Straining to think of the most famous, vaguely well-respected author I knew of, I asked the guard if he thought Jonathan Franzen might be able to attract a crowd like this.
He strains to think, he stumbles over words (his attempt to pronounce "schmuck" is timed with perfection) and he tries so hard -- especially when he belts out: "Telling the truth can be dangerous business, honest and popular don't go hand in hand.
I mean they strained themselves to think of me maybe teaching".
"But it strains credulity to think that he didn't know his lawyers would turn to private investigators.
"It strains credulity to think [the missile] could be used by separatists without at least some measure of Russian support and technical assistance," said Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby.
Veselnitskaya may have indeed been a private lawyer, hired by no one other than Katsyv, but it strains credulity to think that, as Putin's spokesman put it, "We do not know who that is".
In Koufax's case, "it strains credulity to think that Mr. Wilpon would expose his oldest and closest friend to potential financial ruin" if he thought that Madoff was operating a Ponzi scheme, the lawyers argued.
It strains credulity to think that Gosper did not know that his family would receive preferential treatment -- even if it was only free meals and a preferred condominium -- from a group of fawning organizers who were willing to spend millions in illicit cash payments, scholarships and medical benefits to gain the Winter Games.
And it strains credulity to think that an omnipotent, all knowing, and perfectly good being may be victimized in any way or suffer a setback to its interests.
Moreover, it strains credulity to think that donors to such groups are keeping their generosity a secret.
