Vicious Friends To The End

Well, well, well.  A new book is out.  In it are allegations about Donald Trump's temperament and intellect.  Same old stuff, warmed over.  Also in it are new allegations about who may be the White House leaker, the stirrer of political pots.  All eyes look to Steve Bannon.  "A moron," says Bannon of Trump.  "Sloppy Steve," tweets Trump.  Uh oh.  Seems like King Arthur is at odds with his Sir Lancelot.  Powerful men, both leaders in a tsunami political movement, butting heads like alpha rams in rutting season.  The MSM, delighted to observe the public reaction to Wolff's disingenuous ramblings, cry, "Hooray!  A rift in the movement!  Trump is undone!"

Nonsense.  Not so fast.  In every great undertaking, there have been failures in communication and policies in the chain of command, from ancient Greece (note Alexander's conquests) to Rome (note Julius Caesar's reforms), even into the early elections in the United Sates (note the Adams/Jefferson rift), and right up to the present age.  Consider that Winston Churchill fought tooth and nail against his own King and Parliament to dissuade them from a policy of appeasement with Nazi Germany.  Neville Chamberlain advised friend and foe alike that German ambitions were contained and it wouldn't attack the UK.  Germany wasn't, of course, and did.  History proved Churchill right, and Germany and the United Kingdom would be engaged again in war with each other.

Another example of rifts between players on the same team was the infamous public flogging of General George Patton.  Dwight Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander, Allied Forces, and General George Patton was Commander of the 3rd, 7th and 15 United States Armies at various times.  He defeated Rommel in North Africa, invaded and liberated Sicily, and was most famous for his push through France and Germany with the US 3rd Army, resulting in the liberation of Berlin.  Yet he and Ike were at odds for most of the war.  Both wanted to win, but had differing methods.  Ike was the commander of a force of individual nations - the Allies - and had to massage national hubris and personal egos for the duration of the war.  In contrast, Patton was a proponent of hard driving, never slowing offensives that, especially in Europe in 1944, probably shortened the war considerably.  At the edge of Berlin, Ike slowed Patton's 3rd Army's advance, so that the Soviets could be the first to enter Berlin.  That was a political move of which Patton disapproved entirely.  Patton was vocal about his opinions, and felt that the US should keep rolling eastward, and defeat Russian forces as well.  Hey, as long as I've got the Army over here and all.  Ike and the media were completely aghast over that.  History may well have shown that Patton was probably right about his trepidation about the USSR.  Promoted, demoted, and hushed, Patton was still admired by both his men and by the public at large, despite the Pentagon's and media's attempt to portray him as a arrogant, war-mongering self-serving braggart.  But at the end of the day, it was George Patton and the American 3rd Army that liberated Europe.  Ike went on to become the United States' 34th President, and Patton died from injuries he sustained in a suspicious automobile crash months later in December 1945.

So it may be wise to keep in perspective this so-called divide between Bannon and Trump.  It is probably real, arising from two forceful personalities dedicated to making America great again, yet each in their own way.  Trump, like Eisenhower has many factions to appease.  Bannon, like Patton, sees only an enemy in tyrannical globalism that must be resoundingly defeated.  

As history shows us time and time again, heads may butt, punches may be thrown, but at the end of the day, hands will be shaken, and a victory will be had.  And this story hasn't come to its end, yet.  Stay tuned.