From an email I recieved from a friend:

To all my Liberal Democrat friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily neither greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishes.

To all my Conservative Republican friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Negotiations are a euphemism for capitulation if the shadow of power is not cast across the bargaining table.

-George Schultz

Sanctions and negotiations can be very ineffective, and indeed foolish, unless the people you are talking with and negotiating with and trying to reach agreements with are people who can be trusted to keep their word.

-Caspar Weinberger

We don’t point a pistol at our own forehead. That is not the way to conduct negotiations.

-Benjamin Netanyahu

The above courtesy of Brainyquote.

The quote I was looking for went something like this:

The Weak do not negotiate - they are dictated to by the Strong. 

Negotiations are only possible in two situations:

Between Equals, or qualitatively/quantitatively matched forces.  On occasion, it is in the interests of a stronger party to grant “equal status” to a negotiating partner. 

Between a smaller/weaker party and a larger/stronger enemy, if the latter has losts its will.

     In the second instance, there are two permutations: 

          1.  The smaller/weaker party is simply using the negotiations to “freeze the field”, and consolidate gains, with the potential of returning to the field in the future.

          2.  The smaller/weaker party is simply using the negotiations as a distraction, while continuing to conflict in other venues, or behind the scenes.

Unfortunately for America, we seem to be stuck in the Second situation, since WWII.  The only real exception has been Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Democrat Party would desperately love to that route on those conflicts as well.