Bob Corker got rolled. Now he needs something else to bitch about.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
BooMan, I read the article at the link, but I don’t exactly see how Bob Corker got rolled. Would you mind elaborating a bit? thanks.
Agree. Looks as if after putting a touch of lipstick on it, Obama caved.
Perfect. LOL.
Exactly how it is supposed to look.
If the bill that Corker got out of committee to appease the GOP freakout about the success of a multiparty deal with Iran wrt Nuclear Weapons is now a nothing burger, why doesn’t McConnell let it die at this point?
Looks to me as if we’re not seeing everything that happened as this thing was in development and whose arms were twisted by whom, when and why.
Brer Rabbit’s eyes got very large. “Oh please Brer Fox, whatever you do, please don’t throw me into the briar patch.”
agree, (except that when the White House says “please proceed” we know to be alert). reading around the internet it seems it gives Congress the authority to lift sanctions that Congress imposed [but also gives Obama some authority over Congress-imposed sanctions?]
It gives Obama the authority to conclude the agreement, but Congress review lifting the sanctions. The exact language of the bill is likely going to be very important as is the nature of any amendments.
It seems like a face-saving measure for the GOP that does not actually do what it appears to. Expect another hissy-fit and another compromise at the point at which Obama determines that sanctions be lifted.
very great moments in Presidential debate history (right up there with “binders full of women”).
Thanks for that reminder.
Thirded, I need some long form Booman writeups on this rather than Ruth Dowd (or whatever her name is). I remember that when the President got an extension of the nuclear arms reduction agreement with Russia (wow, how different things look now!) there was a great and detailed explanation and context of why Obama pursued it.
Now I am just reading this writeup and will not be surprised if the WH got what it wanted, but just don’t see how.
Will be happy to ready and recommend whatever you write to help enlighten me!
let’s hope the GOP won’t figure it out until next fall
The GOTP intended to inject itself into foreign policy negotiations before the April deadline by demanding terms be included, restricting the president’s ability to lift sanctions unilaterally, or by blowing up the talks by giving Iran an excuse to doubt U.S. credibility.
The president got exactly what he wanted by using the Senate Democrats to delay Corker’s bill throughout March.
01/27/2015 – Some In Pro-Israel Lobby Argue Democrat’s Hesitation Will Benefit Sanctions Bill
When it was clear the March vote wasn’t happening, the GOTP47 threw their monkeywrench into the mix. But that backfired and ginned up even more Senate Democratic resistance to the bill.
Despite the media spin, before and during the president’s announcement of the April framework he specifically agreed Congress should have an oversight role after the deal was made, not before. The Senate Democrats carried that flag. But Corker didn’t fold until, Pelosi announced her opposition to Corker-Menendez. (Anything Corker got through the Senate still needed a vet-proof majority in the House.)
And this bipartisan compromise is Corker giving the WH what it wants to save his credibility. The president’s team continues unfettered negotiations and Congress will simply review and vote to agree or disagree with the completed deal, if any, subject to the president;s veto power. Similarly, Congress will also vote to lift (or not) existing Congressional sanctions.
I think the idea is that Obama makes the deal and then Congress can pass something trying to negate it but then Obama can veto and they won’t be able to override. Right?
Rubio has stated he wants to add amendment that would require Iran recognize the right if Israel to exist. That could essentially kill the Corker bill. Corkers own will roll him again.
I’m surprised they didn’t put that condition in the doc fix also
Meteor Blades has some observations at The Great Orange Satan
Thank you for that article. It was easier to understand than the NYT thing. Seems like all the President has to do is sit back and wait for Boehner to fail to get a clean bill passed.
The president conceded that Congress could vote on something later that they already could vote on later. He really made no concessions at all, but improved the chances that later efforts to sabotage an announced agreement will fail. That’s because he took this whole debate off the table. And the next time there is a discussion will be (hopefully) in the context of the whole world celebrating a deal.
Cardin seems to have played it well also.
Can you solve the maths question for Singapore schoolkids that went viral?
So, when is Cheryl’s birthday?
August 17th
Albert knows it can’t be May 19th or June 18th, because he says he knows Bernard doesn’t know (and Bernard would know if he had been told by Cheryl 18 or 19 since those numbers are unique out of the choices).
Hearing that, Bernard knows that Albert wasn’t told June because eliminating June 18th (which he deduces Albert has just done from his statement) also eliminates June 17th. Now, the only number left that doesn’t have a dupe is 17 but August 17 so Bernard know knows it’s August 17th.
Since Albert hears that Bernard now knows, he can also deduce that 14, 15, and 16 are no longer viable options and so he also now knows that August 17th is the right date.
Damn it. I’m wrong.
Well, that happens a lot…
You must have made the same mistake I did. Albert’s first statement is principle key.
May 14, 16, 19
June 17, 18
July 14, 16
August 14, 15, 17
Logical progression:
If the day is the 19th, then Bernard will know that her birthday must be May 19th because that is the only month with a 19th. If the day is the 18th, then Bernard will know that it us June 18th, because that is the only month with an 18th. But he doesn’t initially know the answer, so it is not May 19th or June 18th.
There is no way for Albert to know which day it is based only on knowing the month since the are more than one choice in each month. But he does know that there is also no way for Bernard to know the answer based on only knowing the day. (This also rules out the May 19th and June 18th).
When Bernard realized that Albert knows that he doesn’t know the answer, he realizes that it can’t be June 18th and therefore must be June 17th.
I know that it is not May because Bernard could not pick between 14th and 16th.
I know it is not July because Bernard could not narrow his choices there. The same for August.
It’s easier if we assume the answer and work from there.
Albert it told the 17th.
1. This means it is either June or August.
Bernard is told June.
1. This means either the 17th or 18th.
Albert says that he doesn’t know the answer but also that he is certain that Bernard doesn’t know the answer.
This means that the date must not be unique, but must be shared by at least two months.
Since Bernard knows that the 18th is unique to June, he can eliminate it, leaving the 17th as the only possible answer.
Learning that Bernard had been able to solve the problem, Albert realizes that the month cannot be one with three dates (because he knows that Bernard could not have eliminated more than one date, and couldn’t solve the puzzle if two options still remained). He can now eliminate May and August (because they both have 3 options), leaving on June and July (because they have only two).
But it cannot be July because July 17th is not an option.
Therefore, the only date can be June 17th.
Wrong. June 17 gets eliminated quickly even if one makes my boneheaded error.
yep. Got tripped up on how Albert knows that Bernard does not know.
Exactly.
Aug 14, Aug is only month with only one non-unique number?
totally messed up and can’t read handwriting
The fact that Bernard does not know the date a priori means he could not have been told either 18 or 19, since those numbers turn up only once. The fact that Albert knows that Bernard doesn’t know means that Albert was told July or August, and Bernard knows this. Of the remaining five dates, Bernard would then know Cheryl’s birthday if he were told 15, 16, or 17, but not 14. Albert then can deduce the answer if the month is July, since he would otherwise be unable to resolve the difference between August 15 and August 17. So the answer is July 16.
Your answer is correct but I don’t think all your logic is. How does your second sentence rule out May (what if Bernard had been told the 16th)? The key is ruling out may and June after ruling out the 18th and 19th but I didn’t catch how to word that.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear. In Albert’s first statement, he says he knows that Bernard doesn’t know the birthday (Bernard already knows the date). Albert knows that Bernard doesn’t know the birthday only if Albert was told the month is either July or August. This is because the only way Bernard could know the birthday, knowing only the date, is if that date were the 18th or 19th, which fall in the May and June choices.
Akamaiguy is correct in that your first sentence is the wrong logical starting point.
Albert knows the month but not the day. He can only be confident that Bernard can’t figure out the month from the day he does know only if Albert knows the month isn’t May or June. Thus, Albert has disclosed to Bernard that the month is July or August.
Bernard says that at first he didn’t know — meaning that the day he has been given appears in more than one month. But with May and June eliminated, he now knows the month. That informs Albert that the day Bernard knows can’t be the 14th.
The only way Albert could then know the day is if he had been given month of July. If he had been given August, Bernard would at that point know the date (August 15 or August 17), but Albert still wouldn’t know the date.
we know Albert has month of July because it’s the only month with only non-unique dates, i.e. he knows B can’t know the month because one is 14 and one is 16. if it were another month, B might have a unique date
Then B knows, because A has essentially told him he’s looking at a month with non-unique dates, that it must be July and since B knows the number he knows the date.
I can’t get how A then figures out the date; I believe it’s 14, I figured it out, but then lost my train of reasoning, but it goes to A thinking about what B eleminates in the beginning iirc.
July 16 as clearskies notes, I think, but still not getting how A figures it out from B knowing it’s July [B knows the number so as soon as he gets the month he’s got it]
Have to begin with what A can possibly know before making his first statement. “We” (outside observers) don’t know what month A has been given nor what day B has been given. Both A, B, and We know the possible birthdays.
With A’s knowledge of the month, he states that he doesn’t know the birthday. He does know that B doesn’t know the birthday either. He knows that because at this B could only know the birthday if he had number 18 or 19 which are unique to June 18 and May 19 and A knows that the month isn’t May or June.
B’s statement “At first I didn’t know” is confirmation that his number isn’t unique to the problem. It’s one of the numbers that appears in two different months. Learning from A that the month is either July or August, B now knows the birthday. As 14 is given for both July and August, B can only know the birthday if his number is 15, 16, or 17. Any one of which informs him as to the correct month: July if he has 16 or August if he has 15 or 17.
Last step, A knows the month. If it were August, he could still not know the day because B statement has only reduced the days in August to 15 or 17. However, if he was told that the month was July, he would at this point know that the birthday was July 16. As he says that he now also knows the birthday, it can only be July 16.
This is a wonderful problem in logic and shifting one’s perspective from the mind of A to B and back to A.
Aug has a unique number, 15 i.e. belonging only to 1 month. If B had 15 he would know, so A cannot have August. if A is given a month with a unique number he cannot say that B doesn’t know.
No. There’s May 15 and August 15.
Try it again. A knows the correct month, and from that he determines that B can’t possibly know the month given only the day.
A’s statement informs B and us that the correct month doesn’t contain a unique number day. Thus, May and June are eliminated.
Armed with the information that the correct month is either July or August, the number that B knows informs him as to the correct month. At this point, the number he has is as defining as to the month as 18 or 19 would have been for him at the beginning. “Now he knows Cheryl’s birthday.”
It’s not defining for us — because we know neither the correct month nor the correct day. The information WE have gained from B is that the day isn’t 14 because it’s an option in both July and August. WE now know that the correct answer is among July 16, Aug 15, and Aug 17.
A has an advantage over us because he knows the correct month. If it were August, he still wouldn’t know the correct day. But he informs us that he does know the correct day. Thus, WE too now know that the month must be July and the day 16.
i.e. A can only say he knows that B doesn’t know if A has a month that only includes numbers that occur also in other months.
Yes. That’s his first disclosure. It eliminates May and June for us. But eliminates May, June, and either July or August for B.
august eliminated immediately. only july is possible with A’s statement
that means we know immediately that A has July, and B knows it as soon as A speaks. I don’t understand why you still include August
How do you eliminate August prior to A’s second statement? Can’t be done through logic or the information one as an outsider observer is given.
A and B both have an advantage over us because they each have half the answer from the get-go. Neither makes any direct disclosure as to what they have been given. A doesn’t tell B or us what month he’s been given. Similarly, B doesn’t tell A or us what day he has been given.
if A says he knows that B does not know, it means A has no dates in his month that occur only once – i.e. he cannot have August
All the possible days for August also appear in other months. Only May and June have a day that doesn’t repeat.
The only way to solve it is sequentially from the top, assume nothing, and all statements are true. We also need all the statements to solve the problem.
which other month is 15 in?
i see its in may
Eliminating the 18th and 19th is not fundamental to the logical progression, but it is also not wrong.
Possibly not wrong, but it’s extraneous and doing so makes it more difficult to correctly solve it. It shifts one’s perspective as to how it was that A could know that B couldn’t know the correct month.
Not wrong, period. Stating the most obvious conclusions is, in my view, helpful, even if they are extraneous. I teach this kind of thing, and students usually find obvious conclusions In an argument useful touchstones that aid their understanding. Others want the most elegant formulation. Neither approach is wrong.
On what basis does one first conclude that 18 and 19 should be eliminated?
The only way B could know the answer without knowing the month is if the date is 18 or 19. But A says he knows B doesn’t know the birthday month, which could only be because the month he was told did not contain 18 or 19, instead containing only dates that also appear in other months.
Start with A and not B. A knows a month. Knowing the month he also knows the only possible numbers that B can have. Confirming that each of those possible numbers in the month A knows also appear in one or more of the other months, allows A to state that B cannot know the month. His statement informs B and us as to the parameters of the month that A knows. Specifically that it doesn’t contain a unique number. That eliminates May and June from contention.
B now reports that he knows the month. He can only know this if his number is 15, 16, or 17.
From B’s statement, A now knows the number. He can only know that if his month is July. If it were August, he wouldn’t know if the number was 15 or 17.
Hey, you start your way, I’ll start mine. There’s more than one way to formulate the solution.
Except when I and a whole bunch of Guardian readers started by eliminating #18 and 19 and from that could also exclude June, we ended up with the wrong answer of Aug 17. The mental connections or map we constructed made it difficult for us to perceive how May could be eliminated.
Reminds me of the Tower of Hanoi task I had in an experimental psych class. I was young enough then that I could plan and hold a bunch of future moves in my head. Lost it a couple of times but was able to recover quickly enough that I it seemed as if I’d only made two or three unneeded moves. I did complete the task in far fewer moves than my classmates, but I was curious as to the minimum number; so, played with the puzzle further in my head. The optimal solution is quite elegant if done spatially with the pegs arranged in a triangle. The smallest disk moves at X speed clockwise, next smallest at 1/2 X speed, counter-clockwise. Next disc at 1/4 X speed clockwise, and so on. From that I wrote an eight or nine line program in Basic for the optimal solution. Not the optimal minimum lines of code, because I’m not a programmer.
July 16th.
The only way Albert can know that Bernard doesn’t know is by not having either May or June.
Bernard, hearing this, now knows that it’s July or August and states that he knows the answer.
Hearing this, Albert now knows it’s not July 14th or August 14th (since otherwise Bernard couldn’t know). He states that he knows the date, so it must be July 16th (otherwise he’d be torn between August 15th and 17th).
Very nice and succinct walk through of how each solved the question.
Critical info found only at the link is omitted from the post.
I submit that solving the problem is impossible given only the info provided above (not counting that at the link, obviously).
Only after reading several responses referencing the omitted info did it become clear that not all necessary info was provided in the post.
Not fair!