Ulysses Grant, the commanding general of Union forces during the US Civil War, wrote about his experience leading troops into battle for the first time in that war. His story provides a useful reminder for those of us facing the coming Trump nightmare.
As Grant tells it, his troops were advancing up a hill, expecting to find a Confederate unit on the other side. He describes feeling more and more nervous as his troops approached the top of the hill, worrying about what would happen when his troops came under fire.
Then, when his force crested the hill … nothing. The Confederate forces had retreated. Their commander had apparently decided HIS troops could not withstand an attack from Grant’s men.
Reflecting many years later, Grant recalled that at that moment he realized his enemy had been as scared of him, as he had been of his enemy. Grant wrote that that had never occurred to him before … but that he never forgot it after.
People: Trump and his minions are not invincible. They are not ubermen who lack fears and doubts and weaknesses. They’re con men peddling lies. They will lose in the long fight. You just have to worry less about being scared of them, and more about making them scared of you.
