Blind Leading the Blind

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:13-14, NRSVCE)

I’m reading Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar, which explains the Soviet ruler’s rise and viselike grip by illuming the sycophants around him—some dow...