If you must go on and on about the "Judo" reference...

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

Please: Read "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu and "The Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi. Also, a little tome called "The Bubishi". The Patrick McCarthy translation, published by Tuttle, is the one that I would recommend.

Because some of you don't know a f***ing thing about real tactics in real combat, and combat this most certainly is.

There is an abundance of good reasons that both books are required reading at The US Army's War College. There is an abundance of good reasons that "The Bubishi" is required reading for martial artists, especially those of the Okinawan martial traditions.

You might change your tunes and learn a hella lot in the bargain.

Personally, I would have used Aikido instead of Judo as the corrolary. But that's just me. :P

[Uber Llama]

1. I frankly don't like anyone

who thinks of war as an art, even though I have not read Sun Tzu's great work.

[bushwakker]

2. I posted earlier today

that I though the Judo spin was a buch of crap. I was gonna throw in that I thought Sun Tzu references were a buch of crap too but I didn't think anyone would know what I was talking about - not that I've actulally read The Art of War. I guess we disagree on this point and maybe I should do some reading. I do know know that former GOP strategist Lee Atwater was heavy into Sun Tzu.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

4. No one I know...

Likes combat. But the prudent person prepares him or herself for it, both intellectually and physically. Especially in uncertain times.

Politics, c. 2004, is base and coarse combat. Nothing more. Therefore it is prudent to learn tactics from experts, not sniff through an upturned nose, disdainfully, at the combat at hand.

Atwater may have been a disgusting creep, but I am not surprised. That does not invalidate Sun Tzu's work.

You have much to learn, Grasshopper. ;-)

[bushwakker]

5. So would Sun Tzu approve of the Kerry campaign?

and what would the optimal result be?

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

6. I am sure...

Sun Tzu would have some sharp, pointed suggestions for them. As he would for us.

That does no disparage the essential point of the original reference to Judo. I think that the old general would have fundamentally agreed.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Good references, and Aikido is more Comprehensive. See also game of Go

You make excellent references.

Aikido is a better metaphor because it is more inclusive of the martial arts, but Judo is more widely recognized by people as a meme.

I would also like to recommend the game of Go (Wei-qi, Baduk, Igo) as fun, safe, excellent mental discipline and a great metaphor for many aspects of life.

[thebigidea]

7. the whole thing kinda reminds me of that 80s fad...

For a while the Wall Street set thought Sun Tzu and Musashi would help them with mergers or something. That kinda fell apart... I guess just namechecking Sun Tzu wasn't enough, and all his wisdom on fighting in salt-marshes didn't really apply.