The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

The Obama-Clinton “Prisoner’s Dilemma”

Posted on | October 13, 2012 | 56 Comments

by Smitty

While they have a senior-subordinate relationship, at that altitude, Obama and Clinton are more like peers, especially in the broader scope of the Democrat Party, where Barack is hoping Bill will loan enough luster to Obama to somehow win re-election. Thus, Benghazi-quiddick (we should limit the -gate suffix on scandals lacking a death toll) resembles the classic game theory example The Prisoner’s Dilemma:

Two men are arrested, but the police do not have enough information for a conviction. The police separate the two men, and offer both the same deal: if one testifies against his partner (defects/betrays), and the other remains silent (cooperates with/assists his partner), the betrayer goes free and the one that remains silent gets a one-year sentence. If both remain silent, both are sentenced to only one month in jail on a minor charge. If each ‘rats out’ the other, each receives a three-month sentence. Each prisoner must choose either to betray or remain silent; the decision of each is kept secret from his partner. What should they do? If it is assumed that each player is only concerned with lessening his own time in jail, the game becomes a non-zero sum game where the two players may either assist or betray the other. The sole concern of the prisoners seems to be increasing his own reward. The interesting symmetry of this problem is that the optimal decision for each is to betray the other, even though they would be better off if they both cooperated.

Here, we have two public figures who both look negligent over a tragedy. And they hold grudges against each other going back. They can both get hammered together, or can try to minimize their damage by pinning blame on the other.

Clinton absorbs Obama accuses
Clinton accuses In this variant, Clinton steps up and takes responsibility for failures as Secretary of State, scuttling her 2016 hopes, with the idea of saving Obama’s re-election.
I’ll point you to Kevin DuJan at HillBuzz for that analysis.		 If they both escalates the accusatory posturing, then the bleeding may not stop until both are completely ruined.
Yet, accusations are their stock in trade. They just have to do it subtly.
Obama absorbs They both stand there and take the hit. Re-election now, and possible election in 2016 for Hillary only happens if the electorate enjoys some truly raging outburst of amnesia.
Unlikely in Internet Age, thank you, Al Gore.
Taking responsibility is something you make your opposition do. Never apologize, never explain. Which outs both of them as lousy leaders.		 Obama steps up and admits how badly he tubed Benghazi-quiddick, in order to save Hillary’s 2016 presidential hopes.

The bad news about this ‘game’ is that the price of admission is four human sacrifices. Those deaths were tragic for the four, and their families. The shame for the United States, and the increased boldness of our enemies, is far worse. Then there is the damage done to the validity, the basic confidence the people have in our government, brought on by the shameless deceits of the Obama Administration.

No good can come of the Obama-Clinton game. Beyond the entertainment value, the best we can hope for is minimal collateral damage.

More at Granite Grok, and Roger Simon analyzes the electoral impact and the general pulse of the Left.

via Breitbart

Update: thank you for linking, Instapundit, Hogewash, Victory Girls, and Dinocrat.

Update II: linked at God’s Own Crunk. Also, for those who dislike the labeling in the table, please feel free to offer an improved version somewhere on this vast internet. Otherwise, my guess is you’re firing for effect. In the wrong direction.

Update III: more at Daily Pundit:

Some people think Barack Obama is cold and calculating. I don’t. I think he’s a tangled ball of twisted emotions, primary among which are fear and hatred. Some part of him might understand that he’ll damage himself by trying to damage the Clintons, but I just don’t think he’ll be able to help himself.

Getting inside that noggin isn’t the least bit interesting to me. I just want to see BHO distanced from levers of power.

Category: Barack Obama, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Uncategorized

Comments

56 Responses to “The Obama-Clinton “Prisoner’s Dilemma””

  1. JeffS
    October 13th, 2012 @ 9:59 pm

    Ah, so you have been concern trolling on the earlier comments in this thread! This clarifies your real position.

    Thanks!

  2. akatsukami
    October 14th, 2012 @ 1:37 pm

    Only about 20 out of every 32 years, to judge by recent elections.

  3. Bob Belvedere
    October 14th, 2012 @ 4:34 pm

    Exactly. She’s just as much a Committed Leftist as Barry Marshall Davis – but somewhat smarter.

  4. Bob Belvedere
    October 14th, 2012 @ 4:37 pm

    What!…no breasts?!?

  5. Bob Belvedere
    October 14th, 2012 @ 4:39 pm

    I don’t get the feeling that WHI is Clinton, but it most certainly could be someone who worked for him. There were a number of, for lack of a better term, ‘Bluedogs’ who did – old Scoop Jackson-types.

  6. Bailey
    October 20th, 2012 @ 9:44 am

    I’m a bit late to the game here, but i think biden’s “they never told us” moment was a mistake and something they couldn’t walk back. Hillary, by “taking the blame” looks presidential by distinguishing herself from the rats seeking highest level of an ever-sinking ship. Perhaps this is just me, but her revenge is that she’s not really accepting blame; she’ simply acting as the adult in the room and making the white house look a daycare facility.