Stalin makes a midnight call

 In the middle of the night, Josef Stalin calls Vyacheslav Molotov's phone. "Hello, Comrade Molotov? Tell me, are you still stuttering?"

"Yes, Comrade Stalin, but if the building of socialism demands it, I will-"

"No, there's no need, comrade. Goodnight."

Then, Stalin calls Anastas Mikoyan. "Comrade Mikoyan, back during the Baku Soviet, how many commissars were there total?"

"Twenty-seven, Comrade Stalin."

"And how many of them were killed in 1918?"

"Twenty-six, Comrade Stalin."

"Sleep well, lucky number twenty-seven."

Finally, Stalin dials up Lavrentiy Beria. "Comrade Beria, are you sure you had Nikolai Bukharin shot to death?"

"Quite sure, Comrade Stalin. Why do you ask?"

"No, it's nothing. Sleep well, Comrade Beria."

Stalin hangs up the phone and climbs in bed. "There. Now that I've calmed them all down, I can get a good night's rest myself."