There are three parts to a good magic trick, the first is the pledge. In the pledge, the magician shows you something that seems innocuous, an item that draws you in. Donald Trump played on the fears of his base of support by using immigrants and other people of color who are a part of your everyday life as part of his misdirection. He turned the normal into a novelty and had the deplorable(s) waiting on what was next to come. The second step is called the turn; in this case, the Magic Don makes the ordinary—extraordinary; men, women, and children become terrorist, victims of sexual exploitation and possible rapist. He tells you just enough of the truth to get you interested and wonder what is next. Lastly, is the prestige, what you expected is changed into what the magician wants you to believe. Thus, is the presidency of Magic Don.
Donald Trump demonstrates this skillful hat trick so regularly that we have come to expect it but what is even more dangerous, is that we accept it. Hillary Clinton warned us he would be “Putin’s puppet” and immediately he performed the turn, magically he labeled her the puppet, presto change-o! When Vladimir Putin met with Trump in Helsinki, Trump answered a question about whether Putin interfered in the American election process, he said, “I will say this, I don’t see any reason why it would be,” a few days later the predictable prestige moment came when he amended the statement exonerating Russia with the correction, “The sentence should have been, ‘I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t or why it wouldn’t be Russia.’… Sort of a double negative. So, you can put that in, and I think that probably clarifies things pretty good by itself.”
The mood swings demonstrated in his Twitter ramblings, the constant and illogical decision on tariffs, the climate agreement, and the change of policy on the Iran agreement, are all born of a sense of ill-informed self-importance and hatred for the former President. In an embarrassing display of insecurity yesterday the President pooled his peanut gallery of White House staffers to deny he angrily refused a meeting with Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats who showed up for yet another failed infrastructure plan with the President.
What is more distressing, is the need of the press trying so hard to avoid the label of liberal, they normalize or draw false equivalencies to Donald Trump’s irrational response to Democratic opposition. No, Chuck Todd, the Democrats are not in disarray they are in disbelief. With all the hand waving, twirling canes and pulling bouquets of insults from his hat, a serious issue is on the horizon. Will the president wag the dog so hard that the squeal will permanently destroy our relationship with longtime allies who help us protect the free world? Should Donald Trump reach the point of desperation, over the revelations of his finances and taxes that he begins a war of distraction, will Europe be there like they were in Iraq and Afghanistan? We need to ignore his empty pledges, be aware of the turn and admit this man has no prestige; Magic Don is just a cheap trick.
Vote in 2020 for Change.