driftglass on what to do when trying to hold Trump accountable.
In Bridge on the River Kwai, Colonel Saito never understood Colonel Nicholson...
You are stubborn, but have no pride.
You endure, but you have no courage.
,,,but Nicholson understood Saito perfectly.
Saito was a not-very-bright middle-manager -- a Reince Preibus -- whose only tools are the blunt instruments of the inept martinet. And that would have been sufficient if all he had to do was keep a bunch of prisoners locked up and in line, but was also charged by his superiors with completing critical infrastructure project which neither he nor the men under his command were competent to perform.
Saito can threaten and torture all he likes...
...but since he refuses to abide by the rule of the civilized world...
...he absolves those who are civilized of any obligation to respect his authority:
And we on the Left understand Trump and the Right just as perfectly.
You are defeated, but you have no shame.
Saito [speaking of the Geneva Convention]: You speak to me of code? What code? The coward's code! What do you know of the soldier's code, of Bushido? Nothing! You are unworthy of command!
Nicholson: Since you refuse to abide by the laws of the civilized world...we must consider ourselves absolved from our duty to obey you.
