What appalled and obsessed Victor Hugo most was the seemingly “normal nature” of the French regime, even as it committed acts of unprecedented authoritarian menace and cruelty.

On the one hand, the fact that “Les Misérables” is one of Donald Trump’s favorite musicals and that he attended a performance Wednesday night at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington — drawing both boos and cheers — is enough to induce a major case of cognitive dissonance.