Know When To Fold 'Em

 

      Why do people, when they're in a tight spot, refuse the deal they’re offered and push on to the full catastrophe? For example, there's Louis XVI. When things started going down the tubes, he was offered the chance to be a constitutional monarch like the king of England. But he said "non" and it wasn't long before he was handed his head in a basket.

   And then there's Hitler. He had conquered most of Europe. He needed all his resources to invade Britain. But instead of concentrating on what he had, he decided take a little cruise to Russia. His generals were all: "Mein Führer! With all due respect, remember Napoleon!!" 

   And Napoleon's another prime example. He too had conquered most of Europe, but Britain was making life difficult. And Russia was secretly supporting Britain. The invasion of Russia did not go well. At this point the rest of Europe was sick of constant warfare and told Napoleon he could remain emperor of France and keep keep Belgium and parts of Germany and Italy. When Napoleon said no, his enemies thought things over and said he could only keep France. Napoleon again said no, lost the next battle and was exiled to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean.

   He was put in charge of the island, but of course this was not satisfactory. On this day in 1815 he escaped from Elba and headed for Paris. Napoleon probably had more charisma than anyone in history, excluding Jesus. The French army sent to arrest him, soon joined him on the march to the capital. A hundred days later Napoleon met his Waterloo. It was off to damp and windy Saint Helena Island in the South Atlantic and no more deals.

 

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