ROME, WHAT A CLUSTERFUCK.

There's an ancient tome studied by military colleges around the world, and by people who study peace. The Art of War was written sometime in the 5th Century--BCE. The author was Sun Tzu. He was a general but not your ordinary kind of general. He was great enough to be studied 2500 years later.

One of his stories on proper generalship during war was about a great army, maybe 10,000 strong, marching on the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Great armies make noise, in the 5th Century BC, the noise they made was a distinctive noise to a trained ear. There's of course the rythmic stomp of marching feet on cobblestone streets. The occasional drop of a spear, maybe. The noise of wagons to carry the manual implements of war, and the food to feed them, voices of men commanding, and there was the slap of leather on leather as the soldiers moved briskly through the broad plaza. How do you enter the city undetected was the problem? The solution was to drive gaggles of geese before them. The geese protesting loudly. That was some 2500 years ago. That Sun Tzu is still studied is a tribute to tactics, to wile. Between that time and this, many notable leaders have filled the history books. You know many of the names. Some were great. Some wanted to be great again. Always there were, among the great and not-so-great, people capable of diplomacy. Men mostly who are rarely remembered. It has only been some 30years since the first female diplomat. And always there is a virulent strain of ignorance, and arrogance. Of hubris.

What kind of ignorant fool was the Roman general, a thousand years or so later, who kept the Goths, or austro-goths, or visigoths from crossing the Rhine to enter Roman territory? They were being pressed by the Huns and were weak and worn out. But the general pushed them back across the river. Is any of this sounding familiar? More recent? Is Steven Miller's bald head and sour look coming to mind? Finally this general has a change of heart. His demands were that the young men serve in the army, and the rest would have servile occupations. And then he throws a feast to welcome them. The main course was roasted dog. Roasted Goth dog. At least they didnt need to consume those roasted dogs in Ohio. From this Gothic legion rose Alaric. From that stinging insult came the sack of Rome. 

Here we are in 2025, the first hundred days of Donald J Trump's second time around. So far no great Generals have arisen.  Many have been lost for not kissing the ring. We have Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, who used a social media site to discuss ongoing military action. Among the people on the group call was a reporter for the Atlantic magazine. Also on this call was an envoy from the Trump administration meeting, at that very moment,  in the Kremlin. What could possibly go wrong? Though not minor, his alcoholism is also a concern. In the same administration, the Director of National Intelligence, the spy-master, is Tulsi Gabbard. Prior to her becoming our version of 'M' she was on two FBI watch-lists for connections to mideast dictators. Since she is Director of National Intelligence, she represents to our-ahem-former allies, American-ahem-intelligence. A concept that amuses, frightens, and insults the intelligence of some of us, all at the same time.

Like Rome, we had our Republic. We had some successes and some failures, but we always aspired to greatness. And sometimes got close. We are now in the waning years of our Empire. The political talent pool has become a cess pool. We are emulating Rome with 21st Century people wanting to start a new Holy Roman Empire. Like those who aspired to proclaim themselves a Holy Roman Empire in the 16th and 17th Century, they are neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire; thank you Mark Twain. We even have a Jeep Rubicon, an irony lost on MAGA. That particular car is made to cross rivers, and named for a river that must not be crossed by Caesar's troops. As of today, Caesars troops can go anywhere our Caesar wishes them to be. They may be waiting for you at home.