Sun Tzu's saying “Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer” applies in current context with Trump and billionaires like Gates. Ignoring powerful figures isn't wise; better to cultivate relationships. Trump's influence will be limited by entrenched interests, yielding incremental changes. His stance against censorship stands out compared to Democrats. Kennedy needs Senate confirmation before actions can be taken. We should wait a few weeks before judging Trump and Kennedy's effectiveness.
Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. An executive of a Constitutional Republic with an adversarial legal system will have to deal with rich and powerful bad guys. Better to keep them close than to shun them. Mon, 20 Jan 2025 00:13:59 GMT https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/keep-your-friends-close-but-your The ancient Chinese strategist Sun Tzu, author of the Art of War , is thought to have coined the dictum, “Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer.” The saying was popularized by the following scene in The Godfather Part II :
Recently I’ve noticed several of my fellow Substack authors expressing concern that President Trump is apparently getting too cozy with Bill Gates and other billionaires. While I share their concern, I also doubt it would be wise for Trump to shun guys like Gates, Bezos, and Altman. They are too powerful and have too much money to be simply ignored. Better to cultivate relationships with them and keep them close. Trump cannot work within the framework of a Constitutional Republic with an adversarial legal system and simply get rid of them.
Likewise, given that U.S. federal institutions were long ago captured by powerful interest groups, there is only so much that Trump will be able to do in the next four years to undo this state of affairs. If he is able to do good work, it is likely to be incremental rather than sweeping in nature. So far, his greatest achievement has been to declare open hostility to censorship instead of embracing it, as the Democrats have done for the last four years.
Regarding Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: He has to make it through the Senate confirmation process before he can do anything . The Greeks didn’t defeat the Trojans by standing before the Walls of Troy and declaring their intention to sack the city. As Virgil told the story in the Aeneid , the Greeks apparently sailed away and left behind a large wooden horse.
Before we pass judgement on Trump and Kennedy, we should give them at least a few weeks in office to get their ducks in a row.
Subscribe now
Courageous Discourse™ with Dr. Peter McCullough & John Leake is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.