The war

I was just over on Alternet reading through a comment thread in which a lot of people were taking on a right wing troll. Said troll had, at one point, insisted that "there's no substitute for victory." Here's what one commenter replied:

First, there is a substitute for victory--it's called peace. Oh, by the way, are you familiar with 'pyrrhic victory'?

I like that. I like that a lot. In case you don't know what a Pyrrhic victory is, here you go:

Pyrrhic victory: A victory achieved at great or excessive cost; a ruinous victory.
...
A Pyrrhic victory is so called after the Greek king Pyrrhus, who, after suffering heavy losses in defeating the Romans in 279 B.C., said to those sent to congratulate him, "Another such victory over the Romans and we are undone."

Can you believe that the president of the United States has a degree from Harvard in history??? So, you'd think he'd know of the concept.