Thread by @ThyConsigliori

1) Why is it that when you take down a castle's flag, you've taken over the entire castle? Jocko Willink, in his fantastic book Extreme Ownership tells an instructive story on point, but it's about the leader, not the flag. The flag is the mark of fealty, to whom? The leader.

2) Jocko tells the story of two boats, rubber boats in the SEAL's Hell Week, boat II and boat VI. Boat II was winning just about everything. Boat VI was losing just about everything. So, they switched out the leaders. I bet you already know what happened.

3) Boat II had a great crew, that had been properly led, so it was able to withstand and inspire their new leader to actually lead, and continued to do very well. The transformation of Boat VI's performance was the phenomenon of Jocko's message.

4) Boat VI went from loser to winner, instantly. For my part, I believe the story 100%. Jocko teaches us that there are no bad units, only bad leaders. He teaches us that leadership is the single most important component of unit performance. Interesting, isn't it?

5) So, what's Pasquale going to say now?

#PardonFlynnNow

Our opponents on the left know that, in service to the @POTUS's mission, there is no other leader so strong as @GenFlynn. They know why they need him silent.

@POTUS @GenFlynn 6) Jocko gives us more. I don't know if he ever says it quite like this, but when reading his book, I realized that every leader is always in the middle. There is always someone above, and always someone below. The leader is in the middle. Always. That too is interesting.

@POTUS @GenFlynn 7) The two terms Jocko lays out clearly are Senior Leader and Junior Leader. I love those terms. It's my own simple addition to make it a four-tiered little concept map:

1) Commander
2) Senior Leader
3) Junior Leader
4) Follower

@POTUS @GenFlynn 8) The point must be made that followership is an honorable and high art, a thing of pride, a thing of necessity, and it must taught, trained, lauded, and treasured. Followership is good. There is no leadership without followership. Be clear on that.

@POTUS @GenFlynn 9) We have to talk about history for a moment. History happens. While it's happening, we used to call it news. We can't anymore, because news has descended down to the low marshes and swamps of mere propaganda. Hey, did you know that propaganda was once considered a good thing?

@POTUS @GenFlynn 10) When it was invented, propaganda was believed to be the best method of the leaders to inform the masses. It was kind of like canned soup. Everyone's mom used to make soup. Then came Campbell's, and now soup comes from a can. So with propaganda. It was truth for the masses.

@POTUS @GenFlynn 11) It has to be guessed that maybe the "news" was always merely propaganda, in today's negative connotation. Maybe it was always driven by an agenda, pretending to be canned truth, but actually nothing more than what our overlords wanted us to think.

@POTUS @GenFlynn 12) Yet still, there really is such a thing as history, and it really does happen in real time. We're making history right now. We're historical. How about that? And when, exactly, does history happen? Holy cow! Today. It's always today. And in history, every single day counts.

@POTUS @GenFlynn 13) That's what our opponents have mastered to a fine art, hell, to a true science. They know the value of today down to six, or sixty decimal points of tomorrow's vote. By tomorrow, I mostly mean 3 November 2020. Do you follow? How many days remain? They know. I promise.

@POTUS @GenFlynn 14) On the right, we don't know. We think we're so righteous, even punctilious, but we fail to realize we live in a dream world where good things happen - unicorns show up and fight our fights - without us needing to get our hands dirty or work or fight or count the days.

@POTUS @GenFlynn 15) In Jocko's world, the SEALs, they know how to monitor leadership. Jocko tells us that Boat VI's initially losing leader learned his lesson and went on to become a very successful leader afterward. That's what the SEALs do. They build leaders. Us, on the right? Not so much.

@POTUS @GenFlynn 16) Leadership, Jocko tells us, is the single most important component of team performance. What has the left done? They have silenced @GenFlynn and his gag is still in place so far as I know. Do you know different? Who benefits from that? Hmmm.

@POTUS @GenFlynn 17) Why does that make me think the left reads Jocko's book too? Take our leader away and what do you do to the rest of us? Leaderless, feckless, we wander about, incompetent, incapable, not targeted or coordinated, not able to complete the mission.

@POTUS @GenFlynn 18) I say, let's admit it, all of us, fellow followers, we need our leader. Me? I'm not even a Junior Leader. I'm a proud Follower. And I say, I know it when my leader is hobbled, confined, needing to ask permission to travel, and not allowed to speak. You can't fool me.

@POTUS @GenFlynn 19) And I say to you, stop being fooled. If there is a plan, no one is telling us what it is. May it succeed, hallelujah. All I want is my leader back. I want his commands, clearly stated, and straight from him, himself. In fact, that's my only tactical mission right now.

@POTUS @GenFlynn 20) We have to talk about that. When the enemy has captured your leader, you have to get your leader back. That is NOT a strategic mission. There may be a strategy needed in order to get him back, but you must not confuse having a strategy with being strategic.

@POTUS @GenFlynn 21) It is merely a tactical mission to get our leader back. What's more, the ONLY power we have is the weak power of petition. It's not even a legal power. It's merely a social power. And as I keep saying, it comes down to a single hashtag, a single request.

#PardonFlynnNow

@POTUS @GenFlynn 22) As a qualified analyst, I think I know what our strategic mission is. And I think I know how to win it. To state the objective is easy. Retake the House. Hold, and strengthen #MAGA representation in the Senate. And of course, reelect @realDonaldTrump.

@POTUS @GenFlynn @realDonaldTrump 23) If you're interested in my strategic thinking about how to win, please check out my daily work in the #SunTzuForMAGA series, where I write a commentary on Sun Tzu specifically for the full completion of the #MAGA mission. I'm looking for #100kMAGALeaders. Consider it.

@POTUS @GenFlynn @realDonaldTrump 24) But tactically, we're more likely to be Boat VI before its leadership swap, unless we get our leader back. Tactically, we need @GenFlynn back. We need his voice, his strength, his clarity, his integrity. We need him, himself. Not just old interviews he did before the gag.

@POTUS @GenFlynn @realDonaldTrump 25) So, I say, that's what the left knows. Take our leader away, and we'll likely just not have what it takes. Now, our commander has HUGE likelihood of winning his second term. Not guaranteed, of course, but very likely. He's strong.

@POTUS @GenFlynn @realDonaldTrump 26) Yet, the left knows, if our leader is given back to us, then we'll be unstoppable, like Jocko's Boat II. I won't stop saying it. Days count. This is history now, being made today. Okay, sorry, one more strategic point. What about @POTUS's risk? Maybe he should wait, right?

@POTUS @GenFlynn @realDonaldTrump 27) As opposed to risk, I say virtually pure gain. I know, gain and harm are always blended, I know. But there are times when the right thing to do actually offers close to pure strategic gain. This is precisely such a moment, such a strategic opportunity for our commander.

@POTUS @GenFlynn @realDonaldTrump 28) Here's how. First, his enemies, in Democrat uniforms, or in advisers' suits, are all against it. Anything all your enemies agree on is likely a good thing for you, and obviously, bad for them. In that moment, you chart your own course, and standard wisdom be damned.

@POTUS @GenFlynn @realDonaldTrump 29) Second, and last, our commander's enemies are adapting to his rallies, his power to rally us. If Gen Flynn is freed, they will NOT - and they know it - be able to respond and adapt to his ability to rally us, also. His strategic rally capability is what they fear the most.

@POTUS @GenFlynn @realDonaldTrump 30) Who remembers, "release the kraken," or "set loose the dogs of war?" If our @POTUS agrees with us, and @GenFlynn is set loose, aimed and empowered, 2020 is ours. That's what I believe. So that's why I always ask, please...

#PardonFlynnNow