"The old political syllogism "something must be done: this is something: therefore this will be done" appears to be at work here, in spades." -- Charlie Stross

Charlie is quoting the classic BBC TV series "Yes Minister" here.

"I assign higher credibility to an institution if liberals accuse it of being conservative and conservatives accuse it of being liberal." -- Alex F. Bokov

Surprised to see that one there - the world is full of people desperate to ensure that there is a stool either side of them, and that seems like a process very far from hugging the query.