Oh, you want to talk about controlling the masses through fear? Alright then. How about how all of you Far-right Republicans take a goooooood long look in the mirror then. After all, what is it you jerks tend to do? Oh, right, ALWAYS prey on the fears of the masses so you can blame “the other” (Jews, Muslims, Immigrants, LGBTQ+, Democrats) for every single thing wrong in your country so you won’t have to be held responsible for fixing it. For fear of invoking Godwin’s law, you know who else did that? Hitler.
And I once again feel compelled to put in this quote from the Witcher 3:
"How do men deal with fear? They seek reassurance... and scapegoats. The Church of the Eternal Fire understands this perfectly. And so it promises to improve the lives of its flock by pointing out the guilty. Who started the war? Who profits from it? Why, it's obvious - mages, elves, dwarves. In a word, any and all deviants."
Or, to translate it to RL Republican talk;
"How do men deal with fear? They seek reassurance... and scapegoats. The Republican Party understands this perfectly. And so it promises to improve the lives of its minions by pointing out the guilty. Who started the epidemic? Who profits from it? Why, it's obvious - jews, immigrants, democrats. In a word, any and all deviants."
And I’m not even talking about the more direct applicaton your Orange POTUS attempted. Riling up militias of bloodthirsty mobs against any and all who stood in his way (including his own VP) of grabbing all power to become GEOTUS for life…
Sadly for you, both Machiavelli and the Tarkin Doctrine weren’t as correct as they thought they were.