Conversation
-
We Do Not Swear Unconditional Obedience
source
Leni Riefenstahl, the filmmaker of the Third Reich
I only saw brief clips of the Trumpapalooza, but one of the few I saw brought me up short. From Aaron Rupar on Bluesky (with video at the link), describing a point where Trump asked the crowd to stand:
Trump: “Please right your right hand. I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States. That loves us so much he can’t even breath. That I will go out with my family, my friends, I’ll do it any way – I don’t care if I’m registered or not, I’m going to try to cheat like hell…”
I physically shuddered as Trump began that pledge, because it reminded me so much of another pledge to another ruler. The photo below shows the pledge, as it appears in the Evangelisches Feldgesangbuch, the protestant field hymnal for the German Wehrmacht. The same pledge appears in the Katolisches Feldgesangbuch, which was the Roman Catholic military hymnal.
The German Soldier’s Oath, August 1939
The text translates like this:
I swear by God this holy oath, that I will render unconditional obedience to the Führer of the German Reich and people, Adolf Hitler, Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht, and that, as a brave soldier, I will be prepared to risk my life at any time for this oath.
They were published in August 1939 by the Luftwaffe, and handed out to the soldiers of the German military. Right before they invaded Poland the following month.
It wasn’t always like this. During the Weimar Republic, members of the military swore an oath to the German constitution, but after the death in 1934 of President Paul von Hindenberg, the oath changed. It became a pledge to Adolf Hitler personally, the leader of the state and the leader of the people. Shortly thereafter, civilian members of the government were made to take a similar oath.
I lived in Germany for a time as an exchange student, right after they showed the NBC miniseries “The Holocaust” on national television. It was the first time there was such a public discussion of that subject, telling the story from Kristallnacht to the ghettos and finally to the death camps and gas chambers. I had conversations with old women whose husbands, fathers, uncles, brothers, and sons had gone off to war, with middle-aged folks who were kids at the time (including men who had been part of the Hilter youth as young boys – much the way that young American boys would join the Cub Scouts – “it’s what everyone did at that age”), and especially with my classmates at school. Beyond the horrors of the Holocaust itself, the stories of the cult of personality were gripping. “How could you have allowed that to happen?” said the folks my age to their grandparents, who mainly had little answer. A few talked about being connected with the “Confessing Church” which opposed the Deutsche Christen, the nationalistic Aryan folks who tried to take over German religious life. But for most, the older folks felt embarrassed at best, if not guilty and ashamed.
“I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States . . .”
So yeah, I shuddered when I heard those words. Shuddered, not in surprise but in pain. Trump has made it clear that he expects this kind of unconditional obedience from the attorneys of the DOJ, and Todd Blanche has done his best to clean out those who do not share that view of the DOJ’s attorneys. Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Excursions, has the same mentality at the DOD, and has similarly worked hard to clean house of problematic generals and admirals. When Trump rails at the Supreme Court, it carries clear anger that the justices he nominated and got onto the court are not living up to an oath demanding unconditional obedience to him personally, even if they never actually took such an oath.
Or look at how Trump reacted to Senator Mark Kelly and his former military and intelligence community colleagues, when they pointed out that in our military, we not only do NOT demand unconditional obedience, but we demand exactly the opposite. Soldiers who are given illegal orders are not just given permission to disregard these orders but are REQUIRED not to obey them. Oh, the horror, says Trump, and he sicced DOJ and the DOD to go after Kelly et al., threatening not only their ranks and their pensions, but their very liberty.
That’s how Trump views being president. Everyone owes him — not the country or the constitution or the law, but him — unconditional obedience. And look at what he demanded his obedient minions do: cheat like hell.
Here in Missouri, we’ve seen what demands for unconditional obedience can do. We’ve been dealing with more than just the gerrymandering mess, but also anti-abortion zealots, some of the worst anti-trans laws in the country, and ballot measures that would have neutered the ability of the voters to use initiative petitions to overturn the most idiotic laws the legislature comes up with.
When a leader — any leader — demands unconditional obedience, be afraid. In a religious setting, that’s when you get to Jim Jones or pedophile priests. In an academic setting, this is when you get researchers who twist their data to fit the views of their superiors rather than letting it speak honestly. In a military setting, this is when you get My Lai. In a political setting, this is when you get Adolf Hitler.
We have less than 8 weeks before the elections in November. Many of the races are between candidates who act as if they have sworn unconditional obedience to Trump and candidates who have not. I envision my hypothetical grandkids asking me “How could you have allowed that to happen?”
I don’t want to shrug my shoulders in embarrassment, or bow my head in guilt and shame. And neither should you. It’s time to keep making good trouble.
The post We Do Not Swear Unconditional Obedience appeared first on emptywheel.