Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 7: 27 "With the army focused, the brave will not advance alone, nor will the fearful retreat alone."

Have you ever been brace, and alone? Have you ever started out on a mission, charged up with dedication, only to discover you're all by yourself? The army you thought you were part of is gone, disbursed, not in any way focused?

One of the greatest, most terrible stories in the Old Testament is of Uriah the Hittite, who was one of King David's most loyal, and mighty warriors. With evil corruption, sexual lust for Uriah's wife in mind, King David creates his demise, taking evil advantage of his bravery.

Do you remember the story? David's general, Joab, gets the order to sent the troops forward with Uriah in the lead, and then to pull back so that the Philistines kill Uriah, and David gets to wed Uriah's widow, the irresistibly gorgeous Bathsheba. Joab is no hero.

Even with all my global communications in ancient times theory, I can't really propose that Master Sun knew of the prophet Nathan, who comes to David afterwards and condemns him with God's furious anger, dooming him to retribution for his evil.

I can, however, imagine Master Sun showing up and simply stating to Nathan and David, the army was not properly focused. We never allow the brave to advance alone, or the fearful to retreat alone. That's just bad tactics, and it conveys weakness of leadership.

I can also easily imagine Master Sun beckoning General Joab and saying, you are corrupt. There are orders that the king gives which you must refuse. You will not be hanged. You will be boiled to death so that other generals never contemplate compliance with evil orders, again.

You must forgive me and my perpetual time machine flights of fancy. We skip forward to the Nuremberg trials, after WWII, bringing Master Sun with us. The tribunal turns to him for his counsel and he says, yes, this is correct. No officer can hide behind evil orders. Hang them.

Have you ever been fearful, tired, hungry, wet, ready to collapse, the mission too hard for you to bear? Was there a strong soul, more fit and ready than you, who noticed your need and chose, instead of glory, to retreat with you and help you? Do you know the motto of Liverpool?

"You'll never walk alone."

They don't need to describe the difference between advance and retreat. No strong one should ever walk forward alone. No weak one should ever retreat alone. It's just not good tactics. It's not good command or discipline. Heaven will not smile.

If you allow the brave to lead alone, or the fearful to retreat alone, the earth cannot give you her blessing, as you have failed to lead by the law of the way.

Can you feel it? All of Master Sun's counsel is, yet again, compressed into a single verse. How does he do that?

The lords and minions of America's swamp are not courageous leaders. They dwell within the safety of a multitude of like-souled cowards. What they do is leave the forgotten American to lead his life alone, unsupported even by rule of law, misguided, lied to and betrayed.

Their strategy is vastly more complex than King David's, simply pulling back the troops so Uriah dies. But the end result is identical. Americans are taxed. Free trade allows no tariffs. American factories are regulated for safety and pollution. Foreign factories...not so much.

The loyal, taxpaying American is abandoned and the owners of the international corporations ride upon his efforts, enjoying their corrupt profits no different than David enjoying Bathsheba. The forgotten American has walked alone.

We have walked alone in the courage of victories, advancing solitarily. We have walked alone in the horrors of our defeats, unprotected by the mighty and the good and the well placed who were actually enjoying the rewards of our efforts while we failed in agony.

And when we've enjoyed particular successes and outsized victories, we've found ourselves in lien to the IRS as a result. As we've met payrolls for others, we've faced bankruptcy due to the government's reach and control and never-ending avarice. Note a bit of anger in me?

Smiling quietly, shaking his head in perpetual impatience with me, Master Sun says, you're not spending enough time in the temple, and by the way, I know a really good Tai Chi trainer. You really need to work off some of that excess rage, Pasquale. Seriously.

Friends, when I function as a leader, I work very hard to never let my strong ones advance alone or my weak ones retreat alone. On my teams, unless I'm failing, no one walks alone. As a follower I always look cautiously around, to see who's with me in advancing or retreating too.

Go big picture with me. #MAGA 2020, 2022, 2024...2028, 2030, 2032...? Where will we be in 2032? We must pull together. The strong must help the weak. The weak must call out and procure the help required. They must toughen up and strengthen and become strong, too.

Nodding wisely, Master Sun tells us, would you like to still exist as a movement in 2032? Then never let the strong advance alone, or the weak retreat alone. You can't let anyone walk alone. And your leaders in the corruption must be chastised, too.

180 verses completed, 242 to go.

To return to previous sections in our #WarForAmerica2020 and #SunTzuForMAGA series, don't forget to head over to @WarForAmerica21. You'll find the digital table of contents for this series, there. Please retweet each entry you enjoy.