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Kitchen Table Kibitzing 1/14/23 ~ There's no 'negotiating' with terrorists, economic or otherwise [1]

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Date: 2023-01-14

For lack of a better analogy, this is akin to someone entering a restaurant, ordering the most expensive things on the menu, and, after fully gorging himself, loudly declaring that he will not pay his bill. Not only will he not pay his bill, but he also demands that the bill be paid by the waiters and cooks who served him, the busboys who cleaned his table and the dishwashers who washed his dishes. Finally, he declares that if they refuse to pay his bill, he will burn down the restaurant with everyone in it. To emphasize how serious he is, he strikes a match and holds it up meaningfully to the restaurant staff, so that everyone can see it.

The idea of “negotiating” with such a person is an impossibility. If you agree to his terms, he will simply repeat the process the following day and every day thereafter. Whatever the solution may be to deal with such a lowlife, deadbeat individual, it must be implemented firmly and immediately to ensure that no similar situation ever arises in the future, if the restaurant is to survive.

Because what this deadbeat is doing is theft by extortion. He enjoyed his wonderful, expensive meal, but now wants that meal to be at the expense of everyone who worked to prepare and serve it to him. He simply doesn’t want to pay for it. Meanwhile, he’s engorged, satiated and happily burping away with a big smile on his face. And why not? He thinks he’s going to get away with the crime of the century.

And of course, he isn’t going to burn down the restaurant. He’s too self-interested and egotistical to do that, for one thing, but also if he burns down the restaurant, he’ll perish in the flames like everyone else. But as long as he can convince the restaurant staff that he’s serious, then he thinks he may be able to get away with it, and that’s the most important thing to him.

Because he didn’t pick this restaurant all by himself. He was helped by friends in high places who all want to eat free as well. But they don’t like to be seen in public, they much prefer to stay in the shadows and let their deadbeat friend do their dirty work for them. They know that if he succeeds at this restaurant, then this kind of tactic will work just about anywhere. So they’re watching, patiently, enjoying the spectacle from a distance. They know that even in the worst-case scenario — if the restaurant burns to the ground — they’ll probably be OK, even if their deadbeat stooge in the restaurant goes down with the place as well. After all, they’ve been planning this for a long time. They have a ready supply of these types in the pipeline.

So, what should the restaurant staff do? Everything they possibly can. They sure as hell shouldn’t pay his bill, or even discuss paying it. No, they should get a big pail of water from the kitchen and dump it all over this deadbeat customer and his insolent lit-up match. They should embarrass the living hell out of him, bring in the camera crews. Trot in folks who depend on the restaurant and interview them. They should rally everyone in the neighborhood to shame and excoriate this guy until he pays his tab. They should lock the doors to let him know that he’ll also be trapped inside if he tries to burn the place down. They should force him to ask his “friends” to pay off the cost of his meal. And they should make him publicly identify these friends, the billionaire, would-be arsonists who put him up to this, before they let him leave. Then they should ban him from the premises for life.

In short, they should take any conceivable action — tested or not — available to them to thwart this type of behavior and ensure it doesn’t happen again.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/14/2147242/-Kitchen-Table-Kibitzing-1-14-23-There-s-no-negotiating-with-terrorists-economic-or-otherwise

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