I Know You Are But what Am I

I Know You Are But what Am I? It's a child's game. It is much like Tic-tac-toe in that the game is played to a draw when Player 1 and Payer 2 are equally matched. Only when one Player is more anal retentive does he "win" by default. This is why the better move is to not play.

There is a poem and song lyric titled "The Drunk Driver Always Has the Right of Way." Sometimes even when you are right you must yield and let the impaired one have his way. This principle also applies in the game of habitual lying. The master liar states his lie. Everyone knows he is lying. He knows he is lying but he doesn't care because the war of attrition is afoot. The people who hear the lies point them out and refute the message being put forth. The liar lies some more. The refutation continues. Eventually, the refutation efforts wane due to sheer exhaustion. Besides, the level of repetition of the lies leads some people to believe them. That phenomenon exacerbates the futility of trying to outmaneuver the liar. He has an unlimited supply of false and misleading statements to use.

The childhood game goes like this. "You are a crybaby." The response is "I know you are but what am I?" This exchange goes on until the Player 1 gives up because Player 2 will never acquiesce. His is a world where he is the king, the master, the mogul who cannot be "one-upped." Eventually, everyone will leave him alone and criticized him behind his back. He becomes like the grumpy old demented grandpa who cannot be reasoned with only accommodated. The cognitive deficit becomes so severe that eventually he must be moved to supervises housing where he can rant and fuss to his heart's content and the staff placates him with "there, there we mustn't get the other residents all riled up.

The problem comes when the impaired one is the head of the household. He still has control of the checkbook and the other finances. Wresting control from him involves a legal battle royale, especially when he still has supporting associates who have something to gain by his absurd behavior.  

The conflict may very well result in the fall of the house. Maddness is highly destructive to everyone who contacts it. It is exceptionally destructive when an entire nation is the household. Eventually the mad one dies or otherwise reaches a state where he cannot function any longer and he fades away leaving a trail of devastation in his wake.

RealInterestConflict Problem

Here is the #realInterestConflict problem we are going to have.

Joint Chiefs of Staff: "Mr. President, we spent $150 million and engaged 312 covert personnel to ascertain what the Russian motives are in Poland. We are advising you of the buildup of assets, personnel and munitions within 5 miles of Poland's border. Our best assessment is that Russian forces are poised to move across the border and retake Poland as a Russian Territory."

New POTUS: "Hold on right there. There is no such thing happening. No one knows exactly whose troops they are and to what state they belong. They could be ISIS, they could be Syrian Refugees. Nobody really knows until we figure out what is going on there."

JCS: "But Mr. President, we do know what is going on. We can see in in the satellites imagery...."

New POTUS: "You're telling me you can determine Russian intentions from a satellite. I think not. Really, I don't think. I don't have to since I have the greatest business sense of anybody in this room. I can pick up the phone and call V. Putin and just ask him. He and I have the bestest relationship. He will tell me the truth without all the political maneuvering like I see in these failed meetings. MY sources tell me that the Russians are merely moving to Summer quarters."

JCS: "Mr. President. This nation depends heavily on our professional assessments of geopolitical threats."

New POTUS: "Look Gentlemen, all I have to do is Tweet out what I think and the people of this country will see how great my mind is and what I think. They will come together and tell YOU what is going on. Even my son, here, knows more about Russian intentions than all the satellites you wasted billions on. Tell them, Barron."

FLBOTUS: "Well, I..."

New POTUS: "See what I mean? He is a yuge asset to my oligarchy".

Seriously now, the foregoing highly realistic "Fictional" account only touches the Dip of the Iceberg. Getting and using information from unknown sources, intuition and known foreign parties is a formula for disaster. Expressing opinion as fact through insecure channels invites the Principle of Imminent Collapse to manifest a failure. A nudge will be all it takes to initiate.

P-E T has 18.8 million followers on Twitter. Many of them are quick to react to whatever they read. Since P-E T has the reputation of saying incendiary things at odd-hours of the night, how difficult would it be for any state sponsored hackers to co-opt the feed and make the world believe the President of the United States said this or said that? In conjunction with the wildfire nature of these messages, the damage will be done before the Secretary of Walking Things Back, Kellyanne, can say what was really said, or not said as the case may be.

In this flash-point world we live in, sparking matches and flipping them toward a bucket of gasoline is utter madness. Yeah, most of them will be extinguished, but don't try this at home, or abroad for that matter. And please never try it on Twitter.