A Great General

It occurs to me that the adjective “great” should only be applied to a general retroactively. Do it in mid-career and you might get Julius Caesar hauling his legions into downtown Rome or Douglas MacArthur heedlessly charging his army up to the Yalu River in contravention of presidential orders, or even Robert E. Lee ordering Pickett’s Charge. Delusions of grandeur in a military leader (or any leader, one supposes) are a bad thing to provoke. (H/T Eschaton)

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One Response to “A Great General”

  1. Michael Says:

    You remind of a bit of stage patter from Springsteen’s Live 1975-85:
    “Blind faith in your leaders…or in anything…can get you killed.”

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