DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC

Someone has said that the last true believers in magic, other than innocent children, are men. Men, into their 40s and above, still believe that they will somehow make it big in sports or business, as if by magic. Somehow the world will be reordered to their benefit and they will become the next NBA superstar, an Oscar-winning actor, or richer than Bill Gates. These dreams and the hope of their magical incarnation finally begin to fade beginning in a man’s 40s and linger on life-support, often until retirement when they die just before their master. It may be that the fabled mid-life crisis most men experience is not because of perceived failings in their life, but that they finally discovered there is no magic and they are doomed to their fate. Do you remember what it was like finding out there was no (fill in the blank)? Would you expect less than a crisis upon discovering that magic has left the world?
Not all men have stopped believing in magic, though. Our President and his pals are the last true believers and practitioners of magic. They believe in it so strongly and practice it so seriously that they have allowed themselves and our country to be lead into adventures that would otherwise be unthinkable. Even worse, they have cynically manipulated us with parlor tricks to achieve their magical dreams. The unfortunate part is that it has succeeded so far and appears set to succeed again for another four years. If they believe the magic won the race for them there is no telling what they will try next.
The President’s belief in magic and his ability to use it to remake the world was evident early on. Not his victory in the Supreme Court to win the Florida vote, that was just raw political muscle, but in his approach to taking office. It was fairly evident that a recession was looming when he was about to take control, but his approach was to play it up rather than paint a better picture. In part this was to lay the groundwork for his tax cuts to make them seem more necessary, but mostly it was a calculation that by doing so the recession could be sped up and therefore leave earlier. He and his minions believed they had the knowledge and power to magic the economy to do as they wanted. All it took was the right incantations and spells, then the economy would recover to send George Bush into his reelection riding a tidal wave of growth. The spells were cast, the incantations read, and the economy barely laps at the shore. True, 9/11 intervened and its impact has been severe, but rather than try new spells, he has continued to recite the old ones in the belief the magic will eventually work. Belief in magic and one’s powers to wield it die hard if at all.
Another example of Bush’s belief in magic is the whole war with Iraq, filled with wishful thinking from start to, well, not quite finish, since it’s going to go on a long time. The magic is in the belief that if we just demonstrate our powers, the rest of the world, especially the Middle East, will be in awe of our presence. The war was to have this magical outcome where Saddam Hussein would be gone, the Iraqi people would be free and grateful to the US, democracy would flourish first in Iraq and thence to all the Middle East, the Israeli/Palestinian problem would resolve itself, and the US would stand astride the region, benevolently nodding our approval. The magic was to be so powerful that all this could be done with but a singe spell.
The mindset of the Bush Gathering is akin to that we saw in the Vietnam Era, but even more dangerous. During Vietnam, policy was driven by a combination of hypocrisy, naiveté, hubris, and a belief that the leadership knew how to do the job right. The difference now is that the naiveté is gone and the other three have grown in proportion. This creates the powerful illusion of magic and control that only the Bush people can wield.
At the same time that Bush and his cohorts are doing magic in the back room, they are engaging in parlor tricks in the front. They are cynically manipulating the gullible public through sleight-of-hand, misdirection, and outright deception to hide the reality of their activities. It has succeeded enough to get George Bush reelected. Apparently a good charlatan is worth every penny.
How are Bush and company doing this and how do they get away with it in plain view? They have learned that people will go against their best interests, especially economic, if they can push issues that are so radioactive they are about to explode. While the public is fighting over these issues, Bush is busy doing the real work of his tenure, rewarding the rich and making the world safer for big business. Gay marriage is a classic case of misdirection away from Bush’s economic bailout of the rich. It is understandable why many will put their morals before their money, but do they have to have their pockets picked in the process?
Another trick he uses is to produce a fake bouquet of flowers for the audience and a pile of gold for his friends in back. The gutting of the inheritance tax is a prime example of this. Bush renamed it the “death tax” and convinced enough people that the fake flowers they get from its repeal were somehow worth the pile of gold he shoved into the pockets of the rich. There were a few small business owners and farmers who were caught by the inheritance tax, but their benefit pales into insignificance when compared to the massive windfall of the super rich.
Bush’s invasion of Iraq also demonstrates best the intermingling of his use of trickster magic and practicing the dark art in private. Bush sold the war as being necessary to disarm Saddam Hussein, fight terrorism, and free the Iraqi people while the real agenda was to remake the world with an eye on the oil prize as well. He was showing one deck of cards to the world, one which was stacked it turns out, while doing a Tarot Card reading at the same time. Even more shameful, once the fraud was exposed he managed to convince enough people that this was really what was intended all along. Ignore the fact that some of the cards were planted; it was all part of the show. Meanwhile, the magic cabal is intoning incantations and uttering deprecations to make the war move ahead. Their faith in their powers is such that they do not bother to ready themselves for the aftermath; that will take care of itself from the first spells. It is not a good sign that Bush and company cannot find a way to cast a second set of spells to get out of the mess that they now find themselves in. They still believe the first ones will eventually work.
How long will Bush believe in his magical powers and what happens when he no longer does and undergoes a crisis of confidence? I suggest before we get to that point that we engage in a little magic ourselves. We should put on our ruby red slippers and, like Dorothy, click our heels three times while repeating “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home…” Then we can send George Bush back to his home in Crawford, Texas and be rid of the Wizard, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Wicked Witch.