“Because to take away a man’s freedom of choice, even his
freedom to make the wrong choice, is to manipulate him as
though he were a puppet and not a person.”  ― Madeline L’Engle

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Fats: Hey, you know what I think?
Corky: What do you think?
Fats: We’re gonna be a staaaar!

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Messenger or Follower:
Will the Real VP Pence, Say Something. 
by Kendall F. Person

Thirteen years before Anthony Hopkins horrified audiences with his Academy Award winning performance in Silence of the Lambs, he made his mark in Magic. A lesser acclaimed motion picture, but nonetheless, a spectacular, haunting performance, that I would remember for years after.

A psychological thriller with a love story that could never be, knotted up in the insanity. Anthony Hopkins played the role of a fledgling magician named Corky, whose drowning career would take flight, after being gifted or cursed with a dummy, a doll, a block of wood with the name of Fats. Together – the ventriloquist act of Corky & Fats – knocked audiences dead. Already unhinged, but with fame came madness. And more than just fighting voices inside his head, he had a prop that brought the voices outside, and suffocated who he  really was, all at the same time. 

Fats: I’ll tell.
Corky: What will you tell?
Fats: Everything. 

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While Magic was mysterious and dark and  the final explosive exchange between Corky and Fats, led many viewers to believe in the film’s false finale: or put way too much on the title Magic – that the dummy had come to life. But that is not what happened. Every vile utterance made through Fats, every violent reaction initiated by Fats, and every conversation between the two – no matter how cordial or violent – it was all Corky-the-man and not Fats-the-puppet. But the skillful direction and the stunning  ventriloquism of Hopkins, I image even the camera crew was confused when filming concluded, about who controlled who.  

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Prior to becoming the running mate of Donald Trump, Mike Pence was actually a leader in his own right. Governor of Indiana and a radio talk show host prior to his successful foray into politics,  But he rolled craps in Indiana, and may have vanished from the political stage, if not for being handpicked by the GOP establishment to eventually become the Vice President of the United States. Or if you listen closely to Mike, divine intervention is what guides his life. 

“Why do I have to ask for forgiveness? Why do I have
to repent if not making mistakes?” – Donald Trump

“I’m a Christian, a conservative and a Republican…
in that order.” – Mike Pence

In 2015, when  then Governor Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law, it offered a clear view into what guides him into the decisions that he makes. An instant firestorm erupted from the Hoosier State  LGBT community, who noted the bulls eye, that allowed discrimination to be open season upon them.  But Governor Pence was unbending in his guided-by -God stance. But love him or hate him, he appeared to be a man of conviction in the word he followed. But in 2016, his future converged with a man who does not repent, giving reason to ponder if he is the same guy. Is he led by faith or does he dance, like a puppet?

Millions of voters believe that President Trump was handpicked by God, which makes sense in the absolutism of their loyalty, although no less alarming to the millions more who cannot possibly understand or make sense of the  connection (however, faith based voters, but non-Trump supporters also may believe in God’s electoral intervention, but for very different reasons). It would also explain, the Vice President’s apparent reverence toward his boss. But actions like his spectacle of flying to an NFL game, only to stage a highly publicized walkout at the direction of the President, or the way he fades into the background, whenever the two men share the stage, or in his self-defense of his conversations with God (although he does not go as far to say that God talks back, like gossips have claimed)  make it a challenge to know who he follows. Or has the gap closed to such a degree, and that loss of self, make it impossible for even him to know?

Corky: What would you do if I call the police?
Fats: You ain’t being logical. 

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Ainsley Earhardt:  Will the new Obamacare repeal and replace bill guarantee health insurance for people with preexisting conditions, as Obamcare?
Pence: [quoting Thomas Jefferson] Government that governs least governs best,

Messenger or follower? Magic or smoke & mirrors? Will the real Mike Pence say something. As Vice President of the United States, you owe it to the public to alleviate concern, that you are not, in fact, the most dangerous man in the room. 

this is… The Neighborhood

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References & in-depth reading

• Mike Pence tweet, Fox News
• Pence defends faith as normal, USA Today
• IMBd Magic
• Millions of Americans Believe God Made Trump President, Politico Magazine