The Great Vanishing...Mission Accomplished

The Great Vanishing…
Mission Accomplished

“This time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone.” Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Things seem to be vanishing at a rapid rate these days. Why, Thanksgiving was hardly here, and now it’s gone.

Only yesterday my wife lost a pearl earring…vanished into thin air. It was discovered the next day in the dog’s bed. Hmmm….? And just this morning I looked into the mirror…why, I seem to have vanished more from yesterday. At this rapid rate, I will soon disappear totally.

And that’s not all. Over $9 trillion dollars of wealth has vanished from the stock market meltdown, not to mention the vanishing of over $4 trillion in home equities. Soon there may be nothing left to vanish.

Wonder where it vanished? Maybe it was an illusion after all, something that we psyched ourselves into believing was there. It reminds me of my first million of equities in land investments when I was about 30. I proudly sent the financial statement to my father, a Great Depression-era child, a skeptic when it came to esoteric “equities.” All he saw was the corresponding debt.

But I did have about $10,000 in cash, and he allowed as how that was a pretty good start towards becoming a millionaire. Of course, you know what happened in 1974…the same as is happening in 2008. The Vanishing Act ~ déjà vu.

We even have a President who has evolved into irrelevance in a short 8 years. He seemed to vanish to safe places when crises occurred. Hollywood could not compete with the scenarios that fate seemed to gleefully delight in dealing out. From “lying low” when 9/11 happened to “low-down lying” about WMD in Iraq, our Chief # 43 was adept at vanishing and leaving the mess for others to clean up.

The caricature of W by Mike Luckovich seemed to offer up some thoughts on this subject of vanishing, and I trust he will forgive me for passing this on to you.

The Communists prefer to preserve for perpetuity their Ideologues by entombing them in glass coffins for public viewing. I witnessed this while in Tiananmen Square recently. Thousands parade daily by Mao Zedong’s tomb, paying homage to his lifeless body while purchasing memorabilia and other junk. Communism and capitalism coexist nicely!

Twice a year the Chairman is taken to Moscow for re-cosmeticization. Unthawed, he is given a chemical bath and complete makeover. He is then re-frozen and shipped back to Beijing. Some say he looks younger and his eyes have a more benevolent gaze these days. In China, the past is always present.

And it’s much the same for Vladimir Lenin, the Icon of Communism, who died at age 53 and who has been on public display since 1924. Unfortunately, the chemical baths have not retarded the rot and green decay that creeps up from his extremities. Which is pretty creepy in itself. I guess if you’re into metaphors, this might be a good one for the long-term state of Communism.

Even The Vatican is into this preservation act. In St. Peter’s Basilica, I saw Good Pope John sleeping soundly, if not too silently to suit me, in his glass enclosure. He looked very happy, and I’m sure this gave affirmation and great comfort to the Faithful of his sainted stature. Catholics have vivid imaginations!

But not Americans. We soon tire of our leaders and are glad when they finally vanish. And it’s a pretty good time for Chief # 43 to pull his final vanishing act, too---he’s running a little short of stature left to vanish. Maybe Chief # 39 will finally take a hint!

On January 20, 2009, W will flash for the last time that smirky grin and finally vanish into the obscurity of the tumble weeds of West Texas, shouting as he leaves, “Mission Accomplished!”

God will have blessed America once again, and lets hope He hangs around for a long time to come!


Bud Hearn
December 4, 2008