POLITICAL MAGICIANS

POLITICAL MAGICIANS

King David wrote, “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save” (Psalm 146:3). Every time we have an election, we expect a political magician to emerge. We fall constantly to their deceptive promises (Jeremiah 7:4). I am reminded of the prophet Shemaiah. While the people were packing to be shipped to Babylon, he was still holding out for a Jewish utopia (Jeremiah 20:31). Our present President was expected to be such a “Wunderkind” or miracle child. Now, the Republicans are hoping that one may be mistaken for a Shemaiah among their ranks. All these political magicians have one thing in common. They know how to treat us as if we were children living on fantasyland.

Well, at first I thought I was having a pleasant dream. After all, magicians are fun to watch. Only their magic was an illusion and I was mesmerized. When I awoke, I found them dividing my two buns and five small fish and then they sailed away in my small boat and left me drowning. How foolish could I have been to misplace my trust in political magicians? I am eighty years old and lived in this wonderful land more than half a century. During these years I noticed a shift from what I can do for the country to what the country can do for me. Political magicians have actually created the shift and provided us with a believable false hope. What they did not tell me was that I would be paying for this false hope. It would cost me our investments, our home and part of my social security that is less than $9,000 a year. In contract, these magicians earn $150,000 and more per year.

King David was honest enough to admit that he and his princes could no be trusted. His son, Salomon wrote, “Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give” (Proverbs 25:14). Both men were takers and not givers. And what they took from the people, they spent on themselves and their supporters. In our day, our politicians deal in “Pork.” After they have paid themselves, they hand out our taxes to those that keep them in power or like in an auction to the highest bidders. They design endless ways to collect revenues and then they have the audacity to tell us that it is intended to help the less fortunate in our nation. They prove themselves worthy by taking little expensive trips around the world that cost millions. Then they bring back a handful of rice and tell us that it is gold, fools gold. The change they keep on promising has become change in reverse. Salomon understood what he was saying. Big projects and programs become “clouds and wind without rain.”

The Germans had an answer to political promises in rhyme. “Paper is patient – one can write anything.” Our political princes use much paper to write laws to keep us in check. These laws have charge over my life from the cradle to the grave and when I depart they shall slap my offspring with a “death tax.” For my contribution to this nation, I shall receive $250.00. That too is a law. I am not jesting. I live in a world that is far removed from the one our political magicians live in. Can I stand another “Wundermensch” (miracle man)? It is becoming apparent that even the “Wundermensch” is wondering about his utopia? They will cut projects, raise taxes but not reduce their salaries. In fact they raised theirs by more than I make a year. Is it any wonder that voters no longer trust our wonder working political magicians? Do not feel badly. Jesus, too, did not trust his leaders (John 2:24). What will our future look like?

When I was in college, I came across a cartoon that had two primates survive the destruction of the world via an H-Bomb. The male asked the female, “Shall we start all over again?” I could not help but scribble underneath, “Are we out of our minds?” How can the people of this nation entrust their safety to political magicians that have only a fogy idea who the enemies of America are? If they think, they shall appease these enemies by exchanging toys; then, they shall seal the fate of the USA and the Christian world. Of course, children change easily and follow willingly when a favorable toy is being dangled in front of them. For those of us who are aware what is at stake, the promises of the political magicians are incomprehensible; in fact, they are even unbelievable. We no longer fear the “H-Bomb” or some enemy on the other side of the world. We fear our political magicians and their taxes. There is no more magic in the land, but sadness everywhere. I have traveled on similar roads before.