Many years ago, I read Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn's epic work, The Gulag Archipelago. It’s a terrifying and eye-opening autobiographical history of the extensive prison system in the former USSR, starting under Lenin and greatly expanded by Stalin’s great purges and reign of terror.
Just reading the first chapter of the first volume, The Arrests, gives a glimpse into the thoroughness of the records kept on individuals, how they were targeted for arrest, and the creative methods used in the moment a person is nabbed. And then there were the quotas—the ministry charged with making the arrests had a set number to meet each day.
One thing Solzhenitsyn notes is the extreme submissiveness of those arrested—possibly exacerbated by the system's utter randomness. Here’s one example: [Note: This is from the Kindle edition, location 317]
This submissiveness was also due to ignorance of the mechanics of epidemic arrests. By and large, the Organs had no profound reasons for their choice of whom to arrest and whom not to arrest. They merely had over-all assignments, quotas for a specific number of arrests. These quotas might be filled on an orderly basis or wholly arbitrarily. In 1937 a woman came to the reception room of the Novocherkassk NKVD to ask what she should do about the unfed unweaned infant of a neighbor who had been arrested. They said: “Sit down, we’ll find out.” She sat there for two hours—whereupon they took her and tossed her into a cell. They had a total plan which had to be fulfilled in a hurry, and there was no one available to send out into the city—and here was this woman already in their hands! [emphasis mine]
Now, I want to make this clear: the present-day US has few parallels to the nature of the society in Soviet Russia. We have a long history of democracy—they did and do not. We have a so-far unbreakable tradition of a free press—nearly unknown in Soviet or Russian history. We have reasonably fair elections and a regular turnover of power at the top—again, not a part of that history.
What we do have is a leader who evidences rapidly growing paranoia and an inability to grasp evident truth or to admit error. Many of these characteristics were also part of what made Stalin so powerful—and so destructive.
I bring this up right now because of the craziness surrounding the Reflecting Pool reconstruction and the quickly apparent problems with it.
Apparently, there have been several arrests of people near the pond for vandalism—so far without evidence, which is odd, since there are security cameras everywhere.
I see shades here of the woman noted above in the Solzhenitsyn account: she happened to be there, so why not arrest her? Innocence and guilt are not the issue. The issue? The Supreme Leader must, under no circumstances, ever be seen as anything less than invincible and whose ego must be constantly propped up by external forces.
There’s another telling scene in Solzhenitsyn’s book. At a Party meeting, a tribute to Stalin is called for. Immediately, everyone leaped to their feet and began to clap. Here’s what happened next (Page 69, Kindle edition):
The small hall echoed with “stormy applause, rising to an ovation.” For three minutes, four minutes, five minutes, the “stormy applause, rising to an ovation,” continued. But palms were getting sore and raised arms were already aching. And the older people were panting from exhaustion. It was becoming insufferably silly even to those who really adored Stalin. However, who would dare be the first to stop?
The applause continues:
At the rear of the hall, which was crowded, they could of course cheat a bit, clap less frequently, less vigorously, not so eagerly—but up there with the presidium where everyone could see them? The director of the local paper factory, an independent and strong-minded man, stood with the presidium. Aware of all the falsity and all the impossibility of the situation, he still kept on applauding! Nine minutes! Ten!
Well, here’s what happened:
Then, after eleven minutes, the director of the paper factory assumed a businesslike expression and sat down in his seat.
The aftermath?
That, however, was how they discovered who the independent people were. And that was how they went about eliminating them. That same night the factory director was arrested. They easily pasted ten years on him on the pretext of something quite different. But after he had signed Form 206, the final document of the interrogation, his interrogator reminded him: “Don’t ever be the first to stop applauding!”
Does anyone besides me see the fate of John Cornyn here? Of Bill Cassidy? Of Marjorie Taylor Greene? Of Thom Tillis?
They were all Trump people, in many ways loyal to a fault—yet they “were the first to stop” the unceasing applause that our President demands and apparently must have to survive. Again, this is not the USSR: they were not arrested. But they all have been condemned to political exile.
I am not a mental health expert; I am simply a life-long observer of people, of the patterns they form, of the vibes that emanate from them, of the companions they choose. Mr. Trump’s inability to receive and treasure those with different viewpoints speaks to a shallow soul, an unformed mind, and a dangerous leader.
Have some good things come from his tenure in office? I am more than sure my GOP friends can rattle them off.
Look at the closed borders! (and the fact that farmers can’t get the labor needed and the ICE arrests are eerily similar to the KGB random raids).
Look at the stock market! (and the fact that a small percentage of US citizens profit from it, while too many suffer from rising gasoline, food and housing prices).
Look at the people kicked off the SNAP program! (and the reality of even more hungry children whose growing brains will be forever damaged by lack of adequate food and nutrition).
Look at all the anti-abortion measures! (and the fact that abortions have risen, not fallen, since the fall of Roe Vs. Wade).
Obviously, things that the GOP sees as good, others of us see as destructive. These are normal political differences.
But I admit it is beyond my comprehension that even Mr. Trump’s admirers cannot see how dangerous his increasing paranoia and need for unending adulation are. Those who appear unable to acknowledge inconvenient facts AND seem to need, at all times, to be surrounded by never-disagreeing sycophants (especially rich ones who pour money into family pockets) need external limits placed around them.
We in the US are still capable of doing that. There was no such capability in Soviet times. If you want a good, albeit satirical, take on what it was like to be one of those who kept Stalin propped up, by all means watch the movie, “The Death of Stalin.” (Note: it is loaded with foul language, so be prepared.) It’s both a funny and incredibly tragic mock-documentary on the aftermath of his death.
Again, we are not at that point. Lord willing, there will be free and fair elections later this year and also in 2028. We who are appalled at this will speak. And, one can only hope, far more attention will be given to the mental health of the candidates and their willingness to respect the Constitutional limits of their power.
Even so, the most powerful man in the world is showing more and more evidence of a severe mental health crisis. I, for one, find it frightening.
And for those of you who still applaud him? I hope you are watching your back when your energy gives out.
One final note: I readily admit I was deeply traumatized by Mr. Trump’s 2024 victory. The fact that the nation would intentionally choose a sexual predator to the highest office in the land opened up a number of old wounds in my soul. But this nation did. I have worked diligently since then to read both the kinds of news that make me feel better AND the kinds of news, particularly the Wall Street Journal, which stays solidly Republican, although getting more critical of Mr. Trump. I think I am rare in my willingness to read both sides. I wish some real dialogue could come from all this.
The worst of all this? The continual support of the Evangelical world for him, calling him “divinely chosen,” was and is an insult to every girl and woman in this nation.
This is what I wrote after his second election:
I welcome comments and open discussion.
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