Have you ever seen a really good magician? I mean, a really, really, good magician that leaves you wondering, “how did he do that?” (I’m not being sexist. It’s just I have not personally seen any female magicians. I am sure, however, that the very attractive female assistants are wholly involved with the act. Women are devious that way!)

Have you seen that trick where someone from the audience writes their name on a $100 bill, and then later in the trick, the $100 bill magically appears in the center of a grapefruit? How do they do that?

I am a simple farm boy, so I am even impressed with the ‘needles through the balloon’ act. But the trick that I have seen the most and still impresses me the most is when they ‘saw a person in half.’ I have seen this trick when the ‘victim’ is selected from the audience. I don’t know if the person in the audience is a ‘plant’ or not, but I have volunteered Grandma P to be the victim. For the sake of brevity, I even volunteered the use of my chainsaw for the act as it is faster than a handsaw, but to no avail.

I have seen dozens of different ‘slight of hand’ tricks done with a deck of cards. Some of these were very impressive. After observing these tricks, I am elated that I would never be playing poker with any of these guysl. (Playing poker with my 12 year old grandson is challenging enough!)

So why are these magic tricks so successful? Well, without being a professional magician, I am going to speculate that these magicians are masters of the ‘slight of hand.’ What is ‘slight of hand?’ In midwestern farm boy terms, it is the magician’s ability to have you watch one thing, while he is performing the trick with the other. While you are mesmerized by watching his right hand move, his left hand is actually doing the trick. And…a good looking female assistant walking on and off the stage is another very successful diversion. Generally speaking, the good magician has directed your eyes and thoughts to one area, while they are pulling off the ‘trick’ elsewhere.

Do you know who else are masters of the ‘slight of hand?’ Politicians! Especially politicians at the federal level. Let me give you an example.

As you are all aware, the cost of gasoline has gone from roughly $2.00 per gallon in our area, to approximately $3.39 per gallon in just one year. The current Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm was interviewed earlier this week asking about this. Her response? After she was done snickering, she professed she did not have a crystal ball, and the price rises were because OPEC has stated that they were not going to pump any more oil! Here is the ‘slight of hand’ concerning this matter. Madam Secretary put the blame on OPEC, when the current administration in fact, put the binders on the Keystone pipeline. She also conveniently forgot to mention the U.S. was an energy exporter during the Trump administration! We were fossil fuel independent, with cheap gasoline, and exported LNG. Not anymore. It’s OPEC’s fault, not the stupid decisions made by the Biden administration to overturn Trump’s energy independent mandates.

Have you seen much national coverage of how many illegal immigrants have entered our country this year? No? Very few news agencies are covering that issue. Let me be succinct in this; according to knowledgeable sources, 1.8 MILLION illegal immigrants will enter the country this year. Let me put that in perspective. That many illegal immigrants equals the population of Minneapolis, Minnesota…..4 times over! Additionally, all kinds of rumors were circulating that the Biden administration was considering granting $450,000 to each adult member of a separated illegal immigrant family. Say what? Where is the slight of hand in this situation? The Biden administration and the supporting liberal media wants you to be focused on climate change and Biden’s recent trip to meet with European leaders about climate change. It must not have been much of a meeting, as many leaders did not attend. Of course, the ‘wall’ that was being built under the Trump administration was halted by the Biden administration. (Wasn’t Kamala Harris suppose to be the border czar?)

Another example? Are you tired of having COVID restrictions beaten into your head by governmental agencies? Yeah…that is what I thought. I got three times more positive responses than Biden’s approval rating. But yet…wait for it….18% of the illegal immigrants entering this country tested positive for COVID. That is insane, it is not covered by the media, and our government refuses to do anything about it. But yet, our COVID restrictions continue.

Last week, there was a gubernatorial election in Virginia. Virginia has had Democratic governors since the 70’s. Terry McAuliffe was the incumbent democratic governor who faced the challenge of conservative Glenn Youngkin. Because of all the hoopla concerning parents becoming concerned about what was being taught to their children, education became the paramount issue of this election. Parents were being told by school boards that they did not have a ‘say’ in determining what was taught. This stance raised the hackles of many parents and more than a few school board meetings became heated. They became heated to such a level that school boards wanted the FBI to investigate and prosecute some parents as ‘domestic terrorists.’ This whole issue resulted in the upset victory for Glenn Youngkin. So how did the liberal media report this victory the day following the election? There were some idiotic liberal commentators contending that Youngkin’s victory was a “victory for white supremists.” So…we are suppose to focus on the fact that these parents were domestic terrorists and white supremists. Never mind that elected school boards are to serve the community, not the other way around. Never mind that not all of the concerned parents were white. Here we go again playing the racist card. Really?

Are you confident that our federal government is spending our money wisely? If you are anything like most, your reply would be an emphatic ‘no’. If you are anything like me, your reply would be an empatic, hell no! When younger, I was mesmerized by government expenditures that were in the millions. Then, in the not to distant past, the millions became billions. Now, there is no hesitation in Washington, D.C. to pass legislation involving trillions. My problem is this: we become so focused on the size of these expenditures, that we loose site of actually “what is in these expenditures.” It is a page right out of the magician’s handbook! These politicians are counting on our lethargy when it comes to these expenditures. I know I would like to see exactly what is buried in these expenditures with a line item synopsis. But, government is experienced in titling these items in superfluous terms. Still…it is OUR money!

Our current administration wants us to focus on lower unemployment numbers, a higher stock market, and a recovering economy. All of these are positive and important items. But, with the waning of the Coronovirus, Bozo the Clown could be POTUS and these improvements were going to occur. Things were so bad that the only way was up.

So I am going to assume the role of the magician, and suggest the American public begin to focus on these:

1. Climate Change. I am a firm believer that we should attempt to take the practical steps necessary to protect our environment. But…having said that, no environment protection measures will be effective without China and India being involved, and they aren’t involved. They, not the U.S. are the largest polluters of the world. Climate change has occurred for millennium and will continue without our input. Some years the ice cap melts, some years it freezes. That trend will continue. Some people will not be satisfied until there are glaciers covering Canada and the upper third of the U.S., just like in prehistoric times. (Bring back the dinosaurs, and let’s see if those candy-ass liberals still want to support gun control!)
2. China military buildup. In case you haven’t noticed, the Chinese successfully sent a supersonic, nuclear capable missile around the world in about 30 minutes. The scary component of this is that it is so fast, there is no way of neutralizing it. Additionally, China is spending a huge percentage of their GDP to increase their military capabilities. What will we do if they invade Taiwan? We have a mutual defense pact with Taiwan. If we do not honor that pact, we will loose the support of our allies in that part of the world with whom we have mutual defense pacts.
3. Supporting our first responders. It is time to support the police and incarcerate the criminals regardless of race. Period. I don’t care if we have to convert the Aleutian islands into a penal colony! The government and liberal media want us to focus on racial injustice, when we should be focused on justice. I have written enough about this in my last blogs, so I will not be repetitive.

If I were to be closer to a magician performing a trick, eventually I may be able to figure how it is done and how he diverts attention while performing the trick. With the mastery of our federal government, I am sure we will always be victims of their ‘slight of hand.’ ” Keep your eye on this, while we are ‘tricking’ you elsewhere.” After all, they are better at it than most magicians.

P.S. Since writing this blog, it has been substantiated that only 10% of the recently passed infrastructure bill is for roads and bridges! Holy crap! Where is the other 90% going?