'Probe with bayonets': Why so many politicos are cribbing from Lenin
鈥淧robe with bayonets鈥� A maxim attributed to Lenin that is used in politics to describe a method for dealing tactically with opponents.
Former President Richard Nixon appears to have brought the phrase into popular political use. He in his 1978 autobiography 鈥淩N: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon鈥�: 鈥淐ommunist leaders believe in Lenin鈥檚 precept: Probe with bayonets. If you encounter mush, proceed; if you encounter steel, withdraw.鈥�
The idea is that a bayonet stuck in the soil can detect a land mine without setting it off; it鈥檚 designed to detonate under heavier pressure. The 1970 cult-classic war comedy features a scene in which Clint Eastwood, Don Rickles, and the rest of their platoon undertake just such a task after one of their buddies steps on a mine and is killed. (When Rickles鈥檚 character, Crapgame, encounters a buried explosive and is asked what kind it is 鈥淭he kind that blow up! How the hell do I know what kind it is?鈥�)
Prominent antitax activist Grover Norquist for employing a variation of 鈥減robe with bayonets,鈥� though he denied it was an endorsement of Lenin鈥檚 tactics and definitely not of communism itself. Other Republicans have quoted it as a way of placing current Russian President Vladimir Putin in an established communist tradition of constantly searching for opponents鈥� vulnerabilities. The most recent has been Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who has invoked it repeatedly.
鈥淵ou know, Putin believes in the old Lenin adage that you probe with bayonets, when you find mush you push, when you find steel you stop,鈥� . 鈥淯nder Obama and Clinton, we found a lot of mush, over the last few years. We need to have a national security that puts steel in front of our enemies. I would send weapons to Ukraine. I would work with NATO to put forces on the eastern border of Poland and the Baltic nations, and I would reinstate ... the missile defense system that we had in Poland and in the Czech Republic.鈥�
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R) of Texas, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, to refer to Putin in a June speech. 鈥淚t seems that Mr. Putin and those around him don鈥檛 see economic sanctions and [U.S. military] training exercises as steel,鈥� Thornberry said.
But Democratic strategist Paul Begala, about as far from a conservative as you can get, also in a 2003 article about how his party had come to be perceived as weak, especially when compared to GOP President George W. Bush and his then-highly regarded political mastermind Karl Rove.
鈥淭he adjective that comes to mind is 鈥榯oothless,鈥欌�欌�� Begala said of Democrats. 鈥淲hat we need is some attitude. Karl is an old friend. I love Karl and admire his toughness. When someone takes shots at Bush, he hits back with greater force. Which means you can鈥檛 run and hide. You have to answer these people with steel. Probe them with bayonets, look for weaknesses, then stick 鈥榚m in.鈥�
Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark write their "Speaking Politics" blog exclusively for Politics Voices.
