Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 4:11 "To be victorious in battle and to be acclaimed for one's skill is no true skill."

Good morning, Master Sun, will you allow a gentle disagreement? The procurement of acclamation is absolutely a skill. Kings of old all, to a man, were masters of the art of procuring acclamation. In today's terms, Master, credit is worth more than money. We must win credit.

Consider your own story, Master, had you not won credit, acclamation, as a Master Counselor, no king would have called you to his court. You would never have had the opportunity to teach his concubines how to fight, and we would not be reading your book, today.

You have become the single most acclaimed war counselor in human history, so your advice against acclaim, well, come on, even you must see the irony, no?

Thank you, I know you do, and I see the joy on your face. It's wonderful to be acknowledged, isn't it? Oh yeah!

Yet, to be sure, your advice in this verse has not been lost. Consider out own fictional spy hero James Bond. He is always running around the world, saving the world, getting no acclaim in his fictional life for having done so, and is the most famous spy we have.

On a more serious note, all of our real spies must be protected against the discovery of their identities. All of our heroes in the real world risk their lives every single day, not for acclamation, fame or wealth, but out of dedication to protecting us.

The fireman running into a burning house as we are shepherded out of it, may well be a local hero, but acclamation is not his motivation. Saving lives is his motivation. And prevention of fires is worth more to him than lives saved during fires. Firemen love Smokey Bear.

Okay, I confess, Master Sun doesn't really speak to me, and I am not his prophet. But, it's a fun thing to fantasize about. What's that, Master? He wants me to tell you that you can be his prophet too, if you study him as well as I do. Aw, thanks!

Here's the point of today's wonderful verse. Real skill, as defined by Master Sun, is in winning and NOT in acclamation for victory. My own point is that politics matter, and in business credit matters. If my clients do not give me credit for aid in their victories, I've lost.

Yet his counsel sizzles with cogency. Those windbags who are about nothing other than acclamation do not demonstrate the acme of skill. Damned politicians. More skilled at acclaim than execution. You can believe me when I say I agree with Master Sun.

Here's my favorite real world example, @GenFlynn. I had never heard of him before he was fired by Obama for telling the truth. Defending @vabelle2010 was certainly part of his firing as well. But what about all his victories over 33 years? I never heard of a single one of them.

Let's let go of all the big picture stuff. Let's focus on you. You cook dinner for your family. They, with delighted joy, not even thinking about it, love the food, while watching TV, but not Bret Baier as you won't let them watch him anymore. No one says thank you for the food.

Yet you are happy. Why? Their pleasure in the food, unwitting though it may be, is your real reward. You did it for their joy, not for your own acclamation. Me, I tried for decades, and never made a decent omelet. Yet, my family always appreciated it in spite of my lack of skill.

I do, however, brag that I make AWESOME grilled cheese sandwiches, but I'm scared out of my mind every time that I'm going to mess up. I hate making them, until I see the joy of my family's faces while they chew. Relief. I didn't burn the bread too much.

What would it mean for a district that has never voted red before to do so? What if it had no impact on the state's outcome? Would it still matter? Even if there was no acclamation for the miracle of turning it from blue to red for the first time? You better bet it would matter.

In #MAGA, we're all ambitious and savvy enough in the real world, as is our leader, to know that credit matters. He fights for acclamation every single day. Yet, it isn't the acclamation that is the real goal. It is the accomplishment, itself. He must fight for credit.

But what we, his supporters all know, is that it isn't about the credit no matter how hard he fights for it. It IS about making America great again, actually, no matter who gets credit for what. And that is what we must dedicate ourselves to as well.

To return to previous sections in our #WarForAmerica2020 and #SunTzuForMAGA series, don't forget to head over to @WarForAmerica21.

71 verses completed, 351 to go. And also, be sure to purchase John Minford's translation, here:

amazon.com/Art-War-Pengui…