Patterico:
Thomas Sowell has a new column in National Review Online that essentially serves as the third entry in his trilogy about the terrible threat that Ted Cruz’s integrity poses to the establishment Republican Party. I covered Parts One and Two in previous posts (my response to Part One and my response to Part Two).
In Part One, Sowell furnished readers with a rambling and nonspecific criticism of Cruz, which ended with a whispered acknowledgement that, well, OK, establishment Republicans seem to lack principles nowadays. In Part Two, Sowell criticized Cruz for jeopardizing Republicans’ electoral prospects, but then (schizophrenically) Sowell chronicled why Republicans don’t deserve to be elected. In my post in response, I expressed hope that Sowell was starting to see the light.
I was wrong. Sowell’s latest piece doubles down against Cruz, arguing that one does not fight unwinnable battles in a war:
In a war, you do not fight battles that you are certain to lose, if only because you will need your troops to fight later in battles you can win. The British troops who escaped from Dunkirk came back to France four years later, as part of the massive invasion forces that stormed the beaches at Normandy, liberated France, and pushed on into Germany for the final defeat of the Nazi regime.
In politics, as in war, you need power to win, and you don’t dissipate your forces fighting battles that you are sure to lose. Symbolism and emotional self-indulgence are just not worth it.
I have three words for Thomas Sowell:
REMEMBER THE ALAMO!!!!
Tomorrow marks the 178th anniversary of the beginning of the siege of the Alamo. Every Texas schoolchild knows the apocryphal story wherein William Travis drew a line in the dirt and gave his men a choice: turn tail and run, or step across the line to indicate a willingness to stay and fight. The story goes that Jim Bowie (of “Bowie knife” fame) was sick in a cot, and asked other men to carry his cot across the line, to show he was ready to do battle.
Whether that particular story is true or not, the fact remains that Bowie, Travis, Davy Crockett, and almost 180 other brave souls fought to the death at the Alamo, killing 400-600 of Santa Anna’s soldiers in the process. The battle was “lost” — but it was the turning point in the war. Santa Anna thought that the massacre would keep Texans from fighting back, but it had the opposite effect. Men joined Sam Houston’s army in droves. At the decisive battle, the Battle of San Jacinto, Texan soldiers, were heard to cry: “Remember the Alamo!”
Thomas Sowell has forgotten what so many Texans remember, and will never forget.
It seems fitting that many of the folks on this site who intuitively understand how Sowell is getting this wrong are Texans. (The rest of you can be honorary Texans!) Indeed, it is especially fitting that the primary target of Sowell’s broadside is the junior Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz.
Even battles that end in victory sometimes look daunting before the fighting is joined. I had the privilege of visiting the D-Day beaches last summer, and I can tell you this: anyone who thought the Allies knew this plan was certain to succeed simply does not know the history. A previous attempt to invade the continent had ended in disaster, and poor weather could easily have turned the second attempt into a similar slaughter and Nazi victory.
Washington lost many battles, but eventually triumphed to become known as the father of our country.
Cruz made a symbolic stand against hypocrisy and tyranny; his willingness to sacrifice himself to expose others enrages the our morally corrupt members of congress and the stooges that follow them in willful stupidity.
If I recall my Vietnam War history, the North Vietnamese didn’t win any major battles and yet they won the war.
@Gary Myers: It was given to them by the likes of ‘lurch’ Kerrie and a democrat congress full of commie sympathizers
Sun Tzu wrote, 2400 years ago, “you can win a war, but lose the peace” paraphrased from memory. Alynsky had his trainees, like Hillary and Kerry ready to assume the offensive; consequently, our war against Communism continues, but the supposed forces for freedom are either impotent, scared, or complicit. We are losing that war every month.
@Gary Myers:
Actually, they didn’t win. The Dimocrats in the US Congress gave up and quit, thereby ‘giving’ the N. VN a victory. They didn’t win anything except the news media. The News media is still the same, haven’t changed.
@Budvarakbar: #4 Eggzackly!!!!
One point-I have studied everything I could find on D Day and it was set up to succeed under virtually all defenses. Omaha Beach was a horror but only because the 352 Panzer moved in shortly before the invasion. Patton’s 1st Army Group aimed at Pas de Calais tied up a lot of armor and troops in the initial period and air power limited movement afterward. I do not demean in the least the courage of the men who fought ashore in the face of enemy fire. The brass actually had figured on higher casualties than we took. I am aware of Bradley’s concerns at Omaha and of Ike’s failure memo, but do feel that the fate was pre-ordained by the planning, method and place of attack, and incredible materiel support.
The earlier attack on Dieppe was a raid, not an attempted invasion and lessons learned were incorporated into Overlord.