Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 9: 18 "If he is on easy ground, he is luring us."

Easy ground? Zhang Yu explains: "If the enemy has quit the strong ground and taken up a position on exposed terrain, it must be either because there is some hidden advantage or because he wants to lure us into battle."

Do the Democrats have any strong ground? Sure they do. Since we believe in self-reliance, they can always claim the high ground of looking out for the little guy. They have the high ground of speaking of society as a whole, and its responsibility for the unfortunate.

We know how corrupt they are, and how they take advantage of the little guy from their SUVs and Gulfstream Jets. But the message of forcing society to look out for the little guy is the highest ground they've got, and it's a fantastic position to hold.

You're not hearing much about looking out for the little guy this election season, are you? Why not? They seem to have abandoned the strong ground, and are completely exposed on easy ground. They must want to lure us there, according to Master Sun.

They want us to be the bad guys, taking away your food - your food stamps, etc. - when you need a helping hand. I'm no Paul Ryan fan, but remember the ad about him throwing granny over the cliff? They want us to be heartless, to pitch us as not caring, and for us to buy in.

Here's another example. Since Trump is capable of discussing such things as proportionate responses to enemy's attacks, they just want to beat the drums of war. Iran's attacks on Saudi were just like Pearl Harbor, they tell us. We must declare war.

Trump holds the high ground. His measured response places him perfectly to declare war if he comes to believe he must. But he will not abandon his position of America First for some easy to declare, impossible to win war. The Democrats are attempting to lure him there.

It amazes me that the liberal left fails to remember that it was JFK and LBJ who got us into the Vietnam War. Nixon, for his infinite failings, got us out. Reagan started no wars. Go figure that one. And why, oh why doesn't the liberal left hold HRC to account for Libya?

Do you see the pattern? The Democrats come down from their strong position, and take the easy ground in war after little war. Would they laugh all the way to the election in 2020 if Trump took their bait? You bet they would. They're on easy ground, luring him.

As a father, I'm not as neat as I should be. I leave messes behind me for others to clean up, far more than I should. Then, when I go to teach my children to be neat, my hypocrisy stands in the way. If I wanted the high ground, I'd need to be neater, myself.

I never think of myself as luring my children into battle, but I do. Sadly, I do. It's one thing to be aggressive. It is a completely different thing to beg battle where one is simply wrong, where the other side simply right. Nothing in life has taught me humility like fathering.

Have you ever heard of an 19th century business thinker named Henri Fayol? Likely not. I read his most important book, recently, and in it he discusses accountability. He explains how it was never a problem for him. Instead, he had well structured, regular meetings.

In each meeting, the tasks and expectations of each of his sub-managers was delineated. And, in each meeting, how things went last week was discussed. No other form of accountability was required. How'd you do this past week? What are you going to do this coming? That's it.

In business, management always has the high ground of simple care for the entire concern. When management walks away from that high ground, tempting followers into conflicts, it isn't the followers' fault if they engage. They shouldn't, but human nature is to be lured in.

Look at gun laws. I don't mind if Trump signs on for enhanced background checks. I don't support it. We have the high ground of the 2nd Amendment. But I understand the desire to heighten our ability to enforce restrictions on those who've stated evil purposes.

The high ground in any arena is defined by principles, and by the Constitution. The left is always tempting us to join them - which is an insidious way of doing battle - in weakening the Constitution, in shredding it as we so often do.

There are some fights not to fight. Have you stopped beating your wife yet? But I've never beaten her! Okay, but if you haven't stopped, then you're a guilty wife beater. Prove otherwise! That's NOT a fight to engage.

I never defend Trump to my Trump-opposing friends anymore. Rather, I just ask them, can you forgive me for helping him get elected, and still supporting him now? If you can't, I tell them, then we probably shouldn't talk about this topic.

You can always tell when they've climbed down out of their fortress and are on easy ground, luring you in. All you need to do is listen to their words, and you can feel it. They're just baiting you, luring you, nothing else. If you take the bait, they win. Don't.

246 verses completed, 192 to go.

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