Column: Smells like authoritarian spirit

They never dreamed it would happen to them. They had worked for this organization for years. Networking. Going to all the right conferences. Proving their effectiveness at their jobs. Raising money. Always alert to who the most powerful people were and staying in their good graces.

And then it was over. Trump took his broom and swept dozens of the loyal members of the Republican National Committee into his dustpan, and dumped them in the garbage.

So they packed up those photos of themselves shaking hands with prominent Republicans, probably even Trump himself, and took cardboard boxes to their cars. And went home to face an uncertain future. No paycheck.

Why were they so naive? Why didn’t they see this coming? Or maybe some did, but the first news reports said they were shocked. Aren’t they the ones who know how to raise money, who have personal relationships with donors? Doesn’t Trump need them?

No. He wants people in those positions who owe everything to him and only him. He wants people who need him and are nothing without him. That is who he has always chosen.

That is who is going to be sitting in those offices previously occupied by Republican loyalists. He isn’t interested in Republican loyalists. He wants Trump loyalists who will do anything, literally anything, for him. He has no reason to doubt that he can get them. He always has before. Some of them have gone to prison for their loyalty. While he is free.

But how is he going to raise money? The RNC is way behind the Democrats. Isn’t it a mistake to fire the people who are the experts at fundraising?

No. Because even though they were experts at persuasion, there are other ways to raise money: there are carrots, but sticks work, too. Maybe tell potential donors that if they don’t give, Trump will go after them when he is elected.

And those people who are gleefully moving into the newly emptied offices at the RNC are making exactly the same mistakes that the previous occupants made. They assume they are loyal, and therefore they are safe. But within a few months I am betting some of them will be picked off and fired. They will be the ones hunting up cardboard boxes to put their personal belongings in. Because, you see, if you are an authoritarian, you use fear to keep people in line. And what creates more fear than arbitrary firings of people that seem to have done nothing wrong. Oh, their “mistakes” will be named, but the insiders will know that there were no real mistakes. They will know that there is almost no way to protect themselves from the same fate. That is the magic power of authoritarians.

So watch for the next round of firings. It is coming. Keep everyone off balance, keep everyone anxious, looking over their shoulder, that is the strategy. A revolving door of underlings trying to prove their loyalty: that’s the ticket.

Why would anyone go to work for a guy like that? Because you believe you are smarter, you are different. He likes you better. It is the sweet smell of power.

The other reason is fear of not going along. How has Trump managed to get public declarations of loyalty out of people who have previously denounced him? Lindsey Graham. Mitch McConnell, who has announced his retirement and, theoretically, has nothing to fear from Trump. Ah, but I suspect they do fear him.

When you opt for a strongman, and you imagine you will be okay… it is just those other people who are going to suffer… you are delusional. The people who just a few days ago were happily at work at the RNC were delusional, and so are the people taking their places. They were not safe. They are not safe.

No one is safe with an authoritarian.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Trump's RNC house-cleaning a sign of things to come: Column