, so you travel halfway then stop. Then your goal is half a mile away, so you travel halfway then stop. Now your goal is a quarter mile away so you travel halfway then stop. Now your goal is 600 feet away, so you travel halfway then stop. Now your goal is 300 feet away, so you travel halfway then stop. Now your goal is 150 feet away so you travel halfway then stop. Now it's 75 feet away. Then it's 38. Then it's 19. Then it's 10. Then it's 5.
Unless you travel the entire distance you never reach your destination. Half measures do. not. work.
And with the Republicans have been playing the game, we don't even get halfway. We travel maybe a quarter, maybe one eighth of the distance for everything we give up. So now the destination is 3/4 of a mile down the road and we give them everything they want to travel another 3/8 of a mile. Each step makes it harder to make any progress at all, and you never reach your goal.
The answer? Stop playing their game. If a Republican (or, as is too often the case, a Democrat) tells you that you have to choose Door A or Door B, you don't pick either door. You walk out of the "Let's Make A Deal" studio and go play "The Price Is Right" instead. And if they don't want to play your game, then they can go pound sand.