Near the end of World War I, there was an alleged (almost surely apocryphal) exchange of telegrams between German and Austrian officers whose units were fighting side by side, in difficult circumstances, against the Allies. The German cabled: “Our situation is serious, but not critical.” The Austrian responded: “Our situation is critical, but not serious.”
“Critical but not serious.” For all we know, the phrase could well be unfair as applied to the Austro-Hungarian past. It seems all too apt with respect to the American present.
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