The Raid

On the early morning of May 25, 1944, Operation Rösselsprung began—known in our parts as the raid on Drvar. Around 12,000 members of the 500th SS Parachute Battalion, wearing camouflage uniforms and Nazi insignia, attacked the small town of Drvar in an attempt to capture and kill Tito and thus change the course of the war in Yugoslavia. The German forces were aided by an unknown number of local collaborators. Although they initially surprised the Partisan units and briefly controlled the area, the raid ultimately failed. Tito, Jovanka, and their dog Tiger were exfiltrated from a cave on the outskirts of Drvar where they had been hiding. The disappointed and enraged attackers had to content themselves with taking out their frustration on Tito's white marshal's uniform, which they found at a tailor’s shop while sweeping the town. Those who survived the war later tried to justify their actions by claiming they were guided by patriotism and merely following orders.

In the early afternoon of January 6, 2021, a crowd of around 12,000 supporters of President Trump, dressed in camouflage, animal skins, horns, and bulletproof vests, attacked the U.S. Capitol building in an attempt to prevent Vice President Mike Pence from certifying Joe Biden’s victory—and thereby change the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. There is suspicion the attackers had help from the inside—some Capitol police officers and possibly even members of Congress. Though the mob initially overwhelmed security and stormed the building, the Capitol assault ultimately failed. Vice President Pence, who was evacuated with his family during the attack, returned to the chamber a few hours later and completed the certification of the results. The angry and frustrated rioters had to settle for stealing podiums and laptops, smashing furniture, and beating police officers—two of whom died. Many of those arrested have tried to justify their actions by claiming they were motivated by patriotism and were merely following the president’s instructions.

The parallels between these two historical events are too striking to ignore for someone who finds meaning even in trivial details. What’s most amusing in this comparison is that, in the Assault on the Capitol, the role of Josip Broz Tito was played by Mike Pence.

Mikey managed to walk from zero to hero in just a few hours. With a crisply tailored conservative suit, perfectly coiffed hair, a firm, vacant stare, and a statesmanlike clenching of his jaw—this is not a posture you acquire overnight. It takes years of practice in front of a mirror. After the attack, Mike Pence oozed determination and principle. He looked like someone who could erupt at any moment, slam his fist on the table, and shout: "Crucifix, so what!"

Many praised Pence’s composure. Our Amy Klobuchar even greeted him with a fist bump after the results were certified. That Pence agreed to physical contact with a woman he isn't married to was another sign of his sudden and total transformation. In the days leading up to January 6, TV host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel joked that Pence hadn’t been under so much stress since the last time he saw a woman in short sleeves.

Yet, for all this, I doubt that Pence’s new image as a politician with courage and integrity will withstand the judgment of history. Until very recently—and for at least the past four years—Mike Pence was anything but that. Ironically, his moral turning point came only after Trump, during a phone call the morning of the attack, reportedly called him a “pussy” (pardon the vulgarity, but it’s a quote) for not having the guts to break the Constitution on his behalf.

Mike Pence became principled because he had no other choice. To survive.

After years of sycophantic servitude—justifying, enabling, and legitimizing all manner of outrages—his boss backed him into a corner, wiped himself with him like a rag, and threw him into a rabid mob. Pence’s ethical awakening cannot erase the stain of many years in which, while proclaiming his Christian values, he served as a fig leaf for a man who couldn’t even read the Ten Commandments, let alone understand them—because they don't mention his name or talk about him.

Mike Pence isn’t just a vice president; he’s also a sub-politician—someone who doesn’t meet the minimum standard of integrity required for the office he holds. He is someone who was willing to abandon his values and reputation to enable someone else's abuse of power—power used in ways that trample and humiliate those very values.

Pence repeated Trump’s lies about a stolen election, which ultimately led to violence. He supported and excused Trump when he was separating children from their mothers and locking them in cages. He stood silently when Trump responded to the racist murder in Charlottesville by saying "there were good people on both sides." Pence didn’t say a word when Trump ordered the violent dispersal of peaceful anti-racist demonstrators so he could pose in front of a church with a Bible held upside down. Pence, the conservative overflowing with Christian values, stayed quiet as a mouse when Trump bragged about grabbing women by the same body part he eventually used to describe Pence himself.

He stayed silent and assisted when Trump suggested injecting disinfectant to fight COVID, and later, when Trump simply gave up on the pandemic, which went on to kill 400,000 Americans. Pence found his spine only when Trump demanded he throw himself under a train, and then, upon refusal, unleashed a mob that hunted him through the Capitol, some of them intending to hang him.

As we express collective outrage at the outgoing president’s behavior, we must not forget the responsibility of those who helped bring him to power and keep him there. There would be no Donald Trump—and no copycats—without Mike Pence and his ilk. The resurgence of authoritarian, nationalist populism, which can lead to scenes like those we saw at the Capitol, would not be possible without collaborators—whether motivated by opportunism, intellectual deficiency, or sheer corruption—who enable, support, and excuse authoritarian populists.

Most of these enablers believe they’re in control, insisting that it’s possible to feed the wolf and keep your principles intact. But the idea that you can escape a falling elevator by jumping up at the last moment is one believed only by very small children and shameless politicians.

Mike Pence is actually lucky that his master literally forced him into integrity at the end. Compared to other sub-politicians, he at least has a slim chance of being remembered as something more than a bootlicker and a coward. Which is more than can be said for those still riding the elevator all the way down in their raid to the moral bottom.