If he asked "Do you think we should go after the mob?", the answer would be "oh no, there're not a problem" because the store owner would be thinking, I'm on the front line, I'm going to get the blame, and this guy doesn't even sound sure or like he knows what he's doing. But if the DA said, "Listen, we ARE going after this guy, you want to be on the right side or the wrong side of the law?", then he'll get cooperation.
And what if there *is* a problem - the store owner is on the front line, after all, and he might even know the situation better than the new DA... the second approach pretty well guarantees that the storekeeper isn't going to say 'hold on, consider these facts first please'.
'With me or against me' is a great sound-bite but absolutely dire in the real, non-Aristotlean world. |
