You're wasting your time

Can't you ground someone who's crazy?

Oh, sure. I have to. There's a rule saying I have to ground anyone who's crazy.

Then why don't you ground me? I'm crazy. Ask Clevinger.

Clevinger? Where is Clevinger? You find Clevinger and I'll ask him.

Then ask any of the others. They'll tell you how crazy I am.

They're crazy

Then why don't you ground them?

Why don't they ask me to ground them?

Because they're crazy, that's why.

Of course they're crazy, I just told you they're crazy, didn't I? And you can't let crazy people decide if they crazy or not.

Is Orr crazy?

He sure is.

Can you ground him?

I sure can. But first he has to ask me to. That's part of the rule.

Then why doesn't he ask you to?

Because he's crazy, He has to be crazy to keep flying combat missions after all the close calls he's had. Sure, I can ground Orr. But first he has to ask me to.

That's all he has to do to be grounded?

That's all. Let him ask me.

And then you can ground him?

No. Then I cannot ground him. (Yossarian cries out in frustration) See, there's a catch, Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy.

That's some catch, that Catch-22.

It's the best there is.