Breaking The Rules Or Political Strategy?
We’ve been watching Shogun, which has me thinking about political strategy, specifically as it relates to the far right and their so called wars on everything. Trump and his cronies and sycophants act like buffoons. They seem to believe they can do whatever they want. And this is what the media likes to report on because it’s got all the entertainment of a soap opera. It’s what political thinkers and culture writers react to because it evokes strong emotions in us. It seems like they don’t follow any rules of engagement, rules of politics. So, can one win a war with strategy if the other side doesn’t play by the rules? Is a Trump dictatorship or the end of democracy and civil society inevitable? Can we actually save ourselves without a real civil war, without women and other abused peoples and our supporters taking up arms against our oppressors?
When I put aside my emotional reactions and go back to the experts, I think the answers are yes, no, yes.
In Sun Tzu’s Art of War, he writes, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” I think we, the American people, did not know our enemy and did not choose to know them. We were appalled by the radical anti-abortion activists, but we wrote them off as a few wackos and thought that putting a couple doctor-killers in jail would end it. We were caught off guard by the “Tea Party,” but then we wrote them off as crazy. We didn’t see Trump coming. We didn’t see the Marjoie Taylor Greens or Lauren Boeberts winning elections. We didn’t believe the Supreme Court would really take away our rights. We believed in the rules and traditions we’d known for generations. We believed everyone wanted to play by these rules, that everyone elected to office truly wanted to work on behalf of the people. But as Sun Tzu wrote, “War is the Way of deception.”
And we maybe didn't know ourselves.
I belonged to a public writers group a bunch of years back, during the Obama era. We met at a local coffee shop. A new person came, and I welcomed him into the group suggesting he cuddle in next to another writer and me. The group ended up talking about antiheroes, and I referenced an article I’d read in Wired. The author was making the point that we like anti-heroes because we feel so good about our lives and how great we are—we voted for a black man, we recycle, we drive fuel efficient cars, etc. The visitor was black. I am white. After the meeting, the newcomer roasted me in the comments. He did not receive my welcoming as I’d intended it. He found the idea of all our goodness to be ignorant. He understood a different America than I did. I hadn’t been paying attention. And when Trump won, we (many Americans) were shocked to have the curtain pulled back and rampant racism and sexism and ignorance reflected in the mirror. It was easy for the far right to win a bunch of battles, with us busy patting ourselves on the back unaware of other Americans who were suffering.
Because we didn’t know ourselves or our enemy we were caught off guard and they moved with rapidity. Sun Tzu wrote, “Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy’s unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.” First, Trump fomented a following of unsatisfied people from “fly over states” and suburbs, and took office while similar folk got elected to Congress. Then they took over the Supreme Court while we1 were still reeling. And once they had that power they started dismantling the rights Americans had worked for decades to get, as well as traditions and norms that forced the court to rule with logic.
The show the Trump GOP is putting on appears not to be following rules or strategy. But, they are. They are following the lead of the white supremacists, the strategy of the anti-women movement, and taking every advantage of being under estimated and our unpreparedness. Trump is a smart opportunist. His predecessors used the anti-abortion movement to gain power. But no one in the last 40 years has been brash enough to fully embrace the hate and violence of the movement, nor elicit the white supremacist army to help. Until Trump. He has used them as his army, and they are a smart strategic army. But this does not mean he or they have won.
Sun Tzu wrote, “The best warfare is striking the enemy’s plans. The second best is striking his alliances. The next best after that is striking at his troops. The worst is attacking his cities.” Trump and his ilk can only take power if we elect them. To that end Democrats are going hard for traditionally held GOP congressional seats. They’re working to head off weaponized investigations in congress. They’re allying with unaffiliated voters and former republicans. And capitalizing on our legitimate fear of climate disaster. They’re using the GOPs embracing of radical movements against them as most Americans support the use of contraception and IVF and climate stewardship. They’re upholding the laws of our land and prosecuting the seditious leaders of Trump’s allies like ex-Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes, head of the Oath Keepers militia, and continue to prosecute the January 6th rioters. And the Biden administration is taking care of the people, all people, by funding high speed internet, healthcare, and education in rural areas. By incentivizing growth in the clean energy industry and funding training for workers. Working to make higher education more affordable, close the gender pay gap, get more people covered by FMLA, and literally sending money back to people who need it.
Sun Tzu wrote, “Conquering troops achieve victory first, then seek to do battle. Defeated troops do battle first, and then seek to achieve victory.” Thus far with Trump as the leader, the GOP has taken the battle first approach. Everything is a battle. Books, schools, sex, marriage, pregnancy, healthcare, social media. But in these there are no victories, only endless fighting. Biden gets a lot of crap for being old. But his age seems to have brought wisdom as well. He does not fight these little battles. He invests in the people, and works to upend Trump’s plans and show Americans the impact of a ruthless leader like Trump.
Sun Tzu has another piece of advice, that might be one of my favorites (and possibly why we have the third amendment in the Constitution), “Rely on the enemy for provisions so that your army can get enough food to eat…So in a chariot battle, reward the first man to get ten or more of the enemy’s chariots. Then change the banners and flags on the chariots and ride them, mingling them with yours, while treating the enemy’s soldiers well. This is called winning victory over the enemy and increasing your own strength.” I cannot help but think that E. Jean Carroll is the first to win ten or more ($91,600,000 to be exact) of Trump’s chariots. And she is using that money to support the causes of the people. New York State is set to gain $454 million chariots (plus interest). Ironically, that money will go to support law enforcement. Trump’s plan was to have more money and power than anyone. At some point these losses could cost him too much.
We now know ourselves and our opponents, and so “need not fear the result of a hundred (cultural) battles.” The DNC is preparing for victory in this next election, not just in campaigning, but the lawsuits and insurrection that will likely follow. “Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical.” They’ve made moves as Trump and his followers have weakened their position by breaking laws and revealing their full plots against the people. “He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.” The Democratic party is different now than is was 20 or even 10 years ago, and their tactics have changed. They are fighting for more people than they used to, (no longer are there “fly over” states), for a livable planet, education in new jobs and new industries, women’s rights, civil rights. Obviously, they have a lot to do after they win the war. And they’ll have to, to keep their unaffiliated and female and environmentalist allies. But there seems to be will power to do the hard work, and new leaders emerging who are more in line with the needs and values of Americans today. “The energy developed by good fighting men is as the momentum of a round stone rolled down a mountain thousands of feet in height.”
I use “we” here because most Americans don’t support the GOP’s position on nearly anything. Even those of us who disagree tend to disagree on the way to solve the problems, not the problems themselves.