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The Republican administration would like you to believe that the most pressing issues that are facing this country are illegal immigration, gay marriage, and flag burning. They're like bad magicians trying to mis-direct you from the hand that actually has the coin. Excuse me, when you fueled up at the pump and paid a dollar more for a gallon of gas then you did last year were you really thinking about how incensed you were that people of the same sex could wear gold rings in on their left hand in ... let's see, exactly one state?

Or perhaps did you think that your wages in your non-border state were being depressed because of competition from illegal immigrants? Don't tell me that not raising the minimum wage holds down wages because even though it does - that hurts business! And flag burning must have a constitutional amendment to stop it! Cross burning is still okay because that's free speech but flag burning must be stopped because that's ... well, free speech but unpatriotic free speech and brother, we have a patriot act so that by law you have to be a patriot (as defined by the current administration).

The hell of it is, the entire media is pointing out how the administration and the Republicans are trying to change the subject from the ones that they don't want you to think about. Like Iraq. Like gasoline prices. Like the growth of poverty. Like the grotesque budget deficit. Like global warming. Like the healtcare crisis. Like ... oh, there are so many more things that we should talk about before we go back to thosed tired 'energizing the conservative base' issues.

Don't they see how they're being used? Hear this conservative base: If the Republicans actually cared about these things they would have done them, already. They control congress, they control the senate, they pretty much control the courts. The president has vetoed absolutely nothing that has crossed his desk. It's been six years that they've been in charge; they only pretend to care when it's election time, but they don't. They want you to watch their shiny, phoney social issues.

In the movie The Wizard of Oz, the final scene has Dorothy (and Toto, too), the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman in the Wizard's great hall. The Wizard is represented by a big giant head super-impsed on great clouds of smoke and lightening. As the Wizard is bellowing at them, Toto runs away and pulls away the curtain from a small alcove to reveal a little man furiously pulling levers while speaking into a huge tube. The little man looks startled, pulls the curtain back in position and the Wizard say: "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" Which, of course, they very wisely don't.

That's advice we should all ignore. Please, do pay attention to that man behind the curtain. Pay attention to what they don't want you to look at. Those are the secrets that need to be reveale and that's what we need to be talking about.

About the Author

Steve Sommers is the author of Rexroi, Evil Super-Villains Need Love, Too, and Breakfast with the Antichrist. His books are at http://www.lulu.com/abeautifulcow