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Thornton Hall

The Revolution Will Be Kuhnian.

Do The Right Least Unconstitutional Thing

When Director Of National Intelligence James Clapper said that in testimony to Congress he tried to give the "least untruthful answer", comedians chortled, but good lawyers knew what he meant (even if we hate the substance of the operations he was hiding).

The law is frequently a process of analog to digital conversion where reality is infinitely divisible but legal questions admit answers of only yes or no. A moment of music in an MP3 might be "10110111", but that approximation is consistent with an infinite number different sounds that are non-identical at a level of resolution too small for the format. Some of the "actual" sounds are closer to "10110111" than others.

The act of drawing a line between true and false does not make every "true" thing equally true or every "false" thing equally false. 

This kind of logic is right in Obama's wheelhouse. Previously, I have criticized Obama's ability to understand the economy. The debt ceiling stand off is a different story. Obama's path to greatness lies precisely in his understanding of the infinite variety of logical space. Other presidents wouldn't even see the challenge: the need to choose the least unconstitutional path. President Obama can see the problem, frame it properly and figure out how to justify his choice to prosperity. That's why I think he has already decided to follow the path laid out here.

Update: Joe Weisenthal has a good round-up of coverage of the "14th Amendment Solution". It Increasingly Looks Like Obama Will Have To Raise The Debt Ceiling All By Himself

First Draft of History, Not

Contempt For Hard Working "Real" Americans