One of my least favorite stories from ancient history is the story about how the evil Romans were finally able to defeat the great Carthaginian Hannibal.
Hannibal Barca was my childhood hero. He was brilliant general, a great leader and “One Man Against Rome.” He crossed the Alps in the middle of winter with a small herd of elephants that he then used to terrorize the vaunted Roman legions.
At one point there was a giant stone on a high alpine path, blocking their way. Like Jesus and the stone rolled across his tomb, Hannibal devised a clever scheme to pour sour vinegar on the stone, to fracture and freeze in the cracks, and to splinter it into a hundred lesser boulders.
Hannibal and his brothers Hamilcar, Hasdrubal and Mago (great generals all) invaded the Roman peninsula and won a series of spectacular victories over the infinitely superior Roman legions.
They won by virtue of stealth, trickery and outright strategic genius. They wrote the book on military tactics.
Ever the heavy thinkers, the Romans eventually realized they could not defeat these Carthaginians on their own terms. The Roman Consul Fabius posed a fiendish solution. Avoid direct confrontations with Hannibal at all costs – run from battle!
This cowardly solution proved to be Hannibal’s undoing. Failing to win the victories he grasped with such consummate ease, the Brothers Barca lost the support of the locals and were eventually defeated.
The Republicans have begun to use much the same tactics against Obama. No more direct confrontations, but no more concessions either. Run from the direct bruising battles that Obama wins so easily. No more one-on-one negotiations.
While retreating, keep fiscal matters forever in the headlines – they are Obama’s Achilles heel because all his grandiose plans require enormous sums of money.
Money we don’t have. People understand money a lot better than they understand Obama’s obscure personal theology of racial socialism.
The Romans were able to lose every battle but still win the war.
Victory by attrition.
