Fears Great and Small

I once had the opportunity to interview a former Securitate interrogator while researching a book I was working on. To those unaware who the Securitate was in the olden days, they were a version of the KGB in Romania. To say the least, it was illuminating, not only because it gave me an insight I had never before considered, but because this man had recently converted to Christianity.

It was an odd thing attempting to crawl into the mind of a man whose profession had been to break other men. That’s really the only way you can get someone to turn, or to inform on their closest friends, wives, husbands, brothers, and fathers. It’s not something anyone does willingly, joyfully, or without difficulty, that is, unless you’re George Soros. Had to slip that in there. If you don’t know the man’s story, you should.

Of the few hours I spent with this man, the biggest takeaway, for me at least, was that there were two kinds of interrogators. As he put it, there were the bone breakers, and then there were those who were gifted at their job. The gifted ones would always attempt to ascertain your fear before they laid one hand on you. The not so gifted ones would make mincemeat out of someone’s face and still get nowhere.

As he put it, “why must I beat a man for eight hours when he will tell me everything I need to know in less than a minute, by letting a rat crawl over his bare feet, and up his pant leg?”

“The good interrogators would discover your weakness before they started to interrogate you. The good suspects wouldn’t volunteer any information. It was like a game. Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost, but I always learned something. Everyone has a fear. If you pay close enough attention, you will discover what that is, and exploit it to your benefit.”

Upon seeing the reactions to the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, I couldn’t help but be reminded of that conversation many years ago. The other side is not nearly wise enough to mask their fear. It is evident in their words, their actions, their denunciations, and their impotent threats.

In order to understand how important it is to fill the seat before the next elections, one need only look at how some are reacting to the possibility thereof. No more, no less.

We are all aware that, for the most part, politicians are spineless, malleable creatures who go whichever way the wind blows. We are also mindful that for the next few weeks, every senator will be inundated with calls, letters, pleas, and petitions to keep the seat vacant by those who insist that legally murdering a baby in the womb is the preeminent issue of our day.

In order to counteract their lunacy, the letters, calls, pleas, and petitions to fill the seat must be as thunderous, if not more so. This is your chance to do your part. This is your opportunity to act to defend the defenseless and protect the sanctity of life. If for no other reason, this is a noble enough cause for you to take an hour out of your day and call your senator, write a letter, and make your voice heard because if the other side gets its way, your voice will be silenced forever.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.