"You scratch my back and I won't lacerate yours."
Saturday night, politicians and the media gathered for the White House Correspondents' Dinner and made a lot of jokes about the truth, in order to make themselves feel temporarily better about their tortured selves.
Netflix, meanwhile, smiled in a manner not unlike Kevin Spacey at his most snake-like.
For in the midst of all the fun, somehow a fine ad for the company's "House Of Cards" played to a very receptive world.
It was called "House Of Nerds." This dinner is, after all, Nerd Prom. At least as far as these people see it. Personally, I see little relationship between these tone-deaf, self-regarding, arrogant political types and tech's finest. Oh, wait.
Here we had manipulative, unpleasant congressman Frank Underwood -- played by the utterly charming Kevin Spacey -- interacting with a number of famous, real-life political figures, who, rumor has it, are not always so charming.
Underwood merely looks for others to scratch his back. In return, he offers salvation from laceration.
Here was President Obama's Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett. There was John McCain, angsting that Nancy Pelosi was trying to friend him on Facebook.
Many would be flattered, my friend.
There was Democratic congressman Steny Hoyer using the word "f***ing" next to the word "Netflix." He was demanding to meet Netflix's head of content, Ted Sarandos, to sort out his personal issues.
No one was free from self-deprecation on this night. Not even Netflix.
They even talked Michael Bloomberg into make an appearance and be the butt of a joke about term limits. Several media figures also featured in touching guises.
Netflix is enjoying a very comfortable resurgence following a fallow period when no one (not even its own management) seemed to know if it was coming or leaving.
If only Congress could boast the same.