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Comment by kltlp | Hacker News Reader

This is the best retort to the bag-escaping cat ever:

https://gowers.wordpress.com/2026/09/17/why-i-didnt-sign-the...

"Nothing is worse to the demise of a society, than people who want to convince you that the cat is out of the bag and will not go back in, while the cat is being violently shook out of the bag at the same time."

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A great quote, thank you for sharing. It captures much of the five stages of denial (summarized below) in a much pithier form.

There's nothing in the bag.

The cat will never get out of the bag.

It wouldn't be a problem if the cat was out of the bag.

We cannot possibly keep the cat in the bag.

Putting the cat back in the bag is not worth trying.

Motion to start a political platform for cats in bags. Our message is simple: Put the cat in the bag. Keep the cat in the bag.

Don't force it out of the bag if it doesn't want to leave.

> if it doesn't want to leave.

This is where the lawyers find the loophole to get the cat out of the bag.

Turns out, there was a hole in the bag.

That was originally meant for a carry loop, but alas.

That's how bags work

No, the greatest is from the Sweet Smell of Success: "The cat's in the bag. And the bag's in the river."

And the river's in the canyon and the canyon's in the plateau and the plateau's in the volcanic shield and the green grass grows all around, all around, and the green grass grows all around.

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