A Wizard of Oz President, the Midterms, and Yogi Berra
A friend of mine from Columbus who voted for President Trump in his first presidency, made his regrets known to me the other day. Actually I was a bit surprised, even though he professes now to be politically non-aligned. That being said, as you’ll see, his regrets succeeded in making me laugh.
Given what’s been happening to the President’s polling numbers I was teasing out my friend’s support for Donald Trump in 2016 when he interrupted me, “You know the song by that girl, Ella Langley, that’s so popular right now?” With just a titch of humiliation I said, “No, who? What song?” There was a smirk on his face and he looked up and said, “The song is called, ‘I wish somehow I didn’t know now, what I didn’t know then’.”
It’s a lyrical insight that is increasing among independent voters. I thought of this when I read a lead story in “The Hill” this past week. It was titled, “GOP Senators Warn Trump is Hurting Republicans With Independents”… going on to say he has become “increasingly toxic with independent voters critical to winning senate races in battleground states.”
One of my favorite all-time movies from childhood to fatherhood was “The Wizard of Oz.” This 1939 movie starring Judy Garland was a technical gem for its time. It had its unforgettable songs, great acting, and its timeless themes of humanities’ flaws, compassion, vulnerabilities and resiliency. We don’t encounter the wizard until well into the movie; but, to put it frankly, he’s a hoax.
The Great Oz wanted the Munchkins of Emerald City to think he was all powerful, that his word was law. Of course in 1939 he didn’t use internet platforms for discourse. Instead, he projected himself behind a giant screen only to be discovered and uncovered by Dorothy’s dog, Toto. Yet there’s political allegory in the film that seems never to be out of date. Oz’s fearsome voice was intended to intimidate and control the “citizens” of Emerald City, mostly by illusion, deception, intimidation and bluster. When exposed as a fraud behind the curtain by Toto, he roared, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.”
The allegorical suggestion here is that the wizard relied on fear, deception and carefully and cleverly conceived propaganda along with theatrical performances and appearances to maintain power. The implication was that the Great Oz could not over time sustain power through genuine competence or mutual respect, so he resorted to imaginary threats.
Of course this is political commentary wrapped in a legendary academy-award winning movie. The Wizard of Oz eventually admits to his cowardly actions, admits to narcissist impulses designed to cover no real expertise, and then with humility confesses, “I’m a very good man; I’m just a very bad wizard.”
The self confession to Dorothy and her four cohorts is admirable, but if the Wizard of Oz had been on the “Apprentice,” he’d have been summarily fired.
Now to the November midterm elections, which believe it or not brings me to Yogi Berra. What? Yeah, the New York Yankee catcher, a pretty savvy guy, who won 10 World Series championships with the Yankees and was an 18-time MLB all-star. Ironically, he became most famous for his quizzical quip: “It ain’t over until it’s over.”
Pundits on both sides of the aisle seem increasingly convinced at this point in the election season that Democrats will regain a majority in the House and perhaps the Senate may be in play. Much to the President’s chagrin, he’s being asked to stay away from battleground states as the notion of pretending that he’s on the ballot does not seem to be helpful. This is often the fate of lame-duck presidents, especially those mired in endless wars.
Nevertheless, anything can happen on the playing field of politics in four weeks. In an interview with Time Magazine, regarding the midterms, the President was asked if he would rule out invoking the Insurrection Act as a means to put U.S. troops at polling places. Trump replied, "I don't rule anything out or in."
The Insurrection Act of 1807 is a U.S. federal law that allows a president to deploy the U.S. military and federalize the National Guard to conduct domestic law enforcement inside the country. This law is the primary exception to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, banning the military from acting as police officers or performing civilian arrests within the United States. Last year, the President federalized and deployed National Guard troops into Los Angeles over the objection of Governor Newsom. Under the guise of needing to handle civil disorder, the action was later determined by the courts to have been illegal.
Fasten your seat belts America. Billions in political ads are flooding the airways. But in our quickly evolving, socio-economic and political sequence of events, much for our country is at stake. As I mentioned last week, President Obama cautioned that “Democracy is not self-executing.” It requires a commitment to citizen engagement to stay true to its norms and its ideals.
The deadline to register to vote was October 5th. Absentee ballots were available for military and overseas voting and for domestic absentee voting on October 6th. Early in-person voting also begins on October the 6th (8 a.m.-5 p.m.) Election Day is Tuesday November 3rd and the polls are open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Remember, “It ain’t over until it’s over.”
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