The Wizards of Washington

The last time I posted, I asked, "Which fairytale character does our Chief Executive imitate?" This week I would like to ask, "Which fairytale figures do too many of our representatives in Washington fail to emulate?

I believe the answer lies in the American fairytale classic, The Wizard of Oz. I reread Frank Baum's book this past week, and for those of you who have never read it a first time, I will say this is one of the few cases where a movie not only lives up to the book, but possibly exceeds it—depending upon the strength of one's own imagination to visualize the story. The 1939 movie captured all of the book's original corniness. The short chapters make it a good read-aloud as a bedtime story, but great literature it is not, except for the message. As a character-building fable, The Wizard of Oz is very good indeed. 
 

The Scarecrow, as you may remember, wanted brains. The book resorts to a very bad pun, for in the end he receives "bran" new brains as the cereal grain is substituted for his straw, along with a few pins and needles to keep him "sharp." If only getting a brain was that simple! In Isaiah 3:4, Jerusalem and Judah were to lose their supply of brainpower when the Lord of Hosts proclaims, "I will make mere lads their princes, And capricious children will rule over them." Many of the behaviors we see in Washington are synonymous with childish: irresponsible and self-indulgent.

The Tin Woodsman, who had once been a flesh and blood human before his body parts were replaced with tin, wanted a heart. While he was rusting away in the woods before Dorothy found him, he realized that the greatest loss he had known was the loss of his heart. Matthew 24:12 says, "because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold." Many who are under oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" have become lawless and seek their own agendas instead.  Their love for people has grown cold.

The Cowardly Lion enters the story in a high-action scene. With one blow of his paw he sent the straw man spinning over and over to the edge of the road. He looked tough, but as soon as he met with some resistance his true nature came out. Revelation 21:8 lists the cowardly as those whose "part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."  The faint-hearted who will not stand up to champion what is right are allowing political correctness to turn them away from the solid brick road and put the country on the pathway to destruction.

Brains. Heart. Courage. All are lacking among our leadership. But wait, there's more.

Dorothy had a virtuous quest too.  Her dream was to return to America's heartland. Kansas was her connection to home and family.  Too many of our officials and too many members of the media that represent them have no roots to the heartland. They have been called the "Inside the Beltway Crowd," but it is not just a geographical location. It is an idolatrous worldview on which they get drunk. They become sorry sorcerers of manipulation, lawless abusers of power who deconstruct rather than defend the Constitution.  

No root. No courage. No heart. No brain.  Weenie Wizards of Washington.