Essay: Political Abuse

Political abuse involves a tyrannous leader.  It has a lot in common with domestic abuse.  In both contexts, those disengaged from the cruel dynamic have trouble understanding the deeper level of what's really going on. 

The first reaction is to express outrage and exasperation for the abuse, which can crystallize into ignorant questions like, "Why isn't the abuser in jail?" or "Why doesn't the victim just leave?" 

Ending abuse isn't like showing someone how to solve a math problem.  Abusive relationships solidify over time.  They involve an insidious mind control both strategic and tactical.  It is a common misconception that the inflictor is  'just someone who has an anger problem' or otherwise not intending to inflict harm.  

Indeed, this appearance can be part of the manipulation.

Mental disorders may well present in an abuser.  But what's going on is something else entirely:  an observant, calculative, continuous process that moves in stages and cycles (like the honeymoon stage).  A house of abuse is built with a devious and sturdy carpentry.  It is malign, premeditated, and unrepentant.  

If you ask counselors at any domestic violence agency, they will tell you eye-opening stories.   An abuser can turn in seconds from ranting and raving at the victim to looking calm and polite to police.  The abuser is relentless.  He relentlessly blames others, especially the victim, spinning deceptive yet persuasive stories.  If mandated for anger management, he often employs that opportunity to share and improve his techniques with other perpetrators.

(I am using male pronouns here because in the very large majority of cases, a man is the abuser).

Make no mistake, then.  You're dealing with a cultivated dynamic, a pattern coordinated to achieve dictatorial control.

There are many layers and techniques involved.  Here's the iconic power and control 'wheel' used by shelters for education and outreach:

https://www.thehotline.org/identify-abuse/power-and-control/

What about the government equivalent of domestic abuse?

The analogy is a would-be tyrant or fascist dictator who lusts for total power without conscience, or who is willing to crush their conscience for the malevolent goal. The person won't succeed without a certain aptitude and skill set.  The trust and faith of their followers is cultivated in stages; and that trust is then exploited to isolate them further from the facts.  This is similar to how a domestic abuser isolates the victim from her friends (she also is mind-gamed to blame herself and not the abuser).

This conspiratorial wooing in the would-be tyrant creates a tigher and tigher bond, until a kind of singularity event occurs:  the constituency becomes cultish, willing to sacrifice their dignity, freedom, health and money for the 'great leader' rather than question.  

At this point, they've bought into the loyalty-test framework, one that requires them to accept a false view of reality to retain their leader's approval.   As part of the loyalty test, the false reality includes obvious untruths or 'big lies.'  

Donald Trump's Big Lie is that the last election was stolen from him.

Abusers/tyrants are always looking to identify and latch onto insecurity and weakness.  If a victim has a certain fear, the abuser strives to become the sole source of comfort and understanding--while at the same time stoking that fear. 

In a political context, the abuse is similar to the domestic context:  intimidation and threats that involve bluster, blame, swagger and vicious insults attacks to get followers in line, or cow opposition.  Physical threats are marshalled, too, by identifying someone as 'bad'.  This can result in death threats through social media from across the country.  

The tyrant, engaging in plausible deniability, never has to threaten harm specifically, only slap a target with a 'bad' label.  Typical labels are things like "traitor" and "RINO" (Republican in name only); but also 'oppoganda' words like "feminist," "elite," and "liberal."

Acting in this way, the tyrant sends the same message as the abuser:   "I alone control the power.   I can destroy you completely." 

Here are some typical strategies.

The abusive leader (or abuser) always blames others, when they are the one clearly at fault.  Others are the hateful and prejudice ones, not the leader, even though this very act of lying spreads prejudice and hate. 

To demonstrate the sophistication of this kind of trick, consider this:  an abuser will take blame for something they didn't do.  This can cause confusion, baffle investigations, or simply make the abuser look noble in the eyes of followers or outsiders.

Flipping is common.  Flipping is a technique that focuses on making the victims blame themselves.  As in domestic abuse, the idea is to lower the self-esteem of the followers until it is so low they adopt a 'save me' mentality.

Another tool is 'Strategic instability.'   The leader/abuser's behavior can look erratic, spontaneous, or outright crazy.  One thing this does is keep the victims on edge and focused on the abuser (who likes the attention and playing puppeteer).  

Maybe the leader's behavior is, in fact, crazy.  Donald Trump is a diagnosed malignant narcissist.  But it also meshes with a larger strategy, creating useful crises, mudding the calm waters of objectivity, and in effect reminding followers of the need for continuous servitude and loyalty, no matter how uncomfortable it might make them; and the only way to escape that discomfort is blind faith in the abuser.

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