THEY DO IT WITH MIRRORS

Until November 3 there will be desperate 24-hour misdirectional prestidigitations of the US economy to ensure that, to the citizen audience, the Dow will appear to float just above their heads, with no strings attached, as the dollar hovers magically above a black hole; US deaths in Iraq will remain invisible, unattended and unphotographed; real estate prices will rise by no apparent means; the CPI will glide straight through the air like a ghost; jobs, though sawn in half, will disappear only to reappear at minimum wage in Walmarts everywhere and the staggering national deficit will be stacked up even higher as inflation appears to float just above the floor.

But behind the mirrors that reflect these illusions of an economically vibrant America and accordingly vibrant world, there will be no indication of the nation’s genuine ills, or of invading Iran or clamping down on basic US freedoms; then, when the Truly Incredible Dubya is elected for the first time, the show will be over; the curtains will close, the lights will come on, the gloves will come off; the Dow, the dollar and prices will go where they want and the Mayberry Machiavellians will have a free hand with the dearly paying audience as it shuffles out into stark unmirrored reality and the realization that the show ticket was a ripoff after all, except for the wealthy, who own the theater.

So as from your pre-election front-row seat you watch the Dow do its magic bounce and the dollar float in mid-air, keep an eye on your draft-age sons and daughters, watch your wallet, hide your money if you still have any, get out of the theater by a side exit if you can, don't breathe too deeply or drink the water, and forget about the world’s good graces for another 4 years, if not longer.

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