It’s as old as history itself. We know what Cain did to Abel. What Henry VIII did to a great many people, including a couple of wives. What Lenin did to Nicholas II and his entire family. What Stalin did to his generals. What Hitler did to six million Jews and a great many other perceived “undesirables.”

And in today’s world, we know what Vladimir Putin has done and is doing to those who have dared to oppose him: Boris Nemtsov, Aleksandr Litvinenko, Anna Politkovskaya, Boris Berezovsky, Aleksei Navalny, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and countless others — dead, or locked away in Siberian penal colonies.

We see Putin’s protege, Aleksandr Lukashenko, following suit by eliminating his detractors in his own manner. When asked whether the past weekend’s presidential election in Belarus had been free and fair,

“ . . . Lukashenko has explained that his political opponents had ‘chosen’ prison or exile.” [Reuters (citing The Guardian), January 27, 2025.]

Right . . . the ten political prisoners in Belarus about whom I have written recently — and who knows how many others — no doubt have always dreamt of being locked up and tortured for voicing their opinions.

We’ve seen it, heard about it, reacted to it with expressions of horror and disbelief. But those things happened — and keep happening — in other countries . . . far-away places, ruled by dictators. We Americans have always believed it couldn’t happen here.

But it can . . . and it has.

No, not to the same degree, certainly. People are not being assassinated, or hidden away in an Arctic archipelago of penal colonies. But they are being targeted, simply because they have in some way displeased the person currently in authority.

Consider, for example:

— Losing your job because you did your job: It has happened to more than a dozen Justice Department officials who participated in the criminal investigation of then private citizen Donald Trump.

— Losing your Secret Service protection, despite ongoing threats resulting from having done your job: It has happened to former White House national security adviser John Bolton, and to former chief medical adviser to President Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci.

— Losing your security clearance — and thus potentially your source of income — for having said the “wrong” thing about the Hunter Biden investigation: It has happened to dozens of former national security officials.

— Having your picture removed from the wall of honor — in effect, your history erased — where you honorably did your job: It has happened to former U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley.

— Being threatened with prosecution for having won the 2020 election: It is happening to President Joe Biden.

— Being threatened with 50% tariffs, and ultimately forced into capitulation, because you initially refused to go along with some mad deportation scheme: It has happened to the President and the entire population of the South American nation of Colombia.

— And who knows what punishment awaits the person who dares to be wealthier, more successful, more charismatic, and much much smarter than the guy in charge, and doesn’t give a crap what anyone thinks of him? It could even happen to someone like Elon Musk.

All of that was in just one week . . . and does not include the actions being taken against entire categories of people — government agencies, recipients of government funding, ethnic groups, immigrants — simply because they do not comport with a single individual’s preferences.

If it all sounds too familiar, that is because it is history repeating itself. It is the echo of rumblings once heard in pre-Revolutionary Russia, and in 1930s Germany.

And don’t kid yourself into thinking that we’re so very different . . . because we’re not. It CAN happen here.

But only if we let it.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/29/25