Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 5: 15 "In the tumult of battle, the struggle may seem pell-mell, but there is no disorder; in the confusion of the melee, the battle array may seem topsy-turvy, but defeat is out of the question.”

My heart goes out to the translators on this verse. It appears to be a tough one. I checked both Giles and Griffith and, well, it's not the greatest translation in any of them. A bit stiff and stuffy. Fortunately, we don't have to justify our work, we can just play!

Defeat is out of the question? How about defeat is NEVER in question for a damned moment, how about that? Or, those sacred words, NOT ON MY WATCH. Oh, oh, Robert Duvall, Apocalypse Now, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." Can't you hear those helicopters?

Here's another playful term to throw down with. Chaos. I like Minford's term confusion, and look how well the two go together, chaos and confusion. Nice, no? And here's my next resistance, NO disorder? Seriously? Come on, get real, there is certainly SOME disorder. Jees.

So just a little bit more slowly now, and with realism at each step, let's try this out. In battle, there will absolutely be confusion and chaos everywhere. But, the disorder that is suffered reflects weaknesses in intel, plan and execution, that ARE CORRECTED for in real time.

On the other hand, when we're the better army, we already know that the other side is suffering from the confusion and chaos far more than we are, and we can use that as part of the battle plan itself. Discipline, baby. Command. Signals and leader-led tactics. We have this!

A point that has not been considered often or deeply enough is this. Sure, America has lost wars over the past 60 years, we have. But we seem to never lose battles anymore. During WWII we lost battles, and just a few in Korea and Vietnam. Since, show me a battle we lost.

I can argue that we lost the Iraq war, but I'd be stretching. What we lost was the peace, not the war. Anymore, we lose soldiers, and we count and grieve every single soldier lost as we rightly should. We don't lose battles. Wars and peaces, yes. Battles no. Interesting, yes?

Let's dive deeper. America is far more than our money or our weapons. We are an idea, and the one place that that idea has materialized most clearly is our military. We've analyzed every defeat, and lessons learned, the principle of America shows up as unstoppable might.

Here's an example. Conscripted men do not fight as well as volunteers do. We learned that. Interesting. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Americans should NOT be conscripted; it breaks their freedoms. Rather, they should be allowed to volunteer.

Here's the ultimate example. In the chaos and confusion of our founding, we failed to free the slaves. Almost 90 years later and through no true virtue or skin color blindness, we freed the slaves. We blundered there in the topsy-turvy flow of our history. Great disorder, indeed.

How did that happen? Lincoln read the letters of soldiers writing home. Over and over again, he read the soldiers say that, if this war was about freeing the slaves, then they'd be honored to give their lives in that cause. It was the soldiers who decided to free the slaves.

In the chaos and confusion of battle, my own father fought to free the war prisoners in the Philippines. And consider the freeing of the Jews from their death camps. We so many times betrayed the Jews on the way there, but the soldiers didn't. They saved them. That's America.

And that's why we don't lose battles. America Herself shows up and you do NOT want to be in Her way. You will lose. Sure, all kinds of disorder, but when you fight America, you lose. And that is precisely what Master Sun is trying to explain. Within the disorder, there is order.

So, failing to dominate the electoral college, now the Democrats want to get rid of it. Yeah, a bit too disorderly for them, too difficult to control. But right there is the principle, the idea of America Herself again. Underneath our disorder is the most wonderful order.

The left lean of the Democrats embraces The Communist Manifesto, in all its perfectly orderly dictates. Why so? Their purpose, whether they know it or not, is to reduce our power to win. We've hardened the greatest principles in history, and that is the target, the American idea.

Are we up to the MAGA mission? Can we pull order out of the chaotic disorder of political warfare and win the #WarForAmerica2020? I know @realDonaldTrump is. I believe his team is ready and, on the ground, winning already. But that's not my question. Are we, the movement, ready?

In coming days, weeks and months, we'll discuss our own readiness again many times. For today, simply contemplate your own leadership capability to impose order where disorder appears to reign. When you step in, defeat is out of the question.

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

103 verses completed, 319 to go. And also, be sure to purchase John Minford's translation, here:

amazon.com/Art-War-Pengui…

The local MAGA leader’s library needs three other books. The first is by my great friend, hero, and today’s greatest constitutional scholar, @shestokas. His most important work so far is:

amazon.com/Creating-Decla…

The second is available free. It is the combined Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

uscis.gov/sites/default/…

Last is my own book. I'll give you the link here, and then conclude with its ten MAGA principles:

amazon.com/America-First-…

1. Remember The Forgotten Americans
2. Rule Of Law
3. American Jobs
4. Quality Of Life For Every American
5. Heal Our Cities
6. Build The Wall
7. Make America Wealthy Again
8. Make America Strong Again
9. Make America Safe Again
10. Make America Great Again